A Movie Museum

articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/12/entertainment/la-et-cm-0412-academy-museum-notebook-20130412

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Drawing of Proposed AMPAS Museum
blogs.indiewire.com

All right now on to today's topic, the proposed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum in Los Angeles, California.  Where else did you think it was going to be?  In early April of this year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Oscar® people, unveiled preliminary plans, by Italian architect Renzo Piano and local architect Zoltan Pali for a $300, million film museum to be housed in the former May Company Building located on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue.  The centerpiece of this 290,000-square-foot complex, located just west of the LACMA main campus, will be a giant glass-enclosed dome which would hold a 1,000-seat theater.  This "sphere" or "soap bubble, referred to by the architect, would be attached to the northern side of the May Company building.  The 1939, Albert C. Martin designed building, would be restored as part of the proposed plan and hold exhibits dedicated to Hollywood history and the art and craft of filmmaking.  (preservation.lacity.org) as Historic Cultural Monument number 566.  The rear addition built in 1946 would be demolished to make way for the dome.  The reason I'm blogging about this today is that the project is currently undergoing environmental review mandated by California State law.

Vintage Photograph of May Company Wilshire Exterior
plummersearch.com

The May Company Wilshire building is listed by the Los Angeles City Department of Planning Office of Historic Resources

The domed theater has architectural precedent, beginning in 1963 with the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard by Welton Becket and Pierre Cabrol (now part of the Arclight Theater in Hollywood).  They are also a reference to the dirigibles that once took off from this part Wilshire Boulevard; go all the way back to the geodesic dome experiments of Buckminster Fuller and the 18th musings of French architect Etienne-Louis Boullee.  The plan is still evolving and has some potential which will hopefully emerge in the future.  Christopher Hawthorne, in his April 12, 2013 Los Angeles Times article on the plans for the museum, raises an interesting point.

May Company Interior Main Floor
flickr.com

The opaqueness of the fundamental details of the plan-whether or not the concept will be able to withstand the obstacles it faces between now and 2017 when the museum is scheduled to open.  Mr. Hawthorne also points out that the academy's interest in making the schematic plans available suggests that its proponents haven't fully studied the history of ambitious architecture on the LACMA site.  Either that or they have and chosen disregarded the tumultuous history.  Another possibility is that the proponents know the history and are, nevertheless, charging ahead in hopes of generating real interest.  The lesson here is-the dashed museum redesign by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaus in 2002 and the really mediocre galleries by Mr. Piano-The Broad Contemporary and the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Pavilion-fundraising, architectural interest, and curatorial goals must all work together from the start if this project is going to succeed.  Certainly having being names like David Geffen and Brett Ratner attach their names to the project through large donations is good but if it is out of line with the curatorial goals and architectural ambitions, it's simply a wasted effort.

Rendering of Proposed Dome Theater
aasarchitecture.com

So what comes next?  That remains to be seen.  It still has to pass through administrative hurdles before the cornerstone can be placed.  The State of California, the City and County of Los Angeles doesn't really make the permit process easy but with such Hollywood heavyweights as David Geffen and Brett Ratner, they might be willing to make a few exceptions.