Image courtesy of OMA

OMA’s project for LCAM in Chicago

OMA studio has put forward a proposal for the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum (LCAM) of Chicago that will be dedicated to the art and design of storytelling through a combination of three collections: illustration and storytelling art; digital art and art in motion-complemented by educational and outreach programs. Led by architect Shohei Shigematsu, OMA’s proposal creates a vertical gallery on the site and an atrium tower that elevates the traditional, horizontal galleries that accommodate LCAM’s three collections.

Image courtesy of OMA

It is a museum that aims to be porous and open. Spread across the site, the museum’s program would claim a vast swath of land at the waterfront, while simultaneously appearing as a supplicant to the enormity of soldier field. Tied to the ground, the building in this form is neither iconic nor civic: its generosity is thwarted by its breadth and its grandness swamped by the bombast of its neighbor. The tower suspends the galleries above the city and connects them to it. The scheme sees the horizontal plate and vertical tower enveloped within a dome-like membrane that expands the museum’s physical presence within the city.

Image courtesy of OMA

This membrane is a cloud of ETFE pillows that creates a sheltered, lifted public space for Chicago. It is fritted to accept projections both from within and from the outside. Inside the sky park, projections can be used as an integral part of larger displays and presentations. Meanwhile, at the ground level, projects can transform the museum park into an outdoor or drive in cinema. The museum’s theater and lecture spaces are located at the base of the tower, allowing for separate ground level entry and expansion to the museum park at ground level. A series of escalators lead visitors up to the gallery levels and lifted sky park above.

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