The Getty Center Tram
Otis Elevator Company; Richard Meier and Partners · 1997
Your visit begins with a ride. From the car park at the bottom of the hill a white driverless tram carries you up the slope in about five minutes, gliding almost silently with the freeway on one side and the chaparral and the city on the other. The three cars ride on a cushion of air rather than wheels, an unusual system called a hovertrain, and are pulled by a cable, so there is no engine noise at all. As you climb, the white pavilions of the Center appear above you one by one, and Los Angeles opens out below.
The tram exists because Richard Meier and the Getty trustees wanted the museum to feel separate from the city, a place apart, and the neighbours in Brentwood wanted no traffic on the hilltop. The ride was designed to slow you down, to turn the transition from freeway to art into a small ceremony. Look out to the left as the tram nears the top for the best view of the Central Garden and the museum courtyard, and watch how the buildings shift in colour from grey to brilliant white as the sun hits them.
The system was built by Otis and opened with the Center in nineteen ninety seven. It is free, runs continuously and is fully accessible, and many visitors ride it back down at sunset when the city lights come on. If you would rather walk, a steep path follows the guideway, but almost everyone takes the tram at least once, and it has become as much a part of the Getty experience as any painting inside.
Did You Know? The parking is deliberately hidden at the foot of the hill so that once you step off the tram you do not see a single car for the rest of your visit.
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