Image courtesy of Hathaway Dinwiddie

By HARMONY STILES

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The biggest museum construction project in the U.S. is the $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.

Situated on 11 acres in South L.A. in Exposition Park, the massive five-story, 300,000-square-foot museum is dedicated to narrative art and pop culture history. It is scheduled to open to the public on Sept. 22. It contains two theaters.

Shaped like a giant flying saucer, Los Angeles’ newest cultural attraction looks like something Star Wars creator George Lucas might have featured in one of his films. It’s no coincidence that the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was founded by the acclaimed director and his wife and will include props and costumes from the beloved movies.

Dedicated to narrative art, the museum will draw from a collection of more than 40,000 items, including works by painters Norman Rockwell, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, plus writer and illustrator Beatrix Potter. Other pieces come from legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby – who co-created much of the Marvel Comics universe – and R Crumb, whose underground comics found a following during the 1960s and 1970s. Artist Ralph McQuarrie, who designed the original look of Star Wars including Darth Vader and robots, C-3PO and R2-D2, is also featured broadly in the museum’s collections.

The general contractor for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles is Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Co. JLL is serving as the project and construction manager. MAD Architects, the design architect, created the futuristic, organic building design. Executive Architect Stantec is serving as the architect of record and civil engineer.