The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

The Museum of Contemporary Art, known as MOCA, is identifiable by its sunken, red sandstone-clad design that contrasts with the surrounding glass and steel skyscrapers of Bunker Hill. Established in nineteen seventy-nine, it is the only museum in Los Angeles founded by artists. The Grand Avenue building, designed by architect Arata Isozaki and opened in nineteen eighty-six, features a subterranean layout where galleries are arranged around a terraced courtyard and lit from above by pyramidal skylights.