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Pretty much every element of MAD's design for the Xinhee Design Center factors in sustainability: water features, full-blown gardens and offices commingle on the six star-shaped floors that sprout from the central atrium, while an envelope of PTFE provides ventilation and shade.Solar panels occupy... View full entry
No one benefits from continuing their seemingly unending litigation to protect a parking lot — Chicago Tribune
It's like these cities think that he's building a Death Star..... View full entry
A spokeswoman for San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin confirmed that the city and museum representatives are in early discussions about a site on Treasure Island, a destination in San Francisco Bay famous for a naval base.
Los Angeles is also trying to stay in the game, with Mayor Eric Garcetti saying that Lucas' project would find a good home in the heart of the movie industry.
— The L.A. Times
The lawsuit averse Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which is openly courting other cities after Chicago's Friends of the Park filed legal action to prevent the project from building on its chosen Chicago lakefront site, may wind up in San Francisco, although Los Angeles (and Waukegan, IL) have... View full entry
With the future of a Lucas Museum on Chicago's lakefront in doubt, the city of Waukegan is asking the organizers to look a little to the north.
Waukegan Mayor Wayne Motley reached out to Mellody Hobson, a Chicago financial executive and the wife of "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, about locating the proposed museum featuring digital, traditional and narrative art on Waukegan's lakefront, a city spokesman said on Wednesday.
— Chicago Tribune
After a shake-up Tuesday wherein Chicago-based Friends of the Parks (which was taking a 30-day break from suing to prevent the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art from being built) announced that it wasn't going to budge on its anti-LMNA position, George Lucas announced that he was seriously... View full entry
Does Mayor Rahm Emanuel want to tear down the McCormick Place East building to make way for the controversial Lucas Museum of Narrative Art?
If reports to that effect are true, the move, which would demolish most of the massive structure, could be an olive branch to parks advocates dedicated to keeping the shoreline clear of buildings.
— Blair Kamin | the Chicago Tribune
"Yet the move could also be a trap. By signing off on a plan to allow the Lucas Museum to be built east of Lake Shore Drive, parks advocates would be trampling on the very principle they have used in federal court to block the museum backed by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas."For more on the... View full entry
Borders are often controversial and rarely flexible, but Ma Yansong of MAD has playfully reinterpreted them with his installation for the 2016 Salone del Mobile in Milan. “Borders are usually seen as something closed and unapproachable but I think it’s interesting to make borders attractive... View full entry
Majestic doesn't cover it—to judge by these photos by Adam Mørk and Hufton+Crow, MAD's new 850,000 square foot Harbin Opera House located on the titular Chinese city's Cultural Island is approaching a masterpiece.With two theaters (The Grand Theater seats 1,600, the Small Theater 400) and a... View full entry
The Chicago City Council voted on Wednesday to approve the zoning proposal for the 300,000-square-foot Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which will be located near Soldier Field. — NBC News
According to a press release issued by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art President Don Bacigalupi said that “[The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art] will also deliver nearly 200,000 square feet of new green space and accessible parkland along the lakefront for all... View full entry
Opinions about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art ranged from excitement to distaste as residents got their first chance to speak about the proposed addition to the lakefront at two public hearings this week. [...]
The Chicago Park District sponsored the hearings Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss museum plans for architecture, landscaping and traffic.
— chicagotribune.com
Previously on Archinect:George Lucas open to moving his museum to Los Angeles if Chicago isn't working outLucas museum faces lawsuit from Friends of the ParksHow the Lucas Museum Design Will Change Chicago's Lakefront - Rendering Reveals View full entry
On September 15, Ma Yansong, Founder and Principal Partner of MAD Architects (Beijing, Los Angeles), will speak at LACMA as part of their Distinguished Architects Lecture Series.According to the press release, Yansong will discuss several forthcoming projects including the Harbin Cultural... View full entry
Amelia Taylor-Hochberg penned What makes an artless museum?, which reviewed the February Sky-lit event/preview of the new Broad Museum. Therein she argues that it provided "an opportunity for the architecture to be treated as a relational art object, but not so it could be handled with velvet... View full entry
MAD Architects is making their U.S. residential debut with the unveiling of 8600 Wilshire, which is scheduled to break ground along Wilshire Boulevard in the one and only Beverly Hills this October. Described by the architects like an oasis-like 'hillside village', the stark-white glass villas and... View full entry
A lawsuit challenging plans for the Lucas museum along Chicago's lakefront can proceed, a federal judge ruled Thursday, leaving legal hurdles in place if the selected site remains between Soldier Field and McCormick Place. Friends of the Parks filed a lawsuit in November against the Chicago Park District and the city of Chicago over the museum plans, contending the proposed site near Lake Michigan violates the public trust. — Chicago Tribune
The lawsuit asserts that proposed site for the Lucas Museum requires approval by the Illinois General Assembly, something contested by the Park District and the city who argue the museum will be provide public benefits. It was filed last year by the Friends of the Parks, who assert that since the... View full entry
Yesterday, during a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria, Chinese architect Ma Yansong of MAD Architects unveiled his design concept for the future Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts and told reporters that his concept — a seven-story, dome-like structure that gently slopes towards a halo-like observation deck — represents a "new type of architecture." That may be an understatement. — chicago.curbed.com
Learn more about the design in the Museum's announcement. View full entry
Over the last decade, avant-garde European architects have helped reshape Beijing's skyline. [...] But now, a Chinese architect is reversing the trend. Rising star Ma Yansong has won a string of European architectural contests that will bring his experimental designs, which meld cutting-edge technology with an animist's awe of nature, to capitals on the Continent. — spiegel.de
Ma Yansong has been on Archinect's radar for quite some time—click here to read our 2006 UpStarts interview with him and his Beijing-based firm MAD office. View full entry