As an educational center and museum dedicated to the study of classical arts and cultures, the Getty Villa serves a diverse audience through exhibitions, conservation, scholarship, research, and public programming. Following an extensive international competition, the Getty Trust commissioned Machado Silvetti to develop a master plan for the site and design the expansion—transforming the Villa from a private museum into an accessible public institution. 

The project includes the remodeling of the J. Paul Getty Museum, a re-creation of a first-century Roman country house, to exhibit the permanent collection of antiquities; the transformation of Getty’s ranch house into a research facility and library; and the construction of new support facilities, public areas, and gardens. The redesigned landscape integrates new components—such as the Entry Pavilion, the Fleischman Theater, the museum café and store, conservation laboratories, a scholar’s library, and educational facilities— with the Museum as the focal point.  

The architecture and site strategy creates a fresh image for the institution through a landscape that unifies the disparate existing structures, new components, expanded gardens, and public spaces. Machado Silvetti transformed the challenging topography into an amenity: visitors now wander through the lush site along the contours of the terrain, connecting the various landmarks and offering privileged views of the Museum, the estate and the Pacific Ocean beyond. 

“The new architecture neither contrasts nor emulates the architecture of the museum building itself, but defines the character for the new Getty Villa site so that it stands on its own while seeking harmony with all the disparate existing structures, steep topography, the gardens, and public spaces.”

— World Architects