Displaying items by tag: thom mayne

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles is planning to open A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture in Southern California on June 2, 2013. Funded in part by the Getty Foundation, the show is now in jeopardy of being cancelled.

The Getty provided $445,000 for the exhibition, which is part of the Foundation’s new architecture series “Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A.” An exploration of the last 25 years of Los Angeles architecture, A New Sculpturalism was suppose to feature works by Frank Gehry, Thom Mayne, Michael Maltzan, Barbara Bestor, and a number of young architects. A nearly 300-page exhibition catalogue, co-published by Rizzoli, has already been completed.

Guest curated by Christopher Mount, the former executive director of the Pasadena Museum of California Art, the show may not be fully installed by its opening date. The participating architects have grown wary of the show’s direction and how their works will be presented, which prompted Gehry to withdraw from the show altogether.

The expansive exhibition includes four purpose-built pavilions, which were commissioned from various emerging architecture firms in Los Angeles. There have been some preliminary talks about holding the show later this year.

The nonprofit Architectural League of New York is the latest party asking the Museum of Modern Art to reconsider their decision to raze the former home of the American Folk Art Museum. The organization wrote an open letter signed by members of its board of directors to MoMA on Monday, April 22, 2013. Prominent architects such as Richard Meier, Thom Mayne, Steven Holl, Hugh Hardy, and Robert A.M. Stern voiced their support against the demolition of the building, which was designed by notable New York-based architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.

The monumental building, which features a sculptural bronze façade, was erected twelve years ago on West 53^rd Street by the American Folk Art Museum. After the institution fell into financial turmoil, the building was sold to MoMA and the Folk Art Museum moved to a smaller location. Now, as plans for an expansion gain steam, MoMA has announced their decision to level the building. Officials justified the ruling by claiming that the Folk Art Museum’s former home didn’t mesh with MoMA’s sleek glass façade and that structure’s location was logistically problematic as it is slightly set back from MoMA’s main building.

The decision to demolish the structure, which has quickly become a Midtown landmark, has been met with a wall of opposition. Last week, a New Haven, CT resident, Robert Bundy, launched a petition against MoMA’s decision and garnered over 2,000 signatures in a matter of days.

As it stands, MoMA expects to begin renovations in 2014 by which time the Folk Art Museum’s former home will be destroyed.