Architects compete to design Eli Broad’s planned Beverly Hills museum: Is there a “short list”?

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The Architect’s Newspaper reports that it has learned from a ‘source” that there is a “short list” of architects in competition to create a design for Eli Broad’s planned museum in Beverly Hills, to be built as the permanent home for the Broad Collections.

That list, according to the publication, includes local starchitect Thom Mayne, Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Rafael Vinoly and Christian Portzamparc. (In Culture Monster’s opinion, this list is a bit long to be called “short.”)

Broad spokeswoman Karen Denne confirms that there is indeed an ongoing “private competition” for an architect, but denies that there is a “short list.” She also would not confirm that all -- or indeed, any -- of the above names are included on either a short or long list of competitors.

The long and short of it, according to Denne, is that nobody’s telling; that, she says, is why they call the competition “private.”

-- Diane Haithman

Photos, left to right: Rafael Vinoly. Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images; Thom Mayne. Ric Francis/AP; Jean Nouvel. Andrea Comas/Reuters.