The Broad and the glass box in downtown Los Angeles

The Broad in Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum set on Grand Avenue, with a white exterior that reads as a perforated shell. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and opened in 2015, it places Eli and Edythe Broad’s collection inside a sharply contemporary building.

The Broad’s perforated outer shell

The building’s most recognisable feature is its pale façade, often called a veil, which wraps the galleries and storage behind it. The museum sits at 221 S. Grand Avenue, in downtown Los Angeles, and the address alone places it in the city’s civic and cultural core.221 S. Grand Avenue

That outer layer gives the museum a distinct profile among the surrounding streets and civic buildings. The architecture belongs to Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the New York practice behind the building, and the museum opened in September 2015.Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The Broad Collection inside the museum

The Broad houses the Broad collection, a body of postwar and contemporary art assembled by Eli and Edythe Broad over decades. The collection includes works by artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger, Yayoi Kusama and Andy Warhol.Eli and Edythe Broad

The museum presents that collection in gallery space and in a second-floor vault, where works are kept on site. The building therefore combines display and storage in a single address, while the collection itself spans more than 2,000 works by about 200 artists.

A downtown Los Angeles museum with a clear form

The Broad belongs to the Grand Avenue arts corridor in downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Its setting places it among some of the city’s best-known cultural buildings, while the museum itself keeps to a compact, rectangular mass with a textured surface.Grand Avenue arts corridor

The building’s exterior treatment and the art inside work together as the main experience of the place. The façade is bright and regular, while the collection ranges across painting, sculpture, installation and large-scale contemporary work.postwar and contemporary art

Visiting The Broad: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• The museum stands on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, and the Broad name is used for the building and the collection.
• The main practical approach is by city transport into the downtown core; the museum address is 221 S. Grand Avenue.
• The museum’s interior combines galleries with a vault holding part of the collection on site, so the building reads as both display space and storage.
• The collection focus is postwar and contemporary art, with works by major international and American artists.

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Frequently asked questions about The Broad

Where is The Broad?

The Broad is on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, at 221 S. Grand Avenue. It sits in the city’s Grand Avenue arts corridor.

What does a visit focus on?

The main draw is the Broad collection, which fills galleries and a vault inside the building. The museum centres on postwar and contemporary art.

What makes The Broad distinctive?

The building’s perforated outer shell is the clearest visual feature, and it sets a strong contrast with the art inside. The combination of galleries and on-site storage also shapes the museum’s identity.