Narrator: Find a place along this overlook. Move to your left, and gaze down.
Richard Rand: When the Getty Center was being designed, I think there was a realization that when visitors come up here to the hill, they were really experiencing one of the most magical places in Los Angeles.
Narrator: Part of that magic is the Central Garden, which stretches out before you. On a clear day, it seems to optically expand—blending with sky and city and ocean.
The Getty commissioned Robert Irwin, a Southern California artist, to design the Central Garden. It opened in 1997, along with the entire Getty Center site.
To the Museum, the garden is part of its art collection—and is considered a sculpture. As Richard Rand, the Museum’s Associate Director for Collections, explains...
Richard Rand: Like all works of sculpture, it exists in three dimensions. You experience it with your body, as you interact and walk around it. But of course, it’s unlike any sculpture one normally encounters, because it’s huge, it covers 134,000 square feet, and it’s made out of natural materials.
Narrator: The most dramatic elements are right there in front of you: A line of tall trees clipped like a hedge; an angled path that slices into the lawn. Irwin considered these in relation to the surrounding buildings-architect Richard Meier’s spare yet imposing design. Everything about this garden, from manmade structures to the organic patterns of plants, echo its geometry.
Narrator: Look behind you. See that low wall, with water flowing along a channel?
[SFX: terrace water channel/fountain]
Notice where that water goes. As you continue this tour, you’ll see where it ends up.
To reach the garden from here, take the elevator that’s right next to you. Or look for stairs that lead to the garden. While you’re on this tour, feel free to pause and resume the audio whenever you like, to fully experience the garden.
