The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

Frank Gehry's renovation defined The Geffen Contemporary as one of LA's most distinctive spaces for contemporary art, preserving much of the building's industrial character while adapting it for museum use. Originally built in 1947 by the LA firm A. C. Martin & Associates as a warehouse complex for Union Hardware Company, the building was later used by the city before falling largely vacant by the early 1980s. In 1983, MOCA leased the complex from the city for just $1 a year, and Gehry transformed it into a bold and flexible museum space that remains central to MOCA's identity.