The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles - Olafur Eliasson Exhibit
Rehearsal Room for Spatial Imagination (detail), 2024 - courtesy of the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; neugerriemschneider, Berlin
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ARCHITECTURAL TEAM | John Sparano, Anne Mooney, Ludwing Juarez, Jorge Beltran, Jack Somers
PHOTOGRAPHY | Sparano + Mooney Architecture
STRUCTUAL | NAST Enterprises Corp.
In Olafur Eliasson: OPEN, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA becomes a dynamic arena of light, reflection and motion. This survey of works by Berlin-based, Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson reconfigures the building’s architecture through mirrors, prisms and optical devices, inviting visitors to experience shifting visual effects and altered spatial perceptions. The installation encourages movement and engagement, transforming the museum into an interactive environment that foregrounds how we sense light, color and space.
Installation view of Olafur Eliasson: OPEN, September 15, 2024 - July 6, 2025 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
Weather-drawing Observatory for the Future, 2024 - courtesy of the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; neugerriemschneider, Berlin
To help the artist and institution realize the exhibition, Sparano + Mooney Architecture and our team of Los Angeles arts and culture designers assisted with the production of architectural and structural permit drawings used to construct the museum’s new gallery spaces and facilitate the exhibit’s unique parameters, such as temporary partition walls to support artwork and sculpture and to house exhibits including the “Multiple Shadow House” exhibit, “Pluriverse Assembly” and “Kaleidoscope for Beginning at the End” exhibit.
Rehearsal Room for Spatial Imagination (detail), 2024 - courtesy of the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; neugerriemschneider, Berlin
Rehearsal Room for Spatial Imagination (detail), 2024 - courtesy of the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; neugerriemschneider, Berlin
Tomorrow’s Daylight, 2021 - courtesy of the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; neugerriemschneider, Berlin
Specifically, Sparano + Mooney Architecture: conducted constructability and building code reviews to Olafur Eliasson’s design plans; provided design support and generated permitting drawings for tenant improvement renovations to accommodate Eliasson’s exhibits; generated documents to include appropriate dimensions, notes and layouts conforming with current Building Code requirements; obtained required field measurements of existing building conditions for use in preparing permit documents; coordinated with the structural engineer; attended design meetings with the museum and Eliasson’s studio representative; 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.
Pluriverse Assembly, 2021 - courtesy of the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; neugerriemschneider, Berlin
