It turns out LACMA isn't the only museum along Wilshire Boulevard with a transformational renovation planned.
The Hammer Museum announced on Thursday plans to renovate its existing gallery space and to 40,000 square feet of space in the museum's adjoining office tower. The plan would more than double its existing gallery space, including dedicated spaces for collection galleries and a works on paper gallery. Local architect Michael Maltzan, who in the past decade designed the museum’s Billy Wilder Theater and interior courtyard, will oversee the project.
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Though no specific construction timeline was announced, the museum is eyeing a 2020 completion date.
By far the most noticeable change would be along the outside. The Hammer actually has a lovely courtyard at the center its existing space, but you'd never know it from its austere, slate colored exterior. Maltzan's plans will let a little bit of light in, with much larger windows along the museum's Wilshire-facing south facade.
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Currently, most museum visitors would peg the Hammer's main entrance as a series of hallways in the belly of a parking garage. But the new plans call for a proper entryway on the corner of Wilshire and Westwood boulevards. That might not seem like a big deal right now to car-choked Westwood Village, but the museum could find itself directly across from a Metro Purple Line station as early as 2024. The rear entry along Lindbrook Drive will remain with a few enhancements to make it more noticeable.
UCLA, which operates and manages the free museum, purchased the Occidental Petroleum Building in 2015. Under the renovation plans, the Hammer will increase its existing footprint by 60 percent and occupy the first five floors of the Claud Beelman-designed tower, according to the L.A. Times. The renderings call for a space not too dissimilar to the current series of staircases, albeit much brighter and airier with an open bookstore.
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This actually isn't the first time we've seen the announcement of a transformed Hammer Museum. UCLA announced its new vision for the Maltzan redesign in 2001, with construction planned to kick off the following year. While some aspects, like the theater and courtyard cafe, were completed, it's taken until now for the rest of the changes to follow.
The announcement comes right before the completion of the Hammer's renovated third floor galleries, which will open to a collection of Jean Dubuffet drawings as well as "Jimmie Durham: At the Center of the World" this Sunday.
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