Star Wars director George Lucas selected Chicago-based Studio Gang Architects and Beijing firm MAD to design his proposed art museum on Chicago’s lakefront, DeZeen reports.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (LMNA) will house the director’s collections, ranging from illustrations to film to digital media.
According to a press release from the museum, MAD was selected as principal designer for the LMNA while Studio Gang will design the landscape and create a landscaped bridge between the museum and Northerly Island, the 91-acre man-made peninsula that houses part of Chicago’s Museum Campus.
From the press release:
Ma Yansong, the founder of MAD Architects, will be responsible for the design and overall concept of the LMNA building. In seeking to connect the interior and exterior worlds, Mr. Ma has designed some of the most innovative buildings in the world including Absolute Towers in Ontario, Canada, the Ordos Museum in Ordos, China and Chaoyang Park Plaza in Beijing, China.
“It is a gift to be able to design the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in a city so rich with architectural history,” said Mr. Ma, a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture. “I am humbled and honored to be given this opportunity to create a timeless design that moves and inspires people just like Mr. Lucas’ collection.”
To connect the LMNA to neighboring Northerly Island, a bridge will be built by the LMNA, at no cost to the City of Chicago. Jeanne Gang, who has spent the past four years transforming Northerly Island from an airport runway to an oasis of greenery, will design the bridge and lead the landscape design for the LMNA.
“We are excited to build upon our current work and collaborate to create a seamless transition between the Museum Campus and Northerly Island,” said Ms. Gang, a MacArthur Fellow. “In keeping with the Northerly Island ethos, our design goal will be to create a combined ecological and urban habitat.”
Related Stories
Museums | Aug 11, 2010
Design guidelines for museums, archives, and art storage facilities
This column diagnoses the three most common moisture challenges with museums, archives, and art storage facilities and provides design guidance on how to avoid them.
| Aug 11, 2010
Broadway-style theater headed to Kentucky
One of Kentucky's largest performing arts venues should open in 2011—that's when construction is expected to wrap up on Eastern Kentucky University's Business & Technology Center for Performing Arts. The 93,000-sf Broadway-caliber theater will seat 2,000 audience members and have a 60×24-foot stage proscenium and a fly loft.
| Aug 11, 2010
Citizenship building in Texas targets LEED Silver
The Department of Homeland Security's new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services facility in Irving, Texas, was designed by 4240 Architecture and developed by JDL Castle Corporation. The focal point of the two-story, 56,000-sf building is the double-height, glass-walled Ceremony Room where new citizens take the oath.
| Aug 11, 2010
Carpenters' union helping build its own headquarters
The New England Regional Council of Carpenters headquarters in Dorchester, Mass., is taking shape within a 1940s industrial building. The Building Team of ADD Inc., RDK Engineers, Suffolk Construction, and the carpenters' Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, is giving the old facility a modern makeover by converting the existing two-story structure into a three-story, 75,000-sf, LEED-certif...
| Aug 11, 2010
Utah research facility reflects Native American architecture
A $130 million research facility is being built at University of Utah's Salt Lake City campus. The James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building—a USTAR Innovation Center—is being designed by the Atlanta office of Lord Aeck & Sargent, in association with Salt-Lake City-based Architectural Nexus.
| Aug 11, 2010
San Bernardino health center doubles in size
Temecula, Calif.-based EDGE was awarded the contract for California State University San Bernardino's health center renovation and expansion. The two-phase, $4 million project was designed by RSK Associates, San Francisco, and includes an 11,000-sf, tilt-up concrete expansion—which doubles the size of the facility—and site and infrastructure work.
| Aug 11, 2010
Goettsch Partners wins design competition for Soochow Securities HQ in China
Chicago-based Goettsch Partners has been selected to design the Soochow Securities Headquarters, the new office and stock exchange building for Soochow Securities Co. Ltd. The 21-story, 441,300-sf project includes 344,400 sf of office space, an 86,100-sf stock exchange, classrooms, and underground parking.
| Aug 11, 2010
New hospital expands Idaho healthcare options
Ascension Group Architects, Arlington, Texas, is designing a $150 million replacement hospital for Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, Idaho. An existing facility will be renovated as part of the project. The new six-story, 320-000-sf complex will house 187 beds, along with an intensive care unit, a cardiovascular care unit, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgical suites, rehabilitation clinic, and ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Colonnade fixes setback problem in Brooklyn condo project
The New York firm Scarano Architects was brought in by the developers of Olive Park condominiums in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn to bring the facility up to code after frame out was completed. The architects designed colonnades along the building's perimeter to create the 15-foot setback required by the New York City Planning Commission.