Drawing, J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles: Site Study 1

This preparatory drawing provides an especially interesting and revealing glimpse into architect Richard Meier’s design process. Meier is one of the preeminent architects of the late 20th century and the Getty Center is unquestionably Meier’s most ambitious and most celebrated creation. This early drawing of the Getty’s complex layout shows the architect developing the orientation and regulating grids for the architecture, which are based on the 22.5 degree angle of the San Diego Freeway as it comes from the south and bends to the north below the Center. This is also the same angle as the two intersecting ridges that run through the complex. Superimposed on the two orientation lines, Meier has set two grids on which he has begun to lay out a grouping of museum pavilions and a visitor arrival area. Although the museum’s collection includes prints by Meier, this drawing, together with another drawing proposed for acquisition, would be the first drawings by Meier to enter the collection. As a pair, they make a great addition to the museum’s collection of contemporary architectural drawings and prints.