Peachy the Magazine October/November 2013 | Page 32

The Millennial Shift in Museum Design

Getty Center Courtyard. Photo courtesy of Getty Center.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles to
the west, the Richard Meier designed
Getty Center in Los Angeles opened
in 1997 and reinforced the notion of
the “trophy” museum designed by the
rockstar architect. Meier’s structure
was sited atop a ridge overlooking Los
Angeles, employing a three-car hovertrain funicular to shuttle visitors from
the parking area up to the museum.
The Getty is a complex campus of five
multi-level pavilions, streams, bridges,
terraces, fountains and reflecting pools
encircling a central garden.
Disparagers have labeled it a “themepark” museum, yet supporters would
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counter that the elitist, stodgy museum
of the past has been supplanted with
what the public truly wants—and the
Getty delivers.
The success of Bilbao and the Getty
launched a truly remarkable wave of
museum design that has yet to crest
despite the intervening economic
challenges of the last few years. Somehow strapped cities have seen plans
for jaw-dropping and mind-bending
museums come to fruition despite cuts
in funding. Dutiful and quite generous
private philanthropists have opened
their coffers and have contributed
staggering sums to cover the shortfall.