Built on the site of the former art center, the $50 million eight-story building towers over the campus with its stainless-steel parapets and flying glass canopy.  Inside the 163,000 square--foot center-which was designed to withstand seismic shocks--are galleries, a media-art facility, and studios for sculpture, photography, and painting.

After the Northridge earthquake, UCLA had initially planned to use a $5.9 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make repairs to the 42-year-old building.  But Broad, founder of SunAmerica and one of world's leading art collectors, contributed $23.2 million to the project in 2000.  With an additional contribution of $20.9 million from university funds, UCLA--at Broad's urging--selected Meier to design the new center.

Inaugurating the center are shows featuring work by current faculty, including Chris Burden, Paul McCarthy, Hirsch Perlman, and Lari Pittman.