Museums & Institutions

Here’s What LACMA’s Lavish New Building Looks Like

And as importantly: Here's how the art looks in it.

A 19th-century Ijo forest spirit figure features multiple carved faces topped by a small animal, displayed in a concrete museum gallery with vibrant wall tapestries. — Detail of Forest Spirit Figure, Nigeria, Niger Delta, Ijo culture, 19th century at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo by Ben Davis.

by Ben Davis April 16, 2026 ShareShare This Article

At long last, and with plenty of civic fanfare, the new Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA ) is ready to welcome its first visitors to its decades-in-the-making new flagship building, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor.

You ascend via stairs or elevator to the concrete-and-glass David Geffen Galleries, which are held aloft, gracefully straddling Wilshire Boulevard. From the outside, the new building’s profile is both spacey and organic feeling.

Inside, Zumthor’s architecture carries you along like a gentle river—but a river with plenty of eddies. The space is meant to let you get lost in little detours. Even with three hours of strolling around, I kept finding new pockets, and occasionally also not knowing exactly where I was.

Since the facade is essentially one long, continuous window, you are never far from a view of the L.A. landscape, including the outdoor sculptures newly installed on the LACMA grounds such as Jeff Koons‘s flower-bedecked colossus, Split-Rocker (2000), which is bidding to join Chris Burden‘s Urban Light (2008) as a photo destination. Within the Geffen building’s airy corridors, the art installed around the edges of the space is drenched in the California sun, its intensity softened by tinted windows and signature curtains.

A myriad of galleries, some large and some quite small, break up the central axis of the long space. These plunge you into cool shadow so effectively that they sometimes feel practically subterranean. In a few steps, you move from radiance to twilight, as if you are leaping between ecosystems. The effect can be dizzying.

CEO and director Michael Govan’s vision includes using this revamped architecture to refresh the museum’s presentation of history. Contemporary art mixes in with classical sculpture. The exact degree of such mixing varies from room to room (and curator to curator), but overall, the museum is trying very hard to make sure that you never feel stuck in time or place. There is a loose geographical organization—by oceans, not countries, supposedly—but you generally find yourself not knowing what is coming next.

The build-up for the Zumthor opening included plenty of criticism and second-guessing of the indefatigable Govan’s passion project. Now the public gets to see for itself. While I personally ponder what I have to say, here are some photos to give a sense of what we’re talking about.

The modern concrete exterior of the David Geffen Galleries features a large overhanging roof with the building's name in bold letters above the museum entrance.

Outside the new Peter Zumthor-designed David Geffen Galleries at LACMA. Photo by Ben Davis.

A massive, volcanic stone head sculpture rests on a raw rock base outside a concrete museum building, featuring stylized, ancient-inspired features and stacked horizontal segments.

Pedro Reyes, Tlati (2026) outside the new building. Photo by Ben Davis.

A wide-angle, exterior view of the concrete David Geffen Galleries at LACMA. Modernist stairs ascend toward glass walls under a sweeping, cantilevered roof and blue sky.

The exterior of the new Peter Zumthor-designed David Geffin building at LACMA. Photo by Ben Davis.

A curved concrete gallery features floor-to-ceiling windows reflecting palm trees. Inside, visitors observe small bronze sculptures on a table against a raw concrete interior wall.

The exterior of the Peter Zumthor-designed Geffen building, as seen from inside. Photo by Ben Davis.

A tall, terracotta-colored patchwork sculpture of a figure with an ornate, branching headdress stands in a concrete gallery surrounded by smaller ancient stone relief carvings.

Manjunath Kamath, Vikatonarva (2024). Photo by Ben Davis.

A large, textured terracotta-colored sculpture of abstract animal legs stands in a bright museum gallery. Floor-to-ceiling windows reveal a sunlit city street with palm trees.

Liz Glynn, The Futility of Conquest (Cavalcade) (2023). Photo by Ben Davis.

A white marble bust of a person with an elaborate, golden braided hairstyle stands on a white pedestal within a modern, concrete-walled museum gallery space.

Tavares Strachan, Fulani (A Map of the Crown) (2024) in the new LACMA. Photo by Ben Davis.

A silhouette of a classical male sculpture stands before floor-to-ceiling windows with sheer curtains, overlooking a sunlit city street and lush greenery in a museum.

The Bateman Mercury (2nd-century copy), as installed in the new building. Photo by Ben Davis.

A white sphinx sculpture by Lauren Halsey sits in a concrete gallery. The base features contemporary engravings, blending ancient Egyptian aesthetics with modern community iconography.

Lauren Halsey, Untitled (2026) at LACMA. Photo by Ben Davis.

The Athena of Velletri installed at LACMA. Photo by Ben Davis.

An ancient Greek red-figure bell-krater rests on a wooden pedestal in a concrete gallery. In the blurred background, visitors walk past additional glass display cases.

Attributed to Python, Bell-Krater with the Centaur Chiron Accompanied by a Satyr and Two Youths (c. 350-325 BCE). Photo by Ben Davis.

An orange and brown triptych by Francis Bacon is installed in a concrete-walled gallery.

Francis Bacon, Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969) installed at LACMA. Photo by Ben Davis.

Three kinetic and light-based sculptures illuminate a dark gallery. The works feature metallic cylinders with small lights, a reflective pillar, and a glowing geometric grid.

The “Turmoil and Optimism in Latin America” galleries. Photo by Ben Davis.

Three vibrant, patterned textile artworks hang on a concrete gallery wall behind a long glass display case containing smaller fabric samples under black pendant lights.

The “Textile Conversations: African and Black America” galleries at LACMA. Photo by Ben Davis.

Two ancient stone "Xipe Totec" standard bearer figures stand on a black plinth in a minimalist gallery. Expansive windows with sheer curtains overlook a city.

Two sculptures of Xipe Totec Standard Bearers. Photo by Ben Davis.

An ancient stone metate with a carved bird head sits on a dark display table in a long, sunlit gallery lined with sheer window curtains.

Artists working in the Greater Nicoya style, Costa Rica, Metate with Bird Head (c. 300-700 CE). Photo by Ben Davis.

Two oil paintings in gold frames hang on a dark red wall behind a glass display case containing photographs in a quiet museum gallery space.

Thomas Eakins, Wrestlers (1888) and Robert Henri, Spanish Dancer — Seviliana (Dancer with Castanet) (1904). Photo by Ben Davis.

A long, ornate Buddhist textile hangs above several intricately painted wooden chests in a blue-walled gallery. Two visitors sit on a bench observing the display.

The “Pan-Asian Buddhist Art” galleries at LACMA. Photo by Ben Davis.

A geometric red-and-black glazed ceramic sculpture stands on a black base against a concrete wall, next to large windows overlooking a bright city landscape.

John Mason, Red X (1966) in LACMA’s new galleries. Photo by Ben Davis.

A large, intricately patterned Persian carpet with a central golden medallion and floral motifs is displayed on a low black platform in a dark gallery.

Maqsud Kashani, Ardabil Carpet (1539-40) (A.H. 946). Photo by Ben Davis.

A vintage, tan Studebaker Avanti is displayed in a modern gallery with concrete walls. Colorful paintings and black-and-white photographs hang in the background under spotlights.

Raymond Loewy’s Studebaker for Avanti, designed 1961/made 1963. Photo by Ben Davis.

A translucent green sculpture of a vintage car in a glass case hangs next to a tall, yellow surfboard inside a dark-walled museum gallery.

Claes Oldenburg, Profile Airflow (1969) and Greg Noll, Surfboard (c. 1960) in the “The Stuff of Alchemy: Plastic in Art” gallery at LACMA. Photo by Ben Davis.