One of Los Angeles’ most famous museums is getting a whole lot bigger in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
On Wednesday, the Broad, the private museum founded by the late collector Eli Broad and his wife Edyth, announced plans to add 55,000 square feet of space, increasing the institution’s current footprint by about 70 percent. The Los Angeles Times reported that the expansion comes with a price tag of $100 million, nearly as much as the cost of constructing the original buildings.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the architectural firm responsible for the original building, will return to work on an expansion with two more floors, a new venue for live programming and visible storage.
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“I can’t imagine anyone else doing as good a job or caring as much,” Edythe Broad said in a statement, speaking of the company.
The Broad was founded in 2015; according to self-reported numbers, the museum receives around 900,000 visitors each year. Today it is known for housing works from the Broads’ collection, which includes many notable pieces by blue-chip artists from Jeff Koons to Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as for staging national and international touring exhibitions. In recent years, the museum has staged famous shows featuring Keith Haring and Takashi Murakami; he is currently planning one for Mickalene Thomas, which will open in May.
“In the short period since 2015, our building has become an icon in the cultural and civic landscape of Los Angeles,” Broad Director Joanne Heyler said in a statement. “With this expansion, we want to further The Broad’s commitment to access contemporary art for all, by offering surprising, engaging and imaginative experiences that celebrate the diversity of our audience and add to the growing vibrancy of Grand Avenue. Eli Broad believed so much and helped make it what it is today.’
The museum said in the announcement that it would break ground on the expansion in 2025, and that the public would be able to visit the expansion by the time the Olympics open in 2028.
