Glorya Kaufman Community Center at The Wende Museum

AUX Architecture’s design uses a unique material palate to amplify narratives that resonate both with the Wende Museum’s interests with our approach to sustainability. The aluminum screen that unifies the old prop house and new construction comes with unusual origins. It was salvaged from a local aerospace manufacturer, who produced it an unnamed project, which was later canceled. Its story echoes with Cold War–era practices that split material contracts for top secret projects amongst multiple suppliers, so no one had a full picture of what was being built. At the Glorya Kaufman Community Center, the reused aluminum serves an illusory purpose: to veil the existing, 2,000-square-foot A-frame while allowing shadowy glimpses of the peaked roofline behind.

Board-formed and smooth cast-in-place concrete expresses primary and secondary structure, creating a richly textured and distinctive face for the center. The new construction adds flexible, light-filled spaces—suitable for art exhibitions, education, or community gatherings. These facilities support the Wende Museum’s commitment to provide free resources to the residents of Culver City and space for community such as the United States Veterans’ Artist Alliance, Culver City Unified School District, the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum, and Upward Bound House.

AUX Architecture located much of the center’s facilities on the second and third floors, leaving the ground level open for easy circulation between two sides of the community garden. Named the Pritzker Plaza, this shady outdoor space presents an opportunity for informal and spontaneous experiences to take place—a metaphor for the kind of free exchange celebrated by the center’s mission.