Star Wars creator George Lucas announced on Monday the architecture that will work together to design Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which will be based in Chicago.
Lucas has picked Beijing-based MAD Architects firm founder Ma Yansong, best known for the “Marilyn Monroe Towers” in Toronto, to design the building, reports The Chicago Tribune. Jeanne Gang, who designed the Aqua Tower in Chicago, was picked to design the landscape and create a bridge that will connect the museum with Northerly Island.
The museum will be located at the Museum Campus, joining the cluster of Chicago museums and taking up a parking lot area near the Chicago Bears’ Soldier Field. While Mayor Rahm Emanuel pushed hard for Lucas to pick the Windy City, Bears fans have criticized the plans for curring in on their tailgating space. Others complained that it cuts down on open space in the city.
Lucas surprisingly picked Chicago in June. Both Los Angeles and San Francisco made major pushes for the museum and it made sense for those two cities. After all, Lucas grew up in the Bay Area and he romanticized Modesto in American Graffiti. But his wife, Mellody Hobson, is from Chicago and he now spends part of his time there.
The museum will not be completely dedicated to Star Wars, as it will also showcase Lucas’ love of storytelling and his art collection. The designs will be unveiled later this year.
image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com