The Getty Museum at the Getty Center is one of the finest museums in California and perhaps, the world.

Sitting atop a hill of the Santa Monica mountains above the 405 - San Diego Freeway, many who drive this freeway and come to a stop at this juncture in the road from time to time, watched construction which went on for several years till this massive complex of buildings was completed under the watchful eye of architect Richard Meier. Read the description below to find out why helicopters often hovered above the mountain, lowering items onto the site. Location:  1200 Getty Center Drive Los Angeles, CA 90049 (310) 440-7300

The Getty Museum is free to the public with parking charged at approx. $5 per car, reservations required weekdays. When the Center opened several years ago, it was nearly impossible to make a reservation.  Don't let that stop you now.  Visitors from throughout the world flock to this stunning facility where teak outdoor tables, leather cushioned seats and imported Italian marble make you feel like royalty as you glide through the place wearing shorts and tennis shoes, oohing and aahing over the art, gardens and views.

Though there are buses going to the museum from Santa Monica and Los Angeles, the museum is closed Mondays and major holidays and  it is wise to call the Getty Center or check their web site before visiting.

 With a fine art collection representing great painters over a 500-year span, sculptures, photographs, and a variety of media, this mega-museum is a cultural Mecca.  There are extensive educational programs for children, numerous lecture series, scholarships, a publications division, musical programs, changing exhibits and a web site which claims to house over 54,000 pages. Just visiting the web site can be amount to a short course in a variety of topics from fine art to photography to music. 

The J. Paul Getty Trust is an international cultural and philanthropic institution devoted to the visual arts of  the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Grant Program. The J. Paul Getty Trust and Getty programs are based at the Getty Center in Los Angeles.

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. 
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Once in a while we are treated to something spectacular. A building or complex with lines, curves and shapes or color and style that enhances the landscape is sorely needed in this urban maze.  Sadly, the architectural histories of some of the finer buildings in California are difficult to come by.  This author delights in the works of the Neutras but found that one of their projects, the Central Library in Huntington Beach, California, did not have on file, information about the unique architecture and art at that facility.  Research on the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California and the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles has provided some stumbling blocks, as well.  So, we post this information provided by the Getty Center about the architecture of the project, and hope that they keep the documentation available years down the road, even when it seems that interest has waned. The stories behind the great buildings provide a history, beyond those unkind years that might have taken a toll on some of our beloved haunts.
 

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.

The use of stone--1.2 million square feet of it--is perhaps one of the most remarked-upon elements of the new complex. This beige-colored, cleft-cut, textured, fossilized travertine catches the bright Southern California daylight, reflecting sharply during morning hours and emitting a honeyed warmth in the afternoon.

Although Meier’s previous work has featured white metal-paneled walls almost exclusively, he chose stone for much of this project because it is often associated with public architecture. More importantly, the stone expresses 1ualities the Getty Center celebrates: permanence, solidity, simplicity, warmth, and craftsmanship.

The 16,000 tons of travertine used in the project were quarried in Bagni di Tivoli, Italy, 15 miles east of Rome. Split along its natural grain, many of the stones bear fossilized leaves, feathers, and branches. Meier and his staff worked for a year with the Bagni di Tivoli quarries to invent a "guillotine" process that would result in such a rough textured finish.

Travertine panels cover not only the retaining walls and the bases of all buildings, but also serve as paving stones for the arrival plaza and Museum courtyard, and on indoor walls in transitional spaces between galleries. For the non-public buildings, and the curvilinear elements of the Museum, off-white, enamel-clad aluminum panels have been used as the exterior surface.

Natural lighting is another of the Getty Center’s most important architectural elements. Many of the Center’s exterior surfaces are made of glass, allowing the brilliant Southern California sunshine to illuminate the interiors. Using a computer-assisted system of louvers and shades that adjust the intensity and quality of light, the paintings galleries on the Museum’s upper level are all naturally lit, with special filters to prevent damage to the paintings.

The Museum is comprised of five interconnected two-story pavilions, and offers visitors the choice of exploring the collections chronologically or of moving in and out of the pavilions at their leisure--taking time to enjoy the exterior courtyard spaces with the three fountains and Mexican Cypress trees, and the cactus garden to the south. See: Central Garden and Bougainvillea Arbors.   Throughout the Museum, there is a freedom of choice, with routes that are fluid and criss-crossing. One can explore the galleries in sequence or at random, at first-or second-story level, without having to retrace one’s steps. Because of the interplay of interior and exterior space, between gallery and garden, one always knows where one is and where one has been.   -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/