Visit Museum Row then head east for cool galleries, studios, swanky lofts and creative spaces
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Los Angeles may be the storied location of a rich film, music and cultural scene, but there is also a treasure trove of art and architecture to be found in the city’s buildings, museums and galleries. Downtown LA is home to the art galleries, creative studios, local boutiques, and chic eateries of the trendy Arts District, as well as vibrant Bunker Hill, an epicentre of high-caliber creativity and stunning architectural complexes.
Artist Zone
One of downtown Los Angeles’ hottest neighbourhoods, the Arts District, is a buzzy urban hub for creatives. Converted warehouses and factories in the former industrial zone on the eastern edge of downtown are now filled with cool galleries, studios, swanky lofts and creative spaces.
The complex’s on-site eatery Manuela is the perfect spot for lunch (or brunch on the weekends) after a gallery visit. The Southern-inspired menu features eggs plucked fresh from the resident hens in the onsite chicken coop – paired with cream biscuits hot from the oven, oozing with butter, and the prettiest pink watermelon mocktails.
For dinner head to nearby Michelin Bib Gourmand Rossoblu – a former industrial space turned Italian eatery in the Fashion District. The fresh handmade pasta and in-house butchery and salumi program is an ode to Chef Steve Samson’s childhood summers in Bologna.
Up on the roof, Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard leans into a Peruvian-inspired menu at Cabra, where pork shank is served crispy and salmon comes three ways – skewered, in a ‘handroll party’ or as a ceviche with pistachio and avocado.
In the morning, grab the Hoxton breakfast bag left hanging outside your door or head to nearby Grand Central Market to fuel up for the day at Eggslut. From there take the one-minute ride up Angels Flight, the world’s shortest railway, to Bunker Hill.
Art World, Pop Culture Division
The stunning 4,645-square-metre building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (architects of New York’s High Line and The Shed) is known as the ‘cheese grater’ because of its gleaming facade. A 32-metre escalator whisks visitors up to the third floor where a honeycombed 7-metre high ceiling reveals 318 north-facing skylights that open and close to control light.
Here you’ll find well-known pieces from Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Picasso; monumental works such as Robert Therrien’s supersized Under the Table; and a room dedicated to Andy Warhol.
Tip: Take the stairwell back down to get a glimpse through glass panels into the vault where the entire collection is housed onsite. New pieces are rumoured to be purchased every week.
The main floor is dedicated to Los Angeles artists and Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room (tickets for this are released online once a month).
At the chic Conrad, you’ll find two of world-renowned chef José Andrés restaurants. Agua Viva on the 10th floor is a breezy open-air terrace perched above the cultural corridor with incredible views over the city and boho-chic beach club vibes courtesy of honey-hued wood, beige and white palette, hanging wicker lanterns, and outdoor fire pits. Dine al fresco on jumbo baked crab Croquetas; beet gazpacho, poured at the table; Peruvian scallops with heirloom carrot aguachile and mandarin; and ‘build your own’ sushi handrolls.
Museums by the Mile
The largest art museum in the western U.S. with a collection of 152,000 objects on a eight-hectare site, the LACMA is undergoing a huge expansion. The result will unify the buildings, including its centrepiece Broad Contemporary Museum (BCAM, the city’s other Broad), and a new home of LACMA’s permanent collection, the sweeping 32,284-square-metre David Geffen Galleries, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor, scheduled to open this year.
The Renzo Piano-designed Broad Contemporary is a buffet of modernist works by Warhol, Picasso, Diego Rivera, Edgar Degas, David Hockney, Magritte, Henri Matisse, Marcel Duchamp and Alberto Giacometti. The list goes on. A must see on any contemporary art lover’s itinerary. Admission is free.
Cinephiles won’t want to miss the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. This movie history hot spot dedicated to the arts, science and artists of movie making opened in Sept 2021. The visually stunning ultramodern 23,225-square-metre building, another Renzo Piano design, contains six floors of state-of-the-art exhibition space that takes you inside more than a century of movie making and allows you to get up close to iconic cinematic artifacts.
The scene for a Century
Just four miles from the Academy of Motion Pictures, another LA landmark – the recently revamped Fairmont Century Plaza – is ready for its close up.
The temple of old Hollywood glamour, listed on the US National Trust for Historic Places, sits on what was the backlot of 20th Century Fox (owner William Fox bought it for the Studios’ back lot in 1925). The Minoru Yamasaki-designed mid-century modern hotel originally opened its doors in 1966. New retractable floor-to-ceiling glass lobby doors re-opened in 2021 after an extensive five-year, US $2.5 billion makeover, the 726 rooms renovated into just 400, with luxe interiors by Toronto’s Yabu Pushelberg and Jaume Plensa’s 7-metre tall mesh sculpture Laura, floating weightless in a pool of water at the front of the building.
Also on the lower level is the vast ballroom which has hosted the Emmys, Grammys, Screen Actors Guild Awards, state dinners, and luminaries from presidents to royalty. Richard Nixon held a state dinner here to celebrate the moon landing and Ronald Reagan stayed so often it was dubbed the Western White House.
The dinner menu transports you to 1920s Paris with duck confit on parsnip hash-brown and celery and chestnut puree; escargot with spinach, parsley and absinthe; towers of fresh seafood; and crème brulee to die for; while the French patisserie at the front has delicious options for breakfast, including freshly baked baguette with French beurre de baratte and olive oil jam.