Architecture Design Museum

The A+D Museum is a museum of architecture and design located in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District at 900 E 4th Street. Designer and educator Natasha Sandmeier serves as the museum's executive director and Camille Elston is the managing director.

History

A+D Museum was founded by Stephen Kanner and Bernard Zimmerman in 2001. Kanner was inspired by a similar museum he had visited in Helsinki, Finland.

The museum first opened its doors in January 2001 in the Bradbury Building, located at 304 South Broadway (3rd Street and Broadway) in downtown Los Angeles; a space donated by Ira Yellin. When the Bradbury building was sold in 2003 the museum moved to a temporary location on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. In 2006 it moved to 5900 Wilshire Boulevard; across the street from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In April 2010, the museum moved down the street to 6032 Wilshire Boulevard. Displaced by the extension of the Metro Purple Line, A+D Museum returned to downtown Los Angeles to a former warehouse in the Arts District in the summer of 2015.

Mission

A+D Museum was created to promote an awareness of architecture and design in everyday life through exhibits, educational programs, and public outreach to the design community as well as the public in the greater Los Angeles area.

Community

A+D Museum is an information and education center for design, including architecture, interior design, landscape design, fashion design, product design, graphic design, and film/theater design. It is the only museum in Los Angeles where continuous exhibits of architecture and design are on view. Through exhibits, symposia, multi-disciplinary projects, educational and community programming, A+D serves as a showcase for the work of important regional, national, and international designers, providing a forum for contemporary issues in architecture, urbanism, and design.

A+D Museum is also home to the Stephen Kanner Education Center for Architecture and Design which partners with various organizations throughout Los Angeles to provide students with opportunities for learning, growth, and mentorship. This center serves as a venue for student work, special critiques, charrettes, lectures, movie screenings and ongoing education workshops, including A+D's ARkidECTURE + design program. Partnerships have included Heart of Los Angeles), St. Elmo's Village, the Craft Contemporary, Petersen Automotive Museum and Broodwork.

Background

A+D Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization funded by public donations, government and private foundation grants, and corporate sponsors. A+D is a member of the American Alliance of Museums, the International Confederation of Architectural Museums and is recognized by design industry associations such as the American Institute of Architects/LA, the Industrial Designers Society of America/LA and the American Architectural Foundation.

Notable exhibitions

Key exhibitions define the agenda of the museum and its contributions to the discourse of architecture.
Some of the A+D notable exhibits include:

* Never Built: Los Angeles (07.28.13 - 10.27.13). An illustration of many major architectural designs that were planned for the city but were ultimately never built. The exhibition, which included models, sketches, and renderings from a number of architects including Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, and Jean Nouvel, offered insight into what might have been and challenged Los Angeles' status as a city that promotes architectural innovation.
* After the Flood: Building on Higher Ground (04.18.08 - 06.28.08) featuring an extended update of the exhibition from the US Pavilion at the 2006 Venice Biennale of Architecture curated by Christian Ditlev Bruun showcasing architectural responses to the August 2005 devastation in New Orleans