The Getty Center - Los Angeles

This is a long blog entry.

After traveling to many cities in Europe and Asia, I've seen many museums. I remember when The Getty Center (near the 405 Freeway) was being built in Los Angeles and when it was finished, most people's comments held The Getty Center in high praise.

After many years, for the first time, I visited The Getty in March (2010) of this year. Big disappointment for me. Here a list.

To get from the parking lot to the museum, you are forced to take a people mover from the parking lot to the museum area. It's a waste of time for the visitors and an obvious waste of money for the upkeep of this small mechanical system. Why not simply build the parking lot next to the museum?

When I first got off the people mover, I needed to find a restroom. There was a hard to locate sign for the bathrooms, which I finally located. I guess the architect never thought that a restroom area close to the dropping off/waiting area of a small mass transit system would be necessary for the convenience of large groups of tourists. What do I know? I’m not an architect, for god’s sake.

However, the bathrooms which I did find and use, have plenty of stalls and have tall ceilings. I do give the architect the credit for building pleasant bathrooms to use.

When I first arrived at this facility, the first thing I wanted to know was the layout of the facility and to find out where the restaurants/cafes were. Of course, there are no guide/maps at the entrance of the people mover or at its exit. You have to somehow, in the middle of many stand alone museum buildings, by osmosis, find the one building with the only information booth which has guide maps of the facility.

When looking at the guide map, the first thing I noticed was the main restaurant’s name which is called, “Restaurant.” As a person who has been in sales, marketing and advertising, for years, I was deeply disappointed in the lack of creativity in the naming their restaurant.

The main restaurant is in a building next to the museum arriving area of the people mover. Of course, there was no signage on the building of the “Restaurant” facing the people mover’s arriving/debarkation area, it is a solid wall with no signage. Without a guide map, the “Restaurant” building looks like another museum building and does not resemble in anyway, shape or form, a restaurant.

In fact, why was the restaurant's building architecture the same as the rest of the museum buildings? Why not make the "Resaurtant" building a unique building? Hasn't the architect ever seen the former Chart House restuartant in Palm Springs? A fantastically gorgeous building for the "Restaurant" and "Cafe" could have been built as a contrast to the museum buildings.

It turns out that the “Restaurant” is on the top floor of the building and a café, called, "Cafe" is in the basement of it’s building. The food in the café, or as they call it, "Cafe" is actually better than average but the tables and chairs in the café leave much to be desired. So it turns out the only sit-down restaurant called, the “Restaurant,” is located in the back (northwest area) of the museum facility.

If one walks past the “Restaurant” and then walks into the entrance of the museum with the information booth, continue walking south and at the end of the facility is an incredible, fantastic view of Los Angeles. From the lookout area, one can see Hollywood, Westwood, downtown Los Angeles, and all the way west, to the coast.

Now while standing on the lookout patio, if one glances back at the museum building, you see a building with almost no windows. What’s the point? Did the architect actually visit the property before designing this facility? The restaurant is in the wrong place. The restaurant was built where there is no view.

Imagine a restaurant (and café) that was built on the southeast end of the property which took advantage of the spectacular view of Los Angeles? It would be an architect's dream to build a fantastic multistoried restaurant with lots of windows for the customers. How about a restaurant where all the walls are glass?

It’s almost as if the architect or the funders deliberately wanted to keep visitors from enjoying this view. They will never tell or admit to their mistake. This, I am sure. But no! There is no restaurant or cafe on the southeast corner of this property.

In fact, the lookout area provided for tourists is a very small patio. How disappointing! However, on the top floor of the most southeast museum building is an almost hidden but beautiful patio with tables and chairs, with a view. This incredible view, at least, allows those in the know, a place where someone or some people can have a nice place for a picnic.

There is at least one place on this museum facility that allows a visitor to relax, enjoy a snack or meal (which they bring on their own) and take advantage of a picnic area with a view of Los Angeles. I'm not sure how this happened. Luck of the draw?

The graphic design of the museum brochure is at best, better than average; however, with that amount of money, the brochure could be much better. Their brochure/map makes it difficult to figure out the names of each museum building, for starters. The brochure does not have the sophisticated look that one would expect with a museum touted as a highly funded “must see” attraction in Los Angeles.

The facility is built on a hillside. So, naturally, the Central Garden is built on a slope. To enter the garden, you begin on a downward sloping sidewalk which zigzags several times over a small stream. At the end of the sidewalk is a large sculpted flowering hedge in the middle of a pond, the dead-end of the garden. Then to get back to the starting point of the garden, a long trek up a steep grade is required. A disappointing garden, at best.

If you are looking for one continuous majestically designed museum building, you won’t find it here. The museum is not one continuous building. There are many smaller separate buildings that make up the museum all connected by outdoor walkways.

The museum buildings are connected with outdoor wide walkways which are very inviting, when walking. These walkways give visitors a refreshing space while walking and tables and chairs have been strategically placed for visitor's use.

I also like the interior of each museum building and the contents of the museum are fun to see and are presented in a proper fashion. A lower café has been designed well for the visitor, with a view to the southwest. At least there is some view from this café.

By the way, did you see their web site? The logo in the upper left hand corner has the words, "The Getty." Okay. Click on the museum tab and it boasts, "J. Paul Getty Museum" and glance over to the right column and see the words, "The Getty Center." It turns out, if I got it right, that the website is for both the "The Getty Center" (just off the 405) and the "The Getty Villa" (in Malibu). Confusing at best.

Now click on the "Contact Us" link at the very bottom of the web site. They list a street address without the name of the facility. Simply go to the United States Post Office website, and they recommend listing the recipient, or company or organizations name first, then the street address and so on and so forth. However, The Getty, is apparently, too lofty to follow United States Post Office's recommendation listing a mailing address.

Actually, since the "The Getty" website is for two of their facilities, why not list both facilities contact information on the Contact Us page? Too difficult or too easy?

The correct way to list a mailing address, per "The Getty" or is it "The Getty Center" or is it the "J. Paul Getty Museum" is to simply list the ADDRESS without the name of the organization or a contact person. Why does any company or organization insist on confusing it's customers and potential customers?