Construction on George Lucas' otherworldly Los Angeles museum nears completion, offering a peek at its unique features.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a forthcoming cultural gem in Los Angeles' Exposition Park, is set to open its doors in 2026. Designed by Ma Yansong of Beijing studio MAD Architects, the museum's design is inspired by natural topographies such as mountains, clouds, and waves, aiming to create an open, imaginative, and peaceful atmosphere.
The five-story, 300,000 sq ft building will house galleries, theatres, classrooms, dining and retail spaces. Its roof, nearly 1.5 acres in size, is landscaped with native and drought-tolerant plants, contributing to passive cooling and blending the structure into the surrounding park topography.
The museum's sustainability strategies are comprehensive, integrating the building with its natural and urban environment. Key sustainability features include a geothermal system, rainwater harvesting, approximately 24,000 sq ft of rooftop photovoltaic solar panels, a super-insulated building envelope, seismic isolation engineering, and Mia Lehrer's landscape design for the museum area.
Lehrer's design transforms a former parking lot into a verdant, immersive environment surrounding the museum. Features include undulating landforms, 200 trees, native plantings, a hanging garden, amphitheater, meadow, and a waterfall—all elements that support natural cooling and water management. The building acts as a canopy over a public plaza, fostering connection between the museum, the park, and the city, creating an integrated living system rather than an isolated structure.
An elliptical oculus crowns the plaza, serving as a gateway to Exposition Park. The museum will contain much of George Lucas' art collection and artifacts from the Lucasfilm archives. With its unique design and commitment to sustainability, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is poised to become a significant addition to Los Angeles' cultural landscape.
[1] https://www.lucasmuseum.org/sustainability [2] https://www.mad-arch.com/project/lucas-museum-of-narrative-art/ [3] https://www.stantec.com/en/about/newsroom/2016/lucas-museum-of-narrative-art-selected-for-exposition-park-in-los-angeles
Transforming the surroundings of the museum, Mia Lehrer's design incorporates home-and-garden elements, such as undulating landforms, 200 trees, a hanging garden, and water features, to create a sustainable lifestyle that blends the museum into the park. Inside the museum, visitors can experience George Lucas' art collection, making it an engaging addition to Los Angeles' home-and-garden and cultural lifestyle.
