The architectural team behind director George Lucas’ Museum of Narrative Art have revealed revised renderings of the plans, which have been drawn up to counter a lawsuit filed by green space advocates.
Images by Beijing-based MAD architects, which will be officially presented to the City Council this week, show a significantly smaller but similarly-designed version of the lakefront buildings, with more green space for recreational use.
Earlier this month,
a judge told Friends of the Parks – the nonprofit group suing in an attempt to halt development on the Chicago waterfront – that they had “no viable complaint” for the amended plans.
MAD Architects are acting as principal designers for the project, while Chicago-based Studio Gang are handling landscape design. In addition, VOA Associates, based in Chicago, will serve as the executive architect and lead the implementation of MAD’s design.
With the building reduced in size from 400,000sq ft (37,100sq m) to 300,000sq ft (27,900sq m), a new ground lease agreement sees the lakefront land between Soldier Field and McCormick Place handed to Lucas for US$10 (€8.87, £6.48) for a renewable period of 99 years. The new plan details 200,000sq ft (18,615sq m) of new parkland for open space advocates.
The museum itself will house George Lucas’ personal art collection, as well as providing temporary exhibition space for world-renowned artists and filmmakers. It features an open-air observation deck on the rooftop accessible for free via a ramp winding up the building's interior cone shape. The parkland will include an eco-park, garden, sand dune field and an event prairie to host art and film events.
Assuming the new plans gain approval, development is expected to begin in March, with a completion date of 2018. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was unveiled in November last year after
Star Wars and
Indiana Jones creator, George Lucas selected Chicago to be the museum’s home. The park district signed a preliminary agreement with Lucas last September, proposing the 17-acre site to house the museum.
