Much of the building is slated for demolition As the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla, California, faces renovations that would involve demolition of most of the current structure, a new petition is making the rounds in architecture circles to save the facility?s postmodern addition designed by Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi.
Plans drawn up by Selldorf Architects include the destruction of the museum?s facade and colonnade, both designed by Venturi Scott Brown, as well as the creation of a new glass lobby that would replace the Irving Gill-designed modernist Scripps House as the museum?s primary entrance.
Signatories of the petition include Charles Jencks, Robert A.M. Stern, Toshiko Mori, as well as more than 50 other leaders and students in the field. ?We ask that [the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego] reconsider the value of its existing building and come up with a plan for expansion that is sensitive and respectful to the village of La Jolla,? the petition reads, suggesting that the expansion builds off the existing structure as opposed to demolishing parts outright.

AP Photo/Denis Poroy
Museum goers get a look at the new Venturi Scott Brown-designed designed lobby of the museum at the reopening in March 1996.

The museum was established in 1941, initially occupying the Scripps House built in 1915. A 1996 Venturi Scott Brown expansion brought 30,000 square feet to the space, doubling exhibition space to 10,000...