USC Architecture Dean’s CreativeTalks: LACMA Director Michael Govan and Dean Milton S. F. Curry

Since his arrival at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2006, Govan has galvanized the century-old institution. In addition to acquiring more than 27,000 works for the permanent collection, he has overseen the transformation of the 20-acre campus with buildings by Renzo Piano and monumental artworks by Chris Burden, Michael Heizer, Robert Irwin, Barbara Kruger. He is now in the midst of his most ambitious project: the demolition of four structures (three designed by William Pereira, and the Art of the Americas buildings by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer) to be replaced by a monolithic concrete and glass structure raised one level above the ground and spanning Wilshire Boulevard. The project, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor and estimated to cost more than $600 million, has garnered support from donors and county leaders but mixed reviews from the architecture community; and consternation from some art enthusiasts who worry that Govan is dismantling the museum’s encyclopedic collection. Govan is also leading the expansion of the museum into satellites in less affluent parts of LA. He will talk about all of this and more in a conversation with Milton Curry, dean of USC’s architecture school.