Los Angeles – The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art by MAD, a preview

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, 2018 project, image by MAD Architects

Los Angeles – Lucas Museum of Narrative Art by MAD Architects, a preview

The nine-year-old, rather troubled, history of George Lucas‘ new Museum of Narrative Art seems now a step closer to a happy ending.

After an initial proposal to create the museum in Chicago did not find an agreement between Lucas and the city; two alternative designs were subsequently developed by MAD Architects, to move the proposed museum to California, in Los Angeles, or San Francisco.

Eventually, on January 10th, 2017, has been officially announced that the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will be built in Southern California.

With a construction budget of about $1 billion, the 275,000-square-foot museum will be located in Exposition Park, in South Los Angeles’s Promise Zone – not far from the Natural History Museum, the California Science Center, and the Memorial Coliseum. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on March 14, 2018, attended, among others, by George Lucas, his wife Mellody Hobson, and Los Angeles’ Mayor Eric Garcetti, with completion scheduled for 2021/2022.

In early 2018, MAD Architects and the museum’s founders presented a revised design, also disclosing new renderings of the future museum. The revised project also features a modified curved roof and a large, cavern-like lobby.

Three renderings of the 2018 project for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts by MAD Architects

MAD Architects, views of the 2014 proposal for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in San Francisco

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, elevation, image: MAD / Inexhibit

From an architectural point of view, MAD’s design presents the distinctively fluid forms that are the hallmark of the Chinese-American practice, renowned for its futuristic buildings completed in China, such as their Ordos, and Wood Sculpture museums we have already covered in detail on Inexhibit.

Early images of Mad’s Lucas Museum in L.A. show some similarities to the LACMA East Campus extension, designed by Peter Zumthor and currently in an advanced stage of development, such as its imposing curvilinear structure considerably raised over the ground.

The renderings also suggest a strong integration with the park and intensive use of nature-inspired elements and green areas, such as lawns, trails, artificial knolls, and small groves on top of the building.

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, 2014 design, aerial view with the Memorial Coliseum in the background, image by MAD

The museum aims to showcase the 10,000-piece collection of fine art and popular art of George Lucas, which also includes memorabilia from the films of the legendary director and producer, including his Star Wars saga.
The collection’s focus is, of course, on narrative art. But, what exactly is narrative art?
Don Bacigalupi, president of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art gives us a short description: “Narrative art is visual art that tells a story. It manifests itself in every kind of medium, in every culture, in every form that you can imagine”.
Therefore, don’t expect that the museum will be dedicated to, say, European Old Master’s painting; it will be rather a vibrant – maybe questionable, yet intriguing – depiction of how visual arts can tell stories. Something that, admittedly, George Lucas knows better than possibly any other on the whole planet, and even in galaxies far, far away…

As stated on the Lucas Museum’s website, the venue will include 100,000 square feet of gallery space, cinematic theaters, lecture halls, educational spaces and workshops, meeting rooms, a 4,200-square-foot library with various lecture halls, a restaurant, a cafe, a store, underground parking for 1,800 vehicles, and about 7 acres of green areas.