MAD's Refined Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Unveiled

Targeted for a site between Soldier Field and McCormick Place that is currently a parking lot, MAD Architects' design gained some controversey when it was unveiled last year for its size and alien form. In the revised design the form is basically the same, while the footprint of the museum has been trimmed by 25%, from 400,000 square feet (37,160 sm) to 300,000 square feet (27,870 sm).

Yet in comparing the new renderings shown here with those from November 2014, it is hard to detect the differences besides the refinement and added polish that has come with the imagery. For example, the exterior's monolithic surfaces (intended to be a stone of some sort) now have some detail in the form of joints. Subtle changes are evident in the scale and prominence of the halo atop the sloping building as well as in the apertures piercing the exterior.

The most prominent change is with the landsape, designed by SCAPE with Studio Gang Architects; what was just some grass and trees fronting the museum is now, as evident in the aerial below, a series of zigzagging paths leading to a raised terrace at the entrance to the building. Further, a cutaway axonometric gives an indication of how the interior would work, something that was described previously only in words.

Although the new design has the support of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the museum still has to gain the proper approvals before moving forward with construction. One impediment is a lawsuit filed by Friends of the Parks last year, which argues that the proposal violates the long-held protection of the lakefront from buildings.