The Broad and its veil and vault architecture in Los Angeles

The Broad in Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue whose striking “veil and vault” architecture turns a collection of postwar art into a sculptural urban landmark. Opened in 2015 and founded by Eli and Edythe Broad, it combines a honeycomb-like concrete skin with elevated collection storage at its core.

A contemporary art museum shaped by a concrete veil

The Broad stands on South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, opposite the Walt Disney Concert Hall, as a dedicated museum for postwar and contemporary art drawn from the Broad collection.contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue Founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, it opened in September 2015 and brings together works acquired through The Broad Art Foundation and the couple’s own collecting over several decades.founded by Eli and Edythe Broad

The museum houses over 2,000 works in a purpose-built structure, making it a focal point for postwar and contemporary art in Los Angeles and beyond.over 2,000 works of art The permanent collection includes pieces by major figures of the later twentieth century and early twenty-first century, held within the institution’s own vault and displayed in rotating groupings across its galleries. The Broad also serves as headquarters for The Broad Art Foundation’s lending activities, sending works to museums internationally from its downtown base.headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation’s lending library

The veil and the vault: Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s design

The Broad’s building, completed in 2015, was designed by New York practice Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler, creating a 120,000-square-foot (approximately 11,000 m²) museum on three main levels.designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler The concept “the veil and the vault” describes the combination of a porous outer shell with a central volume that holds the collection and support spaces. Public galleries sit above and below the vault, with visitors moving around and through this solid core.

The exterior veil consists of thousands of fibreglass-reinforced concrete panels attached to a substantial lattice of structural steel, forming a continuous patterned surface across the facades.fiberglass-reinforced concrete panels and steel lattice Openings within this skin admit daylight while keeping direct sun away from the artworks, and the veil wraps over the roof to create a field of skylights that brings diffuse light into the upper gallery. Inside, large column-free zones on the main gallery level give expansive views across works of art, framed by the patterned envelope at the edges.column-free expanses and roof skylights

Inside the vault and across Grand Avenue

Within the vault, collection storage occupies a substantial portion of the building’s volume, visible to visitors along circulation routes where they can glimpse racks and cases through controlled openings in the solid mass.central vault housing collection storage The arrangement places the stored works at the core of the museum, with public galleries on the lower and upper levels that loop around this heart. From the entrance, escalators and lifts carry visitors past the vault towards the main exhibition floor under the luminous roof.

The Broad sits on the corner of Grand Avenue and 2nd Street in downtown Los Angeles, within a cluster of cultural institutions that includes the Walt Disney Concert Hall and other venues on the Grand Avenue corridor.location on Grand Avenue at 2nd Street An outdoor public plaza extends alongside the museum, designed by the same architectural team, providing a paved open space between Grand Avenue and Hope Street lined with planting and seating. The museum’s street-level facades incorporate entrance points, glazing and the textured veil, creating a direct relationship between the galleries, the plaza and the downtown streetscape.

Visiting The Broad: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• The Broad stands on South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, close to the corner with 2nd Street and opposite the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
• The museum’s interior includes escalators, lifts and staircases linking the lobby, the vault level and the upper galleries, with circulation routes that pass along the central storage mass.
• Los Angeles is reached by air from Western Europe via Los Angeles International Airport; from there, road and public transport links connect to the downtown district and Grand Avenue.
• The official language is English and the currency is the United States dollar.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

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Frequently asked questions about The Broad

Where is The Broad located?

The Broad is in downtown Los Angeles, on South Grand Avenue near the junction with 2nd Street, within the city’s Grand Avenue arts district.

What can visitors expect inside The Broad?

Visitors encounter galleries for postwar and contemporary art arranged around a central collection vault, with escalators and lifts leading to a large, skylit upper exhibition floor.

What makes The Broad distinctive among museums?

The Broad is distinctive for its veil and vault design by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, its fibreglass-reinforced concrete exterior and its role as a dedicated home for the Broad collection.