The Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, hailed as the largest purpose-built, naturally lit, open-plan museum space in the world, will be opened to the public on 2 October 2010. The new building, designed by Renzo Piano, founder of Renzo Piano Building Workshop, is a large single-storey, flexible space with uneven windows and slats that allow ample amounts of natural light to flow into every corner of the building, saving energy and illuminating the beautiful works of art.
The Resnick Pavilion, a key feature of LACMA’s revitalisation and expansion scheme named ‘Transformation’, dramatically expanded the museum’s exhibition space and also further unified the western half of the museum’s twenty-acre campus. When it opens, the pavilion popularly known as the ‘Baby Piano’, will house a trio of exhibitions that highlight both the diversity of the museum’s encyclopaedic collection and programming, as well as the flexibility of the new building.
The building is named in honour of long-time patrons Lynda and Stewart Resnick, whose $45 million donation was the lead gift in Phase II of LACMA’s Transformation campaign. The Resnicks’ generosity was further demonstrated by their promise of works of art valued at $10 million.
The museum’s Broad Contemporary Art Museum building located on the other side of the campus is also designed by Piano by integrating white travertine facades, bright red duct-work and glass ceiling illuminating the space with natural light.
