This branch of the museum of Contemporary Art was actually its original location. Opened in 1983 as a temporary exhibition space while Arata Isozaki constructed the main facility over on Bunker Hill, the Temporary Contemporary became just too well loved to fade away.

The challenge of converting this former hardware store garage, secreted in a dead end in Little Tokyo, was left in the capable hands of renowned California architect Frank Gehry. Gehry’s knockout renovation concentrated on the building’s original and historical elements.

The subtle, unpretentious renovating combined with the building’s open plan and vast spaces, wowed visitors and critics alike, prompting the museum board and the City of Los Angeles to keep it open. The intriguing building is now used primarily for  MOCA’s more sprawling and avant-garde exhibitions.