Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

Ma Yansong/MAD's design for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art serves as a metaphor forstorytelling and imagination, offering a space to explore new possibilities. Ma Yansong, thefounder of MAD, conceived the design as a reflection of Los Angeles's vibrant pioneering spiritand embrace of its diverse inhabitants, representing a celebration of dialogue, understanding,and inclusivity. It stands as a testament to the city's vibrancy, history of innovation, and rich cultural tapestry.

For an institution dedicated to the art of visual storytelling, the design of the campus invites thevisitor on a journey long before stepping into the museum's galleries. The expansive, ever-changing green space-including the park and the trees and plantings across the roof of thebuilding-will continue to evolve alongside its surroundings, symbolizing new chapters and aforward-looking perspective in the narrative of the city. The museum's reflective approachencourages a fluid transition between indoor and outdoor realms, reflecting humans' innatetendency to seek connections with nature. The museum's biomorphic, dream-like form featuresfluid and soft shapes creating a distinctive and recognizable landmark and offering animmersive experience that explores the relationship between nature, society, and the urban environment.

The Lucas Museum’s state-of-the-art building will add to the rich legacy of architectural innovation in Los Angeles. Ma Yansong’s architectural vision creates a building which is an organic sculptural form in a park that pushes the boundaries of architecture and creates a sense of wonder.

The building is lifted off the ground to create human scale at street level, fostering natural social interaction, preserving views, and enhancing the overall experience of the site. Central arched steel beams spanning 185 feet form a lifted public plaza—a canopy that floats above people below and offers shade, protection against environmental elements, and a space of gathering. With the lifted building, the ground level connects with the landscape and surrounding streetscape, allowing it to function as part of the environment, and keeping more open, ground-level space for people. The plaza offers access to the museum’s north and south lobbies whose grandeur, tall ceilings, and abundant natural light create inviting and spacious atmospheres. A central elliptical Oculus hovers four stories above the plaza, opening a view from ground to sky.