The Broad - Downtown Los Angeles, California

May 1

Why it makes the list

The Broad is a building that argues for itself before you see a single painting. Diller Scofidio + Renfro wrapped the structure in a honeycomb concrete veil — a lattice that filters afternoon light and peels open at the base like an eye — and then buried the entrance inside a polished concrete cave that funnels you onto an escalator rising through a sculptural tube into the third-floor galleries. The architecture is not decoration. It is the thesis: that how you move through a space changes what you see inside it. The permanent collection — Koons, Basquiat, Warhol, Lichtenstein, El Anatsui — is world-class, but the building earns its place on the list independent of what hangs on the walls. Admission is free, which is rare for a collection of this caliber, and the fact that it sits on Grand Avenue directly across from Walt Disney Concert Hall means the entire block is one of the best architecture walks in the country.