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    Berlin/Los Angeles: Space for Music

    April 25–July 30, 2017

    Getty Research Institute

    Color photo of the gold-tiled façade of the Berlin Philharmonic on the left, and color photo of the stainless steel, exterior of Walt Disney Concert Hall on the right.

    (Left) External view of the Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin, 2017. Hans Scharoun, architecture, 1963
    (Right) Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. Frank Gehry, architecture, 2003. Carol M. Highsmith, photograph, n.d. Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

  • Visionary watercolor sketch primarily in blue and green hues.

    Sketch, Hans Scharoun, ca. 1940s. Akademie der Künste, Hans-Scharoun-Archiv, no. 2475. Courtesy Akademie der Künste, Berlin. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

  • Color photo of the stainless steel, curvilinear exterior walls at the apex of Walt Disney Concert Hall.

    Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. Frank Gehry, architecture, 2003. Carol M. Highsmith, photograph, 2012. Courtesy of The Jon B. Lovelace Collection of California Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

  • Black and white photo of a plywood construction model of a cross-section of the interior of the Berlin Philharmonic

    Construction model of the Berlin Philharmonic, Office of Hans Scharoun, ca. 1958. Akademie der Künste, Hans-Scharoun-Archiv, WV 222 F.161. Courtesy of Akademie der Künste, Berlin

  • 3D Printed Model of the Berlin Philharmonic

    3D Printed Model of the Berlin Philharmonic, 2017. Produced by the Fraunhofer Institute. © J. Paul Getty Trust
    Note: Watch this model rotate on your desktop computer.

  • Color photo of the gold-tiled facade of the Berlin Philharmonic and one of its distinctive porthole windows in early afternoon light.

    External view of the Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin, 2017. Hans Scharoun, architecture, 1963

  • Print of one of Frank Gehry's pen and ink sketches of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which features views of the performance space.

    Print of a conceptual sketch, Frank Gehry, 2003. From Walt Disney Concert Hall Portfolio, 2009.PR.3

  • Black and white photo of Hans Scharoun dressed in a suit, standing at his desk consulting blueprints.

    Portrait of Hans Scharoun, Gurt Schütz, 1957. Landesarchiv, K01199. Courtesy of Akademie der Künste, Berlin

  • Black and white photo of Frank Gehry working with Michael Maltzan on a scale model of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

    Frank Gehry (right) working on a model for the Walt Disney Concert Hall with Michael Maltzan, ca. 1990. Frank Gehry Office, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP

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    Colored pencil and pastel drawing of the interior of the Walt Disney Concert hall.

    Interior drawing of Walt Disney Concert Hall, Carlos Diniz, ca. 2001. Courtesy of Carlos Diniz Archive, Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara
    Audio: Excerpt from Igor Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Los Angeles Philharmonic performance in January 2006 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Audio clip provided courtesy of Los Angeles Philharmonic and Deutsche Gramophon

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    Black and white photo of the interior of the Berlin Philharmonic at the opening night performance in 1963.

    Opening night performance, Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin. Hans Scharoun, architecture, 1963. Reinhard Friedrich, photograph, 1963. Akademie der Künste, Hans-Scharoun-Archiv, WV 222 F.38. Courtesy Akademie der Künste, Berlin
    Audio: Excerpt from Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony no. 9 in D Minor, op. 125 (1824), conducted by Herbert von Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic during the inaugural concert (1963), provided courtesy of the Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker and Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv

Berlin/Los Angeles: Space for Music

April 25–July 30, 2017, Getty Research Institute

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This exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the sister-city partnership between Berlin and Los Angeles by exploring two iconic buildings: Hans Scharoun's Berlin Philharmonic (Berliner Philharmonie, built 1960–1963) and Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall (built 1999–2003). Both buildings have captured the public's imagination and become signature features of the landscape of each city. Focusing on the buildings' extraordinary interiors and exteriors, Berlin/Los Angeles: Space for Music brings together original drawings, sketches, prints, photographs, and models to convey the architects' design processes. The parallels demonstrate how the Berlin Philharmonic and the Walt Disney Concert Hall were pivotal in fostering a strong resonance between architecture and the city.

RELATED EVENTS

Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles Special Performance

Sunday, May 21, 2017, 4:00 p.m.
Harold M. Williams Auditorium, Getty Center

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Choreography of the City: Hans Scharoun's Philharmonie as a Landscape of the Mind

Lecture by Kurt Forster
Wednesday, July 12, 2017, 7:00 p.m.
Museum Lecture Hall, Getty Center

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In Conversation: Frank Gehry and Kurt Forster

Wednesday, July 19, 2017, 7:00 p.m.
Harold M. Williams Auditorium, Getty Center

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Gallery Tours

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:00 p.m.
April 25–July 27, 2017
(Note: no tour on July 4)

EXHIBITION CHECKLIST

Press Kit

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