The rain came last week and a building sprouted on our campus. Well, the beginnings of a building. Here are a few pics of the early stages of construction of the Resnick Pavilion, which will be completed in 2010. This is just one small corner of the building so far—much more will come.
I love watching buildings go up, especially when I get to see it on a day-by-day basis. Every day in 2007 I walked down Wilshire on my way to work, watching BCAM take shape—first the steel beams; then the exterior walls, panel by panel; and eventually, the exterior stairs and escalator. I'm looking forward to doing it all over again with the Resnick Pavilion—especially because this time we'll have a better vantage point from which to see the saw-tooth roof come together. Already you can see the framework being installed—the frames in piles on the ground all around the building, awaiting their turn to be lifted by crane and put in position.
There was some discussion in the comments to yesterday's post about museum lighting, in which Michael Buitron of Leap into the Void and another reader, Davidsindy, brought up the use of natural light in galleries at the Getty and the Kimbell Art Museum. Likewise, the use of natural light in BCAM's third-floor galleries is, to my mind, the absolute highlight of that building. If you agree then you have reason to look forward to the Resnick Pavilion's completion: picture the quality of light and openness in one of those third-floor galleries—then multiply that by five.
For those of you even more obsessed than I with the pavilion's progress, our Transformation Webcam has been resurrected. See it all in real time! Keep your browser open for the next eighteen months so you don't miss a thing!