{"id":447312,"date":"2026-02-03T21:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/447312\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T21:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:57:11","slug":"weiss-manfredi-to-transform-la-brea-tar-pits-into-inside-outside-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/447312\/","title":{"rendered":"Weiss\/Manfredi to transform La Brea Tar Pits into “inside-outside museum”"},"content":{"rendered":"

American architecture studio Weiss\/Manfredi<\/a> has released updated designs for the “reimagined” La Brea Tar Pits campus in Los Angeles<\/a>, including a research annexe to the Page Museum and a redesign of the surrounding grounds.<\/p>\n

Announced in 2019<\/a>, the project will encompass linking and expanding existing elements at the historic La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, a 13-acre site that wraps around the Los Angeles County Museum of Art<\/a> (LACMA) and is the “only active paleontological research site in the world located in a major urban area”.<\/p>\n

\"WeissWeiss\/Manfredi has released updated designs for the redesign of the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum<\/p>\n

Weiss\/Manfredi<\/a> will serve as the project’s lead designer, while Gruen Associates<\/a> is the project’s landscape architect, and Kossmann DeJong<\/a> will design exhibits.<\/p>\n

According to the studio, the project’s design was informed by “a close analysis of what is present”.<\/p>\n

\"LaA glass facade will open into Hancock Park<\/p>\n

“The firm’s site plan builds on what is already distinctive about La Brea Tar Pits, reimagining the Page Museum, active excavation sites, and Hancock Park as a single inside-outside museum closely connected to the surrounding landscape and neighborhood,” said the team.<\/p>\n

Plans include the addition of the Samuel Oschin Global Centre for Ice Age Research, a semi-submerged exhibition building that extends the existing subterranean elements of the Page Museum.<\/p>\n

\"LaThe redesign seeks to reorganise the site<\/p>\n

Renderings show a glass facade located under a large circular berm, wrapping around the base of the bas-relief-clad museum.<\/p>\n

An elevated pathway wraps up and over the facade, and creates a small, covered pavilion area where visitors will enter the new annexe.<\/p>\n

Another circular pathway is located at the centre of the site, while others branch off and link to the surrounding grounds.<\/p>\n

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Photos reveal Peter Zumthor’s LACMA museum ahead of opening\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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The studio utilised a “Loops and Lenses” design concept.<\/p>\n

“Our reimagination of the park and museum emerges from a close analysis of what is present, inspiring a commitment to preserve and magnify the park, the tar pits, and the museum as an ever-changing campus for discovery,” said the studio.<\/p>\n

“The La Brea Loops and Lenses form a triple M\u00f6bius strip that links all existing elements of the park to redefine Hancock Park as a continuously unfolding experience,” it continued. “The different themes of the loops embody journeys, with programming that appeals to diverse interests \u2013 from palaeontology to bird watching, from science to play.”<\/p>\n

\"LaA pedestrian pathway will travel over a subterranean pavilion<\/p>\n

Although meandering pathways already travel through the La Brea site \u2013 connecting existing elements such as a lake, a restroom pavilion and the central Page Museum \u2013 the landscape design will seek to streamline the pedestrian experience, while adding elements such as an outdoor amphitheatre and exhibition sites.<\/p>\n

According to the team, the site has not been “renovated or considered comprehensively” since it first opened in 1977.<\/p>\n

\"LaA research building will be added to the existing Page Museum<\/p>\n

Efforts are now focused on raising the funds to break ground, with the team hoping for completion in time for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.<\/p>\n

Previous designs showed a spiralling building<\/a> added to the site, although it has since been pared down. The La Brea site sits next to LACMA, which was recently renovated by architect Peter Zumthor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The images are courtesy of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American architecture studio Weiss\/Manfredi has released updated designs for the “reimagined” La Brea Tar Pits campus in Los…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,2356,229,88,3031,6049,68919,64879,64880,64881,24,210175],"class_list":["post-447312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-california","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-los-angeles","tag-museums","tag-parks-and-gardens","tag-sectionall","tag-sectionarchitecture","tag-sectionnews","tag-usa","tag-weiss-manfredi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}