On the hilltop.

These fragmentary statements by Richard Meier, over a decade ago, have heralded what we see today.

'In my mind's eye, I see a classic structure, elegant and timeless, emerging, serene and ideal from the rough hillside, a kind of Aristotelian structure within the landscape.'

'Sometimes I think that the landscape overtakes it, and sometimes I see the structure as standing out, dominating the landscape. The two are entwined in a dialogue, a perpetual embrace in which building and site are one.'

'In my mind, I keep returning to the Romans - to Hadrian's Villa, to Caprarola - for their sequences, their spaces, their thick-walled presence, their sense of order, the way in which building and landscape belong to each other.'

'Besides its topography, the most powerful aspect of the Getty site is the quality of light that is natural to it, which is astonishingly beautiful. That clear, golden California light is ... intoxicating to an Easterner. I long to make walls that have openings for the glorious light to flood through, casting crisp, delicious shadows. I am eager to see built structures set against that brilliant blue sky of southern California.'

'I can envisage a complex based on a horizontal layering of spaces, interconnected around courtyards on different levels, large and small rooms opening out to the landscape, a series of interior and exterior spaces that relate both to the site and to the nature of the [art] collection.' (Richard Meier, 12 October 1984, New York)

THE GETTY CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA ARCHITECT RICHARD MEIER & PARTNERS, ARCHITECTS

Arriving in Los Angeles by aeroplane, or approaching the Getty citadel by freeway from north or south, by both day or night, the acropolian form is immediately visible - a massive stone, metal and glass complex crowning its hilltop and set among a grid of over 3000 California live oaks that otherwise cover the natural undeveloped slopes. The presence of the Center is all pervasive in its city context.

Having reached the site entry by vehicle, the circular arrival court is controlled by two cylindrical kiosks in white steel signalling Meier's presence, then you enter the first level of the six floor/1200 place parking structure, buried in the hillside base, alongside and below the San Diego Freeway. Huge lifts provide the transition to the train station, one level above.

The station, with its double barrel-vaulted roof, is the first introduction to both the journey as an event and to the travertine flooring and superb square-cut box hedges used extensively in the main buildings. It also serves to signify the luxurious quality that underscores the whole undertaking - even the floors of the station's rest-rooms are in black-veined white marble, with exquisite stainless-steel installations.

As the silent white automated trams depart and slip under the station roof-vaults, the distant view of the citadel is suddenly framed and revealed. The ensuing serpentine climb of the tram track then takes over and provides constantly changing vistas of both the building clusters and the freeway, and Los Angeles itself, spreading southwards below.

The upward journey is both symbolic - reminiscent of the ascent to the Acropolis in Athens and the Alhambra at Granada - and a peaceful, contemplative interval (a client requirement) between the speed of the freeway, leaving the car behind, and anticipating the peace and splendour of the arrival at the threshold of the exhilarating complex of architecture and landscape, vistas and sky all in unison.

Arrival

The first physical encounter with the buildings includes Trust Point, the northernmost promontory (the helipad with its terraced gardens), and the curvilinear foyers of the 450 seat galleried conference auditorium.

And then again suddenly, the magnificent arrival plaza (pp34-35) is revealed, flanked on the left side by the north and east buildings and on the right by the restaurant and cafe. The tram comes to rest under an extended white cantilevered steel and glass roof with the adjacent lift marked by an outrigged planar screen, which recalls the 'villa' entrance of Meier's Barcelona Museum (see AR March 1997).

Alighting from the tram, on to the 7 1/2in square hard travertine paviors, the generosity and splendour of this first major public space with its sense of enclosure and activity, offers the promise of much more beyond. Immediately ahead is a truly massive stair of heroic Roman proportions, flanked on one side by terraced levels of abundant planting and a water cascade, and on the other by an equally heroic ramp, which is partly occasioned by requirements for firetruck access to the upper museum entrance and courtyard level.

The elegant proportions of the gently ascending staircase evoke memories of the Spanish Steps in Rome. The stair culminates in the revelation of the almost unbelievable vistas to east, west and south. In the early morning, the all-encircling stone forms are silver, in the evening gold. In the golden California light and the clarity of the pure blue skies - the air at this elevation is especially clear - the effect is very difficult to describe, it has to be experienced: taken together and especially in early evening at sunset, the place is truly elating and heavenly.

The magnificent site, with views to the snow-capped San Gabriel mountains and out into the Pacific panorama which are sensational, the quality of the buildings - their variable geometry and material presence, the promise of the collections within, the climate and the almost monastic sense of elevated peace, combine into a truly phenomenal achievement. Richard Meier's powers in the making of urban space are confirmed in this masterly site plan.

The heart of the museum

From the datum of the main staircase head, one is then confronted with the super-transparency of the white entrance rotunda and the vistas through its huge opening glass walls into the greatest place in the complex - the museum courtyard (p42). At least 390ft in length, and interspersed with events such as bandstand, fountains and trees, this magnificent urban-room is open to the sky, with its long vista southwards to the city and Pacific, and westwards out under the colonnaded loggia of the skewed cubistic form of the special exhibits gallery to Catalina Island and the void cylinder of the Research Institute. The museum cafe terrace enjoys spectacular vistas below.

The rotunda itself, always flooded with changing arrays of light (p43), is flanked by cloakrooms and a bookstore and opposite, two beautifully crafted, maple-panelled orientation theatres.

Two principal routes to the museum galleries then emerge. One is to step out into the court and go to the first cluster of galleries (north pavilion) from its related entrance and thereafter to rotate through the 30 x 30ft rooms of the nine-bay, atrium-centred square, with variants, interlinked at court level. This route extends around the court and culminates in the western pavilion with the decorative arts. This route also contains sculpture, illuminated manuscripts and photography.

The gallery typology fits into a 30 x 30 x 30ft cubic matrix and offers a range of volumes from square to rectangular 1 1/2 or 2 bay units with optional sectional profiles and skylights which, on the first floor, give delicately controlled natural daylight.

The alternative route (to the upper galleries) emerges by going up the grand travertine and steel staircase in the rotunda and then proceeding by a series of vestibules, verandas and loggias, with resting places, through the paintings collection. This route is broken by an extensive roof terrace, with planting and shade pergolas at the southern corner, where it is possible to serve refreshments or give a party. Yet again, from this elevated, privileged retreat the vistas are even more sublime, in every direction.

A web of incidents

Any sense of museum-fatigue is virtually eliminated by the thoughtful incidence of gallery seating, resting spaces, atria, break-out roof terraces and astonishing vistas.

The upper level route is broken at the southern pavilion where one descends to the courtyard, experiences the circular fountain and then ascends again, by staircase or lift, to the museum exhibition pavilion for special exhibits and loans. In turn these are linked by an external gallery - a breezeway - a favourite Meier device that occurs over and over again from the early Saltzman House, through the Weishaupt Forum (AR March 1994) to culminate in the Getty.

At this upper level, flanking the rotunda, are the museum director and the curatorial offices.

Finally, the journey to lunch is a short stroll from the rotunda to the cafe, across the secondary external plaza that links these food facilities and the gardens that introduce the Research Institute and its foyer. Central to this plaza, at 22 1/2 degrees to the main axis of the museum, is a further major descending stair that signals the entry to the fan-shaped central garden and the major prospect of the Pacific Ocean.