More than 350,000 gold-leaf tiles make up the gleaming tower of the Academy Museum.

When the Academy Museum raised the curtain on its long-awaited home at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in September 2021, it welcomed the world into a space dedicated to movies, the people who make them and the magic that happens behind the scenes.

Part historic and part history-making, the museum’s campus blends the classic Streamline Moderne architecture of the former May Co. Wilshire building with a futuristic glass and concrete sphere housing the 966-seat David Geffen Theater. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, the museum is credited for paying homage to the past while looking toward the future.

The former May Co. building, which was renamed the Saban Building, was painstakingly restored during the Academy Museum’s construction. Originally designed by A.C. Martin & Associates, one of the most prominent L.A. architectural firms of the 20th century, the Streamline Moderne building opened in 1939 and was operated by May Company until 1992. With the store’s closure, and the prospect of new development looming at the site, the Los Angeles Conservancy stepped in and spearheaded an effort to save the May Co. building. It was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 566 on Sept. 30, 1992. Following two decades of planning and preparations, the conservancy credits the Academy with saving the architectural treasure and preserving it for generations to come.

The Academy refitted the building’s exterior with new limestone sourced near the original quarry in Austin, Texas, to preserve the character of the Wilshire Boulevard façade. The exterior’s striking gold half-cylinder at Wilshire and Fairfax was meticulously restored. Comprised of 350,000 gold-leaf mosaic tiles, approximately one-third were replaced with new tiles from Orsoni, the original manufacturer in Italy. Piano also preserved the original structural pillars inside the former department store and replaced the concrete northern wall with windows to create an open feeling and transparency throughout the new Saban Building. The architect also built on the idea of contrasts, reflected in the glass-topped sphere that appears to float above the ground just north of the Saban Building.

The sphere was built with curved architectural concrete panels that support a domed glass roof constructed with 1,500 windows cut into 146 different shapes. The Saban Building and sphere are linked with walkways at both the mezzanine and fifth floor, furthering the architect’s ideas for connectivity among different components of the museum campus.

Paying tribute to the origins and history of film and capturing the boundless imagination of the medium was foundational for the Academy Museum. Piano’s design built upon the dynamic relationship between the indoors and the natural world, creating a museum that reflects the past and