The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Adrián Villar Rojas Exhibit
Installation view of Adrián Villar Rojas: The Theater of Disappearance, October 22, 2017 - May 13, 2018 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Photo by SPARANO + MOONEY ARCHITECTURE.
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ARCHITECTURAL TEAM | John Sparano, Anne Mooney, Ludwing Juarez, Jorge Beltran
PHOTOGRAPHY | Sparano + Mooney Architecture
STRUCTURAL | NAST Enterprises Corp.
Adrián Villar Rojas: The Theater of Disappearance radically transformed The Geffen Contemporary into an immersive, speculative environment that reimagined the museum as a site of future ruins.
Known for his monumental, site-specific installations, Villar Rojas altered the architecture of the space and filled it with sculptural assemblages made from concrete, clay, organic material and everyday objects. The result resembled an abandoned excavation, evoking themes of decay, extinction and the fragile temporality of cultural memory.
Visitors moved through a world suspended between past and future, where permanence and disappearance coexisted.
Installation view of Adrián Villar Rojas: The Theater of Disappearance, October 22, 2017 - May 13, 2018 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Photo by SPARANO + MOONEY ARCHITECTURE.
Installation view of Adrián Villar Rojas: The Theater of Disappearance, October 22, 2017 - May 13, 2018 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Photo by SPARANO + MOONEY ARCHITECTURE.
Sparano + Mooney Architecture provided design support collaborating with the museum’s Exhibition Production group and artist Adrián Villar Rojas and his studio. We designed gallery areas within the architecture providing designated paths of travel around strategically-located monoliths and partition walls while ascending down a 3’ elevation. In addition, Sparano + Mooney Architecture worked with the structural engineer to design architectural support for specialized monoliths and 15’ tall x 18” wide partition walls. Gallery areas were designed to comply with present building code requirements for construction and accessibility.
Sparano + Mooney Architecture generated permitting drawings for tenant improvement renovations to accommodate Rojas’ exhibits; attended design meetings with the museum’s Exhibition Production group and the artist’s studio; prepared a building permit application and submitted permitting documents to the Building Department and Fire Department for approval; and attended plan check review meetings to obtain the necessary building permit issuance while also providing support during exhibit construction.
Installation view of Adrián Villar Rojas: The Theater of Disappearance, October 22, 2017 - May 13, 2018 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Photo by SPARANO + MOONEY ARCHITECTURE.
Installation view of Adrián Villar Rojas: The Theater of Disappearance, October 22, 2017 - May 13, 2018 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Photo by SPARANO + MOONEY ARCHITECTURE.
