The Lakefront Strikes Back: See the Latest Renderings for the Lucas Museum

George Lucas and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have decided that it's finally time to allow the public to see the latest look for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts. The updated plans have been floating around for the last several weeks, with only civic leaders, city officials and a federal judge having had a look at the new drawings. Crain's and the Tribune had the renderings published last night, along with some commentary on the plan. Architecture critic Blair Kamin calls the plan "the Weight Watchers version of Jabba the Hutt" while Greg Hinz recalls how architect and project collaborator Jeanne Gang thinks of the structure as "a big sand dune." While the design doesn't really look too much different from the first draft, there are some big changes. The biggest difference is the project's reduction in size. According to Kamin, the building's mass has been reduced by 25% while its footprint has shrank by 40%, making it much more compact and less imposing on the lakefront. But even with these changes, the Lucas camp still doesn't have answers about traffic as there has been no traffic study commissioned for the plan.

Chicago residents will only have a few days to study the images before the plan is reviewed by city officials. Kamin suggests that the proposal may be submitted as early as next week. If the project moves forward as Lucas plans, the 300,000-square-foot blob-like mass could land on the lakefront and open to the public by early 2020.

·Lucas museum design: At least Jabba is on a diet [Tribune]
·Lucas museum, Take 2: A first look at the revamped design [Crain's]
·All previous Lucas Museum coverage [Curbed Chicago]