As Los Angeles inches away from its car-centric past, the car-focused Petersen Automotive Museum is turning its back on the mid-century autopia too--the converted 1962 department store on Wilshire Boulevard that it calls home is about to get "a complete exterior transformation and a dynamic redesign of the interior," as a press release puts it. Goodbye vertical fins, hello wild ribbons. (Wilshire is the original car-oriented boulevard, but is changing its image as it plans for the arrival of the Purple Line subway.) Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates have designed the new look: "Long ribbons of stainless steel will wrap around three sides and over the top of the deep red building, making a visceral statement that evokes the imagery of speed and the organic curves of a coach-built automobile. At night, the color and forms will be lit from within to accentuate the steel sculpture and act as a beacon in the neighborhood known as The Miracle Mile."
The Petersen also plans to completely redesign the galleries and add 15,000 square feet of new display space; post-reno, the galleries "will feature state-of-the-art lighting, digital displays and immersive learning stations that will tell the stories of the people and machines that changed the world over the past century." The museum has been reorganizing its collection (selling off a lot of cars), and plans to include a mix of "historically significant American and European classics, hot rods, groundbreaking race cars, the latest in alternative fuel technology, cars with Hollywood heritage and even vehicles designed and built in Los Angeles itself." Renderings also indicate there'll be a restaurant. The Petersen is kicking off a capital campaign ASAP to fund the project.
· Here's the Fast and Furious New Look For the Petersen Museum [Curbed LA]
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