‘Contradiction-filled landmark’: What critics are saying about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

In less than a week, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will open in Los Angeles after more than a decade of debate, design, and construction. 

Ahead of the opening, critics and media outlets across the United States and beyond have weighed in on the project, expressing mixtures of excitement and skepticism. 

Writing for The Los Angeles Times, Sab Lubell described the design as a “contradiction-filled landmark.” Behind the dramatic architectural expression, Lubell argues, the scheme’s populist message is undercut by conventional galleries and fenced-off rooftops.

“It’s synthetic yet organic, monumental yet welcoming, populist yet elitist,” Lubell notes. “Its architecture conjures freedom and motion, but its galleries retreat into conventional rooms. It creates an extraordinary park, but fences and inaccessible surfaces weaken that generosity. It feels utterly foreign to its context, yet somehow it fits right in.”