Architecture as Art
From the hill where the Getty Center sits,
visitors can enjoy views of Los Angeles, Pacific Ocean and the San
Gabriel Mountains Inspired by the interplay of setting and view, architect
Richard Meier sought to design the new complex so that it highlights both
nature and culture, creating a synchronistic, organic whole.
Two computer-operated trams take
visitors from a street-level parking facility to the hilltop site. The
campus, clad largely in cleft-cut, Italian travertine, is organized around
a central arrival plaza, and offers framed panoramic views of the city
Curvilinear design elements, like the circular Museum Entrance Hall and
the canopy over the Harold M. Williams Auditorium entrance call to mind
the Baroque. But there is also a bright openness to the complex, a horizontality
reminiscent of the work of such Southern California modernists as Rudolf
Schindler, Richard Neutra, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Richard Meier took many of his cues for
the design from the site itself, and from the Trust planning team’s desire
to retain the sense of openness found at the original Getty Museum in Malibu.
The Getty Center’s six buildings follow a natural ridge in the hilltop.
Working with this natural topography, Meier positioned the Center’s buildings
at sites that are relatively public or private in character, depending
on the needs of each. He also suggested a connection between the organization
of the Center and the layout of the city’s grid. All six buildings are
as open as security and conservation needs will allow. Galleries, offices,
and the Auditorium lead out to courtyards and terraces; all offices receive
natural light. Because the Getty’s neighbors requested that the complex
be no more than two stories above grade, all of the buildings extend underground
and are linked with subterranean corridors that facilitate the moving of
artwork and other materials.
Where to Stay:
Hotel Angelino is a four star hotel, famous for
its unique building shaped like a column rising into the air. Visible
from the 405 - San Diego Freeway, it is adjacent to the Getty Center.
If you want nice and close, stay there. It is the only hotel right next
to the Getty. Also nearby are UCLA and Westwood and Santa Monica
beaches a 10 to 15 minute drive.
The Getty Research Institute occupies a
circular building on the western edge of the campus. The Central Garden
The 134,000 square-foot Central Garden at the Getty Center is the work
of artist Robert Irwin. The design of the Central Garden re-establishes
the natural ravine between the Museum and the Research Institute for the
History of Art and the Humanities with a tree-lined walkway that
leads the visitor through a garden experience. The walkway traverses a
stream and gradually descends to a plaza with bougainvillea arbors.
The stream ends in a stone waterfall and pool. Around the pool
is a series of specialty gardens, each with a variety of plant material.
All of the foliage and materials of the garden were selected to accentuate
the interplay of light, color, and reflection.
The process of creating the Central
Garden began in 1992, when Irvin started working with Harold M.
Williams and Stephen D. Roundtree of the J. Paul Getty Trust in consultation
with Richard Meier, the architect of the Getty Center. Irwin has also worked
closely with Richard Naranjo, the Getty’s manager of grounds and gardens,
and the landscape architecture firm of Spurlock Poirier, in finalizing
all facets of the garden.
-Source of architectural information is The Getty Center. Visit the
Center and the fabulous web site to see works of great artists,
information and days worth of reading. getty.edu/
