Frank Gehry to design new home for LA Phil’s youth orchestra in Inglewood

Even at 88-years-old, Frank Gehry keeps racking up new projects in his adopted home town of Los Angeles.

He’s got several high-profile projects in the pipeline already—new towers on Bunker Hill, a master plan for the LA River, and a retail and housing complex on the Sunset Strip.

Now the starchitect is adding another one to the roster: a permanent home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s youth orchestra in Inglewood, conductor Gustavo Dudamel announced today.

Gehry—the mastermind of the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall, home of the LA Phil— will “transform” an existing 17,000-square-foot building at South La Brea Avenue and Manchester Boulevard. That will “create a central resource for an expanded youth orchestra,” which has a goal of doubling the number of students it serves by 2022.

The new complex will be called the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center at Inglewood.

“The LA Phil is the first orchestra anywhere to take such an enormous step for the future of its community,” Gehry said in a statement. “Thanks to the time I’ve spent with Gustavo, I’ve seen the difference that YOLA makes in young people’s lives.”

It’ll be the second project he is designing for children in South Los Angeles. There’s also his pro bono design for the new headquarters of Children's Institute, Inc. in Watts.