The Getty Center

Perched on the crest of a hill in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California is the Getty Center. The tram whisked my son and me from the street-level parking lot to the hilltop plaza. Our eyes were immediately drawn to the travertine staircase leading to a white undulating building. It was a blistering hot October day in Los Angeles. My son wished he packed a pair of sunglasses because the reflection cast off the bright surfaces of the buildings and plaza was blinding.

We chose to climb the stairs on the left side, where waterfall steps...

...emitted soothing sounds as sheets of water poured down each step...

… creating a visually cooling effect.

A lead sculpture called “Air” is precariously balanced midway up the steps.

"Air"
Aristide Maillol (French 1861-1944)
Designed 1938, cast 1962

I spoke about the lack of warning notices in my post about the Oslo Opera House, because here in California even sculptures get a warning tag.

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Architect Richard Meier used 16,000 tons of beige Italian travertine stone to cover 1.2 million square feet of surface area …

 

… 40,000 panels of off-white enamel-clad aluminum …

… and vast quantities of glass. The view out of each window and door  is picture perfect:

Water is another important and dynamic surface area in Meier’s design.

Meier allowed the qualities of the site to inform his design. He accentuated the steep terrain…

...defined the space of the campus on the naturally-occurring ridges of the hillside...

Cactus Garden

... used native drought-resistant plantings ...




...and took advantage of the panoramic views of downtown Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean.

The hour and a half we spent at the Getty Center was a great diversion from four days of non-stop college campus tours.