Map of LA's Grand Avenue; the new museum is colored red.

When Diller Scofidio + Renfro were solicited last June by Eli Broad to sketch an idea for his new archive and museum, the architects were forced to ask:  “What do you build next to Disney Hall?” Answer:  Something else.  Where Frank Gehry’s work is smooth and impenetrable, the Broad Art Foundation is porous and accessible.  The stainless steel concert hall reflects the city’s skyline; blinding sunlight bounces off its capering shell.  The Broad’s concrete veil, by contrast, is a less aggressive spectacle. At three-feet thick, and punched through with large angular openings, the new museum looks as if it is cloaked in an ice cube tray twisted by a powerful algorithm.  As, certainly, it has been, to pleasing effect. Read More