Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

This lavishly illustrated book presents the architectural vision and design of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, a landmark cultural institution dedicated to the past, present, and future of visual storytelling. MAD Architects’ sculptural building, lifted above the ground like a hovering vessel, creating a porous and welcoming public realm beneath it, while the landscape designed by Studio-MLA extends this openness into a sequence of gardens, terraces, and shaded paths that weave the museum into Exposition Park.

The volume traces the evolution of the museum from early concepts to the finished building. Through images by celebrated architectural photographer by Iwan Baan, architectural drawings, a documentation of the construction, and archival material it offers an in-depth look at the design process, material strategies, and spatial concepts shaping the museum’s architecture and its integration into the surrounding landscape. Supplementing essays and brief texts situate the design within a broader discourse on museums in the 21st century and explore how narrative, public engagement, and urban context informed the project’s ambitions. The book captures the museum’s approach to form, landscape, and visitor experience, and highlights how architecture supports the institution’s mission to expand the definition of narrative art.