The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa

The Getty Center and Getty Villa are as much about the architecture as the art collection. Like much art, they are better appreciated with an understanding of their creators’ intentions. Knowing the architects' concept of re-imagining the site as an archaeological dig, puts otherwise incongruous details in context. Oddly placed walls in the Entry Pavilion overlooking the Villa to one side and a concrete courtyard below re-create the sense of looking down into the dig pit - if you know that's what it's supposed to represent.

Stairs from the garage through the Entry Pavilion and the Path to Museum bring you to the top of the Outdoor Theater, from where you can look down to the Villa Entrance. This, again, gives the impression of looking down into the site. But if you don't feel like ascending all those stairs just to climb back down through the theater, the archway to the right as you come up the stairs will take you through the Herb Garden to the Museum entrance. There are also elevators.

Beyond the Villa and Outdoor Theater, between the Auditorium and the Museum Store, a flat, square pool of Chinese black marble collects water seeping from between layers of travertine, bronze, red porphyry stone and board-formed concrete to add to the archaeological concept. The different textures represent the strata of volcanic deposits that covered the Villa dei Papiri when Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79.

An Orientation Tour gives architectural highlights.