Los Angeles County Museum of Art: Architectural Innovation through Base Isolation and Exposed Concrete

Synopsis

The architectural design for the new Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Building for the Permanent Collection features an organically shaped exposed-concrete structure that created significant engineering challenges. The exhibition level is supported by ten reinforced-concrete towers extending from the ground to the roof. The building’s flowing floor plan is formed by a concrete frame using a repeating rhomboid pattern.

Located in Los Angeles, the Museum sits in a seismically active region affected by nearby faults capable of producing Mw 7.0+ earthquakes and by the distant San Andreas fault, which can generate Mw 8.0 events. To protect the valuable art inside, the structure is placed on a horizontal seismic-isolation system using Triple Friction Pendulum Isolators. These isolators, some of the largest ever built at 2.7 meters in diameter, allow up to 1.5 meters of movement. Additional non-linear dampers provide vertical damping during earthquakes.

The Museum is built as a continuous monolithic structure with no expansion joints, requiring careful construction sequencing to limit cracking. This presentation will discuss the project’s key design challenges and the structural solutions that made this unique building possible.

About the speaker

Dr. Alessandro Beghini 

Dr. Alessandro Beghini is a Senior Associate Principal at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). His project portfolio encompasses a wide range of award-winning projects - from some of the world’s tallest buildings to sculptures and specialty structures. Alessandro has established an expertise in delivering structural solutions that are efficient and elegant, working alongside the architectural and building services team. He was part of the team leading the structural design for the Tianjin CTF Finance Center in China, the world’s eight-tallest building at an outstanding height of 530 meters. Other significant collaborations include the work with Atelier Peter Zumthor for the structural design of the LACMA Museum in Los Angeles and numerous collaborations with world-renowned artist Janet Echelman, including the Current sculpture in Columbus, OH and Earthtime Korea, among several other temporary installations.

Alessandro received a Laurea (B.S./M.S.) in Structural Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy; a M. Eng. from the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan and a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.

Alessandro served as Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 2012 to 2016 and has been lecturing, hosting design studios and workshops in several universities over the years. He has co-authored several technical publications on a variety of structural engineering topics ranging from topology optimization to behaviour of fibre composites and fibre-reinforced concrete.

Registration

The event is open to all and is free to attend. Please join the meeting via Teams^* by clicking on this link.

Further information

The talk is organised by SECED Young Members. For further information, please contact Mohamed Elzeadani (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

* Microsoft Teams is freely available on all major platforms, including Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android and iOS. To download and install the software, follow this link. SECED is not sponsored by or otherwise affiliated with Microsoft, and we do not endorse any Microsoft products.