Getty Center - Los Angeles, CA

The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is one of two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The museum's permanent collection includes pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; and 19th- and 20th-century American and European photographs". Among the works on display is the painting Irises by Vincent van Gogh. The Center, which opened on December 16, 1997, is also well known for its architecture, gardens, and views. Besides the Museum, the Center's buildings house the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, and the administrative offices of the J. Paul Getty Trust, which owns and operates the Center.

(Satellite image from the web)

Richard Meier was the architect of the Center. The Center opened to the public on December 16, 1997, after several delays. Although the total project cost was estimated to be $350 million as of 1990, it was later estimated to be $1.3 billion. The guide on our architectural tour said it was paid for with only the investment income of the Getty Trust; none of the principal was used.

Richard Meier has exploited two naturally occurring ridges (which diverge at a 22.5 degree angle) by overlaying two grids along these axes. These grids serve to define the space of the campus while dividing the import of the buildings on it. Along one axis lie the galleries and along the other axis lie the administrative buildings. The primary grid structure is a 30-inch square; most wall and floor elements are 30-inch squares or some derivative thereof. The buildings at the Getty Center are made from concrete and steel with either travertine or aluminium cladding.

The 134,000-square-foot Central Garden at the Getty Center is the work of artist Robert Irwin. Irwin was quoted as saying that the Central Garden "is a sculpture in the form of a garden, which aims to be art". A tree-lined walkway descends to a plaza, while water in a stream criss-crosses the walkway, continues through the plaza, and goes over a stone waterfall into a round pool. A maze of azaleas floats in the pool (see picture below), around which is a series of specialty gardens. More than 500 varieties of plant material are used for the Central Garden, but the selection is "always changing, never twice the same".

Admission to the museum and gardens is free of charge although there is a $15 fee to park. The museum has a seven-story deep underground parking garage with over 1,200 parking spaces. An automated three-car tram takes passengers to and from the museum.

A cactus garden anchors the south end of the complex. Visitors have views of Los Angeles toward the Pacific Ocean (above), Westwood (below, near) and downtown Los Angeles (below, in the distance). The campus consists of 24 acres on a 110-acre site in the Santa Monica Mountains above Interstate 405.