The new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is set to open on Sept. 30 at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. Renzo Piano Building Workshop designed the project in collaboration with Gensler as the executive architect.
The 300,000-sf project combines two contrasting structures; the renovated and expanded May Company building, a 1939 Streamline Moderne landmark now dubbed the Saban Building, and a new glass-and-concrete spherical building.
The 250,000-sf Saban Building houses the Fairfax Avenue entrance and Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby, the museum’s exhibition galleries, the 288-seat Ted Mann Theater, the Shirley Temple Education Studio, the Debbie Reynolds Conservation Studio, Fanny’s restaurant and cafe, and the Academy Museum Store. The 45,000-sf sphere building houses the 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater and the Dolby Family Terrace. The museum's massive, 690-panel orb theater is balanced on four mega-column supports designed to protect the museum from earthquakes.
Visitors can access the Sphere Building from the Saban Building via the Casey Wasserman Bridge at mezzanine level. The pedestrian bridge crosses over the David Geffen Theater and the Barbra Streisand Bridge on the fifth floor, which crosses over to the Dolby Family Terrace.
At the base of the sphere outside the northern entrance to the museum is The Walt Disney Company Piazza, which features dwarf southern magnolia trees and kart shrubs, California fan palms, vinca minor, Mexican fan palms, and jacaranda trees.
The Academy Museum’s 50,000 sf of gallery space will open with a series of exhibitions that honor the museum’s mission to share the history of cinema. Exhibitions will include the three-floor core exhibition Stories of Cinema, the first ever Hayao Miyazaki retrospective in North America, and other temporary exhibitions that advance the understanding, celebration, and preservation of cinema.
The Academy Museum build team comprised:
Architects: Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with Gensler
Project Manager: Paratus Group
Engineers and Consultants (in structural engineering; mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering, lighting design, environmental design, energy modeling, and IT systems): Buro Happold
The project has been awarded LEED Gold certification.
Related Stories
Museums | Feb 5, 2016
Diller Scofidio + Renfro transforms old Art Deco building into a museum at UC Berkeley
The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, which opened in late January, contains a theater, lab, and galleries. It was once a printing plant.
Museums | Jan 22, 2016
Canadian Canoe Museum selects Heneghan Peng Architects’ design for new location
The single-story structure is designed for sustainability as well as function.
Architects | Jan 15, 2016
Best in Architecture: 18 projects named AIA Institute Honor Award winners
Morphosis' Perot Museum and Studio Gang's WMS Boathouse are among the projects to win AIA's highest honor for architecture.
| Jan 14, 2016
How to succeed with EIFS: exterior insulation and finish systems
This AIA CES Discovery course discusses the six elements of an EIFS wall assembly; common EIFS failures and how to prevent them; and EIFS and sustainability.
Museums | Dec 18, 2015
Santiago Calatrava-designed museum with skeletal roof opens in Rio
The Museu do Amanhã addresses the future of the planet and has an inventive, futuristic design itself.
Museums | Dec 16, 2015
Gluckman Tang-designed museums could stimulate economy in North Adams, Mass.
The goal is to create a “cultural corridor” between North Adams and Williamstown, Mass.
Museums | Dec 4, 2015
Calatrava’s Milwaukee Art Museum gets handsome addition by HGA
The lakefront addition gives visitors expansive views both inside and out.
Museums | Dec 3, 2015
SANAA’s design selected for Hungary’s new National Gallery and Ludwig Museum
After months of deliberation, the Japanese firm ultimately won the tie with Snøhetta.
Museums | Nov 23, 2015
Daniel Libeskind unveils design for new Lithuanian modern art museum
Located in the national capital of Vilnius, the Modern Art Center will be home to 4,000 works of Lithuanian art.
Museums | Nov 11, 2015
MVRDV designs a ‘disco ball’ for Rotterdam
Called the Collectiegebouw (Dutch for "collection building"), the building will make public the city’s extensive art collection, and give visitors a look at how museums work backstage, according to Fast Company.