The Broad, Los Angeles. image © benny chan

When viewed from a distance, in a moving car, the building asserts itself next to the restless Disney. In auto-bound L.A., that is no small feat. But once we emerge from our cars to approach the building, the design of its skin feels hermetic and overwrought, undermining any sense of connection to the city rather than promoting one. And this failure to sustain an integrated relationship to L. A. continues. The entrances are clunky in their articulation. The proportions of the street-level arcade, which is tucked between the two entrances and behind the concrete exoskeleton, are so tight that people are unlikely to linger there and will use it only, if at all, to seek momentary respite from L.A.’s blazing sun. And once we are inside the building, our connection to the city vanishes. The coffers cant precipitously downward, so visitors looking out the Broad’s windows are rewarded with views of black asphalt, nothing more......Continue Reading

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