Getty Center
Chieh-Ling
Yang
Getty Center is perhaps the most
important architecture in the Santa Monica Mountains. It is a unique
attraction; the Getty Center incorporates the elegant design by architecture
Richard Meier. It has beautiful gardens, open spaces, and spectacular views of
Los Angeles. There are six building in the museum. They all built with marble.
When people enter to the Museum, they can see the museum displays with
curvilinear design element that made with travertine squares. The stone-travertine
is one of the most remarkable materials. This beige-colored, rift, textured, travertine
can best reflect the bright Southern California light, the stone reflecting
sharply during morning, and emitting a warmth in the afternoon. According to
the architecture Meier said why he choose the travertine for this project
because it is often associated with public architecture and expresses qualities
the Getty Center celebrates: permanence, solidity, simplicity, warmth, and
craftsmanship. This choice of travertine is successful in the Getty Museum;
light color marble magnifies the temperament of the museum. Travertine can
often see on many commercial architecture due to itself natural design and
color.
The
lobby of the museum is a glass-encased rotunda with deep-brown honed travertine
floors and a circular travertine-clad stairway. Getty center used crude marble
for the stairway because crude marble can have slip resistant. It can prevent
children slip on the floor.
Inside the Getty Center there are a
lot of unique flooring. One of flooring is “mosaic floor with Medusa”,
According to the Getty Museum website, Mosaic floors executed in only black and
white were favored in Italy in the 100s A.D. This floor combines this Italian
black and white style used for the shield with the polychrome mosaic style of
other parts of the Roman Empire used here for Medusa. The Mosaic glass tile
flooring has many advantages. It can imbue the interior with a sense of lavish
luxury, and these tiles can elevate the style of any space. The biggest benefit
is using mosaic flooring is you can arranged the complex pattern and
multicolored tiles. Mosaic is a durable and resistant material; however, they
can be a costly material and difficult to maintenance.
Getty center also use travertine for
the flooring; they install holes in the travertine floor, fixture on top and
bottom of marble column. According to a Journal: Anew installation of 18th-Century
Terracottas and marbles” They mentioned the two elegant marble columns on which
Minerva and Hope Nourishes Love stand look like they were created on purpose to
support these exquisite marble statuettes. The purpose of deep-color travertine
flooring is to make contract with white statuettes. However, travertine tile
floorings have disadvantages of not resistant to damage. If people have young
child and pets in the museum, the flooring could very easily become scratched
or stained.
Natural
light is one of the Getty Center's most important architectural elements. The
exterior wall of Getty Center are made of glass, the walls of glass allow
sunshine to illumine the interiors. They use louvers to adjust the light
inside; the paintings galleries on the Museum's upper level are all naturally
lit. Lighting is really important for how to choose the interior material,
natural light can make the inside of the building look more clear and serene.
Travertine building |
Getty center use the hard Italian
limestone for the wall and the bases of all the building. The director of the
operations of Getty Center think the stone gives a sense of permanence and
beauty. That's why they spend 14 years of design and construction. Travertine
used a lot in the construction of the Getty center. According to the “The Getty
Center’s stone seduces” Travertine also serves as paving for the exterior
arrival plaza and museum courtyard and is used on interior walls and floors,
such as the transitional spaces between galleries.
There are some exhibition hall in
Getty have wood floor. They are usually install where shows the paintings with
bright color, it can make contrast with the wood floor, so the paintings can
present clearly. It is a successful choice of wood floor because hardwood floor
is very easy to maintain and clean, stains and dirt does not stick to it.
Moreover, the color in the hardwood floor will remain the same for a long time.
It also good for people with allergies, hardwood floors do not hold stuff that
can aggravate their allergies like carpet.
Wood floor |
The furniture in the Getty Museum
is fancy and classical, there is an old cabinet that named “ Furiture Fit for a
King” made by French artist Andre-Charles Boulle in about 1675-1680. This
cabinet is made of ivory, brass, bronze, wood and pewter. According to the
article on the Getty website, this cabinet was made more than 300 years ago in
France. These materials such as wood and ivory, and of the cabinet have
advantages of persistent and durable, so this artwork can be appreciate by
everyone after 300 years later.
There is a elegant table that
made with Rosso di Verona marble, this marble is a beautiful reddish-colored
marble. This table is inspire on a classical roman design and use in
refectories. This marble was carved that it can also be a decoration material
in the house.
In
a conclusion, the use of materials and product in Getty Center is successful
because they are durable and beautiful. From visiting the Getty Center I
learned that every material in a building is important, interior designers have
to understand the chrematistics of different materials so that they can create
a sustainable design.
3 comments:
I think your choice in the Getty is unique. Many people place so much emphasis on the art that they fail to acknowledge the design and architecture of museums. The Getty's structure is its own form of art. The materials used in the making of the museum reflect its historical content. I have not been to the Getty but it sounds beautiful. Its definitely on my list of places to go.
The Getty is so amazing and can be seen up on the hill for miles away (on a clear day). The architecture of the building is the perfect way to display art without taking away from the art, however the building itself is a work of art. The choice of heavy stone creates a sense of permanence, dependability, and security for the priceless artwork it holds inside.
You described the architecture of this iconic building very well. It is one of my favorite buildings in California. I loved the structure so much that I can barely remember the actual exhibits from my visit.
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