The Getty Center occupies a narrow, hilly stretch high above the San Diego Freeway in Los Angeles California. Jutting southward from the Santa Monica Mountains, the museum’s acropolis-like stature affords spectacular views over the city, the mountains, and the ocean.Photography: Wikimedia Commons “Vanderven”Coined, “the commission of the century”, this $1 billion arts facility began in 1984 with the mandate to advance knowledge and nurture critical seeing through the growth and presentation of its collections and by advancing the understanding and preservation of the world’s artistic heritage. Today the Museum’s permanent collection contains Greek and Roman antiquities, 18th-century French furniture and European paintings, and is visited by more than 1.8 million people a year.Photography: scott frances estoCompleted in 1997, Richard Meier’s program brings the seven components of the Getty Trust into a coherent unity, while maintaining their individual identities. The layout establishes a dialogue between the angle of intersection and a number of curvilinear forms that are largely derived from the contours of the site infected by the Freeway, the metropolitan grid, and the natural topography; the overall parts relate to both the City of Los Angeles and the Santa Monica Mountains. The Center covers almost 100,000 square feet of area and is organized along two ridges in the topography of the 110-acre parcel.A...