The renowned Beijing architect Ma Yansong and his MAD Architects have been selected as the lead architect for the construction of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Founded by George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, the museum will present a history of moving images “from illustration to cinema and digital mediums of the future”, with a large focus around Lucas’s own creations.
MAD Architects impressed the judges with their innovative design and philosophy of combining urban space and natural landscapes. Ma Yansong of MAD has also created futuristic structures such as the curvaceous Absolute Towers in Mississauga, Canada, and the Ordos Museum in China, and the Chaoyang Park Plaza in Beijing. Meanwhile, Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang has been selected to lead the landscape design.
Ma Yansong said: “It is a gift to be able to design the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in a city so rich with architectural history. 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.”
It remains to be seen how much the architectural design will pay homage to Lucas’s Star Wars aesthetics—from the simplicity of the Death Star to the brutalist Imperial Senate building—or hew more closely to the recent trend of voluptuous spaceship-cum-architectural statements seen in the works of architects from Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, and Ma Yansong.
