Frank Gehry has launched new designs for the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center in Inglewood, Los Angeles, the first permanent, purpose-built facility for Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA), an initiative of the LA Phil founded in 2007. This new building will join Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl as a key hub for the LA Phil's cultural activities.
The design transforms the former branch office of Security Pacific Bank, located at 101 South La Brea Avenue, in the civic center of the City of Inglewood. The light-filled, flexible facility for rehearsals, classes, and performances serving as many as 500 students a year, providing a community gathering space and a cultural resource.
Exterior model view of the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center @ Inglewood, interior concert configuration. Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP
YOLA currently serves more than 1,200 students in South Los Angeles, the Rampart District, Westlake/MacArthur Park, and East LA, with free instruments, intensive music training and academic support, empowering participants to become ‘vital citizens, leaders, and agents of change’.
The new building will enable YOLA to double its student intake and continue working to bring music education to the communities it serves.
Aerial model view of the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center @ Inglewood, concert configuration. Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP
Led by Gustavo Dudamel, music and artistic director, YOLA has become one of the most influential community-based music education programmes in the United States.
‘It’s a privilege for me to work with Gustavo to create a place where students can feel comfortable, secure, and welcome as they learn to express themselves through music,’ says Gehry.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the LA Phil website and the Gehry Partners, LLP website
-
Zaha Hadid Architects’ new project will be Miami’s priciest condoConstruction has commenced at The Delmore, an oceanfront condominium from the design firm founded by the late Zaha Hadid, ZHA
-
This Beirut design collective threads untold stories into upholstered antique furnitureBeirut-based Bokja opens a Notting Hill pop-up that's a temple to textiles, from upholstered furniture to embroidered cushions crafted by artisans (until 25 March 2025)
-
The Peninsula Hotels broadens its artistic horizons with Victoria and Albert Museum partnershipThe Peninsula Hotels and Victoria and Albert Museum announce a multi-year collaboration set to produce world-class art experiences around the world
-
Zaha Hadid Architects’ new project will be Miami’s priciest condo
Construction has commenced at The Delmore, an oceanfront condominium from the design firm founded by the late Zaha Hadid, ZHA
-
A West Austin house invites you to commune with natureWestview Residence by Alterstudio, a West Austin house among trees, makes the most of large windows and open-air decks in a verdant setting
-
Apple’s new Miami store employs the principles of biophilic designApple’s first mass-timber store connects shoppers to nature while echoing the Art Deco architecture of Miami
-
The World Monuments Fund has announced its 2025 Watch – here are some of the endangered sites on the listEvery two years, the World Monuments Fund creates a list of 25 monuments of global significance deemed most in need of restoration. From a modernist icon in Angola to the cultural wreckage of Gaza, these are the heritage sites highlighted
-
Reflections from Los Angeles: a local writer's personal account of the LA firesArchitecture writer and local resident Michael Webb reflects on the devastating 2025 Los Angeles fires and offers his personal account of the events of the last two weeks in California
-
LA Mayor Karen Bass outlines her plan for rebuilding the cityFollowing the devastating LA wildfires, which have destroyed more than 12,000 structures, the city’s mayor has outlined her plan for reconstruction
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Weisblat House, a Usonian modernist Michigan gem, could be yoursFrank Lloyd Wright’s Weisblat House in Michigan is on the market – a chance to peek inside the heritage modernist home in the countryside
-
The architectural ashes of the LA firesAmidst incalculable losses for so many Angelenos we consider the architectural gems lost in the wildfires
