After parking in a separate parking structure at the bottom of the hill, we took a tram to the top, where the beautiful, travertine-cladded, 6-building complex awaited. I immediately gave my students the day's assignment, which included drawing both an architecture and a garden detail. They soon got to work. "Why do you guys think Richard Meier selected the color white for the Getty Center?" I asked them. "What was his design intention?"
"Because he wanted the building to be pure."
"Because he wanted everything to match with one color."
"Because he wanted a lot of light in his buildings."
All very good answers. As you may know, Richard Meier was almost obsessed with the color white. It is very apparent in many of his designs. In his words, "Architecture should help reflect changes in nature...I think it (architecture) should help intensify one's perception of the changing colors of nature, changing colors of the day, rather than attempt to have the architecture change." Therefore, "White is the light." -Richard Meier
After about 15 minutes of drawing, they were ready to traverse down to the whimsical garden, the brilliant creation of artist Robert Irwin. After spending some more time drawing and answering a few site analysis questions, the students were ready to go inside the museum, where we viewed original paintings by Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and we viewed some wonderful photography exhibits, including several from the mastermind of Sebastiao Salgado. At the end of the field trip, most of the students were intrigued by the garden, expressing that the garden was their favorite part of the Getty Center. I think my students have very good taste :)
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