LACMA Makeover

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has completed renovations two decades in the making with a new home for its permanent collection that opens to the public May 4. The new building is all on a single floor that sits above the grounds and spans Wilshire Boulevard. The $720 million structure designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor is intended to allow visitors to wander into things they didn't necessarily intend to see. Museum director Michael Govan calls it a “machine of discovery.” The building's galleries are loosely grouped by oceans of the world, with all the free flow of goods and culture that implies.