Benedict Canyon is a private art gallery and residence overlooking Los Angeles and organized around a series of pathways that integrate art, architecture, and landscape design into a singular compositional gesture. The building links the experience of the galleries with the city below by juxtaposing art with the natural and urban context of Los Angeles. Built to house a famed private collection, artwork is incorporated throughout the building within the museum-scaled flexible galleries for contemporary art, smaller study areas for smaller works, and large-scale outdoor sculpture installations.

Tracing the entire length of the site, the arrival path gradually ascends before reversing on itself to reveal the gallery’s axial entry and glimpses of the vista beyond. Visitors first encounter an expansive formal lawn perched on a hilltop, with the entry gallery in the distance and framed by a collection of large-scale, outdoor sculptures.

From the entryway volume, the project unfolds to the south, transitioning from public spaces to private galleries and living quarters, and finally culminating in an intimate sculpture garden. Along the garden terrace, the hillside falls away above the dense foliage of the nearby ravine, revealing an expansive view of the city below.

The project is organized as three volumes, linked interior passageways, and exterior courts. Starting on the lowest level, the flexible exhibition galleries are located beneath a large reflecting pool and are lit by a series of skylights crossing the water’s surface. Moving up through the stepped form of the adjacent library, visitors can look back to the entryway, out over the reflecting pools and into the level galleries below. The entry gallery space is housed in the upper volume.