"[...]Engulfed by new institutional buildings, including a research library, conservation institute and offices, its hauteur feels closer in spirit to the Getty Center, the main museum complex 12 miles to the east, a symbol of bureaucratic self-importance.
Aloofness is certainly not the message that the Getty Trust, which oversees both the villa and the center, wants to send as it struggles with accusations of mismanagement and a criminal case involving the import of looted antiquities from Italy.
But more interestingly, the villa's new image reflects a deeper conflict in the identity of Los Angeles, which has historically enjoyed flouting East Coast traditions. As the city matures and its civic leaders strive to project the sophistication of older, more established counterparts, that sense of cultural independence has begun to fade. And this threatens to tamp down the spirit that made Los Angeles one of the nation's most original architectural inventions.[...]"
Last Exit to Los Angeles, NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF, The New York Times, 20 novembre 2005
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