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So great is the subtlety that only scrutiny can identify changes to the existing campus. In seeking the new, the old is seen with freshly opened eyes.

This idea contrasts sharply with Rem Koolhaas's 2001 competition-winning proposal to essentially demolish LACMA's campus and start over. Critical support did not help LACMA raise required funds nor public support, though, and the plan died.

LACMA President Kanschat recalls that "Koolhaas's scheme was imaginative, terrific, and solved a lot of problems on the east side of campus, but it was also going to take LACMA out of commission for public use for at least four years."

Enter Renzo Piano, the only architect to decline participation in the original competition. LACMA wooed Piano based on previous projects, such as the Beyeler Foundation Museum in Basel, Switzerland, and the Menil Collection Museum in Houston, Texas, both of which created high-quality gallery spaces while marrying old and new.

Piano noted in his architect's statement: "I imagine LACMA as a blend of new and old buildings, each reflecting the values of its age. To unite them, we will carve through the site with the precision of a surgeon."

Jernigan agrees wholeheartedly with this approach. "I'm happy that everything isn't new, that I'm able to show my kids the history of the museum and the history of art in Los Angeles, through both the art collection and the buildings."

Hence, the spine still winds between massive buildings and beneath a looming canopy, but now it also descends into and out of the deftly reworked ground floor of the Ahmanson Building via a hopeful facsimile of the Spanish Steps. The low BP Grand Entrance canopy then picks up the trail across the plaza formerly known as Ogden Drive.

"Continuing the reorientation of the old campus and its circulation is how we're going to bring it all together in later phases," Kunstandt explains.

The thoughtful creation of interior galleries and exterior places cannot be negated, but voids do not exist without masses. Currently, the combination of bold and subtle moves on the LACMA campus does furtively reorient the visitor, but criticism of the new physical objects might find the buildings underwhelming and the campus still lacking unity.

Execution of subsequent phases, along with judicious programming of event spaces, therefore becomes crucial to the project's long-term success. The design doctors have successfully replaced a few key slipped discs, but the spine remains to be straightened.

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE At BCAM, as with other recent museums designed by Renzo Piano, a relatively simple building mass and material palette are offset by an expressive roof. Photo: © Museum Associates/ LACMA Extra Large Image Careful detailing and judicious use of color at BCAM result in a well-composed facade. Photo: © Museum Associates/ LACMA Extra Large Image North elevation drawing of the LACMA site, including BCAM. Image: © Renzo Piano Building Workshop Extra Large Image Elevation drawing of the LACMA site along Wilshire Boulevard. Image: © Renzo Piano Building Workshop Extra Large Image Detail section of BP Grand Entrance Pavilion at BCAM. Image: © Renzo Piano Building Workshop Extra Large Image LACMA campus plan drawing. Image: © Renzo Piano Building Workshop Extra Large Image BCAM first-floor plan drawing. Image: © Renzo Piano Building Workshop Extra Large Image BCAM second-floor plan drawing. Image: © Renzo Piano Building Workshop Extra Large Image BCAM third-floor plan drawing. Image: © Renzo Piano Building Workshop Extra Large Image SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Workers install light scoops on BCAM. Photo: © Museum Associates/ LACMA   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.