Peter Zumthor's LACMA Expansion Opens with Oceanic Inaugural Show

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) unveiled the Peter Zumthor-designed David Geffen Galleries last week to press, VIPs, donors, and members. The undulating cast concrete structure, created in collaboration with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, extends over Wilshire Boulevard. Its open-plan interior organizes the inaugural exhibition around the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea, emphasizing global exchange. Henri Matisse's La Gerbe (1953) hangs prominently inside. The Ardabil Carpet (1539–1540) is displayed in a low-light gallery alongside 16th-century Indian and Iranian manuscripts. New commissions by Mariana Castillo Deball, Shio Kusaka, Todd Gray, Pedro Reyes, Do Ho Suh, Lauren Halsey, and Tavares Strachan foster connections with existing holdings. Do Ho Suh's Jagyeong Hall, Gyeongbok Palace (2026) is bisected by a gallery wall. Tino Sehgal's performative piece This entry (2023) was staged near an entrance. A staff of 45 curators worked collaboratively across departments. The building also frames the 1988 Bruce Goff-designed Pavilion for Japanese Art.