Petersen Auto Museum
Project Details
Owner: Bold Moves, LLC
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Architect: KPF
Project Scope: A Zahner ZEPP/Ribbon System
The newly renovated Petersen Automotive Museum encases a red painted aluminum rainscreen, whose custom corrugated profile wraps the existing structure. This acts as the backdrop for a series of stainless steel ribbons that wind across the exterior. The stainless-steel ribbon assembly made of 100 tons of 14-gauge type 304 steel in 308 sections, 25 supports and 140,000 custom stainless-steel screws.
Photos © Bassett Construction, Inc.
A Zahner ZEPP/Ribbon System
The Petersen Automotive Museum is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles. One of the world’s largest automotive museums, the Petersen Automotive Museum is a nonprofit organization specializing in automobile history and related educational programs.
The remodeled museum opened to the public on December 7, 2015.
“The design has been the subject of much debate… it has been touted as sensational by many from the art and architecture fields for its bold use of a façade and lighting that functions like a mask, transforming an otherwise nondescript Mid-Century box.”
~ Mark Ewing Forbes Magazine
“The exterior skin that’s inspired by the streams of smoke flowing over a car’s grill and hood during wind-tunnel tests.”
~ ENR California
“The signature element of the new façade is an array of curved stainless-steel ribbons flowing over the walls and roof of the museum. They are designed to convey a feeling of automotive speed and strength and echo the aerodynamic curves of smoke trails seen in a wind tunnel test.”
~ Structure
