Just east of Brand Boulevard in Downtown Glendale, steel cladding is being affixed to the exterior of the Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California.

The museum, which saw its skylight installed earlier this year, will span 51,000 square feet when completed, and house permanent and temporary exhibition galleries on its upper level, with a lobby, an auditorium, offices, and other functions on the ground floor. Gallagher & Associates is leading the design team for the museum's permanent exhibition, which will focus on the Armenian Genocide.

North elevationArmenian American Museum

Alajajian Marcoosi Architects is designing the museum's exterior, which is intended to resemble the jagged rock formations seen in the Armenian Highlands. 

"The facade’s fragmented yet unifying structure symbolizes Armenian communities dispersed around the globe, converging into a single enduring form through the museum’s shared mission," explains a news release.

The steel facade is being created by A. Zahner Company of Kansas City, Missouri.

View from Colorado StreetArmenian American Museum

Completion of the museum in anticipated in late 2026.

That schedule will put the project on track to overlap with the start of work on a planned expansion of Glendale Central Park, which gave up some of its footprint to the site now occupied by the museum.

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