On the afternoon of June 27th local time in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to approve the $1.5 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art designed by MAD.

George Lucas, his wife Melody Hobson, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles City Council members

George Lucas, founder of the Lucas Museum, and his wife Mellody Hobson attended the meeting together. Lucas described the museum's vision to the city councilors, emphasizing the importance of visual arts, including filmmaking. Lucas said: "The museum will not only focus on movies, but also on the overall history of narrative art from cave paintings to the digital film era. I hope the museum can inspire people to break the rules, jump out of the limitations of thinking, imagine anything possible and impossible, and build a legendary legend that closely connects the city and people."

George Lucas's speech review:
- I grew up here (Los Angeles), this is where I studied film and learned crafts. Basically, I started my career in college.
- I realized that people have forgotten the concept of narrative art.
- The display of narrative art not only attracts people emotionally, but also inspires people to think about "who I am".
- Narrative art is about social beliefs.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti publicly stated: People come to Los Angeles from all over the world, hoping to be inspired by the art here, and hope to see those dreams come true through "storytelling". The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will contribute another world-class art institution to the existing cultural soil of Los Angeles; it will also add a shining architectural pearl to the Expo Park. I am honored to work with George Lucas and Mellody Hobson to bring this unparalleled gift to Los Angeles - and I also applaud the City Council for their unanimous vote to approve this treasure in South Los Angeles. This museum will benefit Los Angeles citizens and tourists who come to Los Angeles for generations.

Many international and American mainstream media have paid attention to this news.

The Lucas Museum is located in the Los Angeles Expo Park, a famous cultural area in Los Angeles, where many landmark buildings are located, including the Los Angeles Arena and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. The museum is like the gateway to the Expo Park, welcoming citizens and tourists from all directions to visit the cultural paradise of the Expo Park. It is like a future warship, resisting the gravity of the earth and floating in the air; the huge open space on the ground floor in the middle of the building can be used by pedestrians, like a door to the future, and at the same time, the ground space is returned to the public, where people can exercise and rest.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Ma Yansong said, "(Lucas Museum) is a cloud full of knowledge, waiting for people to explore."

The museum is expected to start construction at the end of 2017 and be completed and put into use in 2021.

The Lucas Museum will be the first museum in the world to focus on narrative art. The collection will display pure art, as well as popular art from illustrations to comics; it will also show the world the film creation process and the unlimited potential of digital media.

In 2014, the Lucas Museum held an international design invitational competition. Ma Yansong, as the only architect from Asia, defeated a number of international architectural firms and became the museum's lead designer. The museum's location was originally Chicago, and later moved to California. In January 2017, Los Angeles defeated San Francisco to become the final city where the museum was located. Ma Yansong's team also designed completely different museums for three cities within three years.

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art – Chicago (2014-2016)

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art—San Francisco (2016-2017)