Hollywood's Academy Museum of Motion Pictures to open in December
by Andy Knaggs | 10 Feb 2020
We are creating something that is itself like a movie. You go from sequence to sequence, from the exhibition galleries to the film theatre and the terrace, with everything blending into one experience.
– Renzo Piano
– Renzo Piano
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which has been designed by Renzo Piano, is set to open in Hollywood on 14 December 2020 it has been announced.
The museum will be located in the former 1939 May Company department store, now called the Saban Building, with a spherical building added.
Renzo Piano said: "The historic Saban Building is a wonderful example of Streamline Moderne style, which preserves the way people envisioned the future in 1939. The new structure, the Sphere Building, is a form that seems to lift off the ground into the perpetual, imaginary voyage through space and time that is moviegoing.
"By connecting these two experiences we create something that is itself like a movie. You go from sequence to sequence, from the exhibition galleries to the film theatre and the terrace, with everything blending into one experience."
The 300,000sq ft (91,440sq m), six-floor facility will be the first large-scale museum in the US to be entirely dedicated to the art, science, craft, business and history of film.
It will house 50,000sq ft (15,240sq m) of galleries, theatres – including a 1,000-seat venue named after David Geffen – project spaces, an outdoor plaza, rooftop terrace, education studio, event spaces, a restaurant and a store.
Visitors will also be able to take in views of the Hollywood Hills and iconic Hollywood sign.
The museum will be used to showcase parts of the Academy's collection, which reportedly includes over 12 million photographs, 190,000 moving image items, 80,000 screenplays, 61,000 posters and 104,000 pieces of production art.
According to a report in The New York Times, the project will have cost at least US$388m (€355m, £300m), which could rise to around US$450m (€412m, £348m) with the museum working on a new bond offering of US$100m (€91.5m, £77.4m).
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Hollywood Los Angeles Renzo Piano
It will cover 300,000sq ft (91,440sq m) and be split across six floors Credit: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
A new spherical building added to the existing Saban Building Credit: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
There will be 50,000sq ft (15,240sq m) of galleries, theatres, including a 1,000-seat venue named after David Geffen Credit: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
There will also be theatres, project spaces, an outdoor plaza, rooftop terrace, education studio, event spaces, a restaurant and a store Credit: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Visitors will be able to take in views of the Hollywood Hills and iconic Hollywood sign Credit: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
The facility is set to open in Hollywood on 14 December 2020 Credit: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
05 Jun 2018
Academy Museum appoints Brendan Connell Jr as COO
25 Jan 2018
Academy Museum COO leaves position
28 Sep 2017
Haim Saban donates US$50m as Renzo Piano's Academy Museum of Motion Pictures unveils new plans
20 Apr 2017
Delays and costs stack up for under-pressure Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
03 Jul 2015
Renzo Piano's Academy Museum of Motion Pictures gets go-ahead
12 Apr 2013
US$300m Renzo Piano designed museum underway in Los Angeles
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which has been designed by Renzo Piano, is set to open in Hollywood on 14 December 2020 it has been announced. The museum will be located in the former 1939 May Company department store, now called the Saban Building, with a spherical building added. Renzo Piano said: "The historic Saban Building is a wonderful example of Streamline Moderne style, which preserves the way people
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