LA’s Getty Museum and Villa house some of the world’s most important artworks in areas prone to natural disasters, including wildfires and earthquakes. CNN learns how the buildings’ design, construction and sophisticated hidden technology help keep these priceless cultural artifacts safe.

Los Angeles

The Getty Center and Getty Villa in Los Angeles are built with extensive safety measures to protect their world-renowned art collections from natural disasters, particularly wildfires and earthquakes. During a recent wildfire incident, staff expressed confidence in the museums' ability to withstand the threat due to their specialized construction.

Key features include fire-resistant materials, double concrete walls, fireproof roofing, and sophisticated air handling systems to prevent smoke infiltration. In the event of a fire, automatic doors isolate affected areas, while seismic mounts and steel frames protect artworks from earthquake damage. These measures are designed to ensure the preservation of priceless artifacts for generations to come.

This museum claims to be the safest place for art during a fire

Around 1030, the fire was first reported. By 1230, it had crossed four miles and hit our back gate. The Palisades fire literally surrounded the Getty Villa. Those of us who knew how the site was constructed, I'm not going to say we were cool as cucumbers, but we had a high level of confidence that we were going to make it through the fire okay. Okay, because both the Getty Center and Getty Villa were designed with natural disasters in mind. Both museums house some of the most important pre-20th century art in the world. And they even claim to be the safest place for art during a fire. The reality is we know where we are. Both of the areas where the Getty Center and the Getty Villa exist are prone to fire. Les Borset was at the Getty Villa's Emergency Operations Center during the Palisades fire. We were surprised that it had moved that fast. The winds were insane. The location of both Getty Museums offer visitors stunning vistas. But it's those same views that put these important cultural institutions at risk during California's ever-expanding and more unpredictable wildfire season. What that implies is that we need to be in a state of constant readiness. And readiness starts with architectural design that prioritizes fire safety. What people see as all this beautiful white travertine actually is designed to be a fire break. When you get off of the tram down here, you land on the Arrivals Plaza, which is a huge expanse. And then you have to come up this big flight of travertine stairs and cross a second plaza before you get to the entry hall of the museum. This is a very well-built building. It is double concrete walls. You also can see that we have a really fireproof roofing with that tile roofing. It's decorative and it's really well protective. On the inside, there are all sorts of unbelievably high-tech things going on. So in the extremely unlikely event that fire actually were to breach the perimeter and get into one of the galleries, doors would automatically shut so that the fire would be isolated within one small part of the museum itself. We have super-sophisticated air handling systems that prevent any smoke or particulate matter from getting in. Fire is an ever-present risk in California, but so are earthquakes. We use all sorts of seismic mounts. You can't see that when you're looking at the works of art. The paintings are all displayed in such a way that if there's a major seismic event, they will be maximally protected. Some of these larger pieces are not only anchored into the floor, but are anchored into a steel frame that's behind that wall right there. We're in Los Angeles. It has earthquakes. We're going to have more earthquakes. These are pieces that are 2,000 years old. We want to make sure they're here for another 2,000.

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