David Geffen Galleries at LACMAPeter Zumthor's 110,000-square-foot concrete bridge over Wilshire, just opened

Peter Zumthor's design opened to LACMA members on April 19, 2026, and to the public on May 4 — the culmination of a twenty-year project led by director Michael Govan and funded by a $150 million gift from David Geffen alongside more than $700 million in additional support. The building replaces LACMA's three original 1965 William Pereira pavilions and the 1986 Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer addition, consolidating the entire permanent collection onto a single elevated floor.

The structure is one organic curve rather than straight lines — 110,000 square feet of gallery space raised thirty feet above ground and bridging Wilshire Boulevard, with floor-to-ceiling glass on the perimeter and concrete inner galleries for light-sensitive works. The unorthodox curatorial approach — works arranged not by date or country but around the world's major bodies of water (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Mediterranean) — was developed by 45 curators over several years and presents Indonesian batiks alongside Spanish Baroque paintings alongside Peruvian ceramics.

Plan three to four hours for the inaugural installation — 2,000 works selected from LACMA's 150,000-piece collection — plus the West Campus exhibitions in the Resnick Pavilion and BCAM, the 3.5 acres of newly opened outdoor space below the elevated building, and Chris Burden's Urban Light at the corner of Wilshire and Ogden. Advance timed-entry tickets are strongly recommended through the opening weeks.