Lucas building ... something ... in Chicago

[Josh Hendy]

Where have I seen this before? Jabba's palace? A headdress worn by Queen Amidala? The top of Howard the Duck's head (with a halo) ? Or is it the giant saucer flying over the Andes at the end of Crystal Skull ...

The Lucas Museum design is both futuristic and timeless. Its continuous, undulating organic surface blurs the line between structure and landscape. As the harbor rises up to the land, it merges with stone surfaces that reach up to the sky and ultimately crescendo into a “floating” disc. The Museum is not an isolated object, but a spatial experience that is defined by the people who occupy it and interact with it. Its organic surface is made of a single material, a stone as primitive as it is futuristic, evoking the great achievements of architectural history.

http://kunstler.com/eyesore-of-the-month/december-2014/

Anyways ... good luck with that!

 

[Josh Hendy]

Case you don't believe me ...

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Mr. Kunstler proclaimed that "it is unclear exactly what it [the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art] might contain besides the costumes and props for Lucas’s Star Wars cinema franchise" -- instead of doing even minimal research about this art museum.

The design calls for a 110-foot-tall structure. Mr. Kunstler calculated a "roughly 30–story-tall monstrosity" -- which suggests that Mr. Kunstler has poor math skills.

The design is by the Chinese firm MAD Architects (architect Ma Yansong) and the Chicago firm of Studio Gang Architects (architect Jeanne Gang). Google the work of these two amazing firms.

Yes, the location and architecture are both controversial. Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin articulately expressed his objections. Although I understand the objections, I'm thrilled that Chicago's museum campus might gain another great museum. My opinion is that the unusual building will become a beloved icon of Chicago if this design becomes a reality.

I agree with Mr. Kunstler about disliking some of the PR language.

Visit the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art website at http://www.lucasmuseum.org

 

[Josh Hendy]

I checked the website ... and ... yeah ... a lot of Star Wars props.



But it has other cool stuff, like Peanuts cartoons and Norman Rockwell paintings. Plus what appears to be a large showcase for Lucasfilm and its subsidiaries and spinoffs such as ILM, Pixar, etc. Well, what did you expect Lucas to do with his billions, build a museum celebrating the achievements of Bill Gates?

As for the building ... an egregious example of what Kunstler calls "Starchitecture", which can be summarized as, "Look at me, look at what I drawed on my computer! Now build it!" And I think the architect is definitely having a laugh at Lucas's expense. On the whole I would say that this is the "UFO at the end of Crystal Skull."

Way-out architecture like this is a matter of taste of course. And there's the question of cost ... cost of construction and more significantly the cost of operation and maintenance. Apparently Lucas is underwriting the construction and giving a hefty endowment, but in the long run it could be the taxpayers who are stuck paying for concrete repairs, HVAC do-overs, fixing leaky flying saucer roofs, and so on.