Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
Coming to the Chicago lakeside by 2020, the volcanic Lucas Museum of Narrative Art by Beijing-based MAD Architects has a metal halo that will serve as an observation deck. The museum aims to enhance public understanding of narrative art and moving images, with four levels of exhibition space looping around an inner atrium. The museum’s design aims to be both futuristic and timeless, with forward-thinking aesthetics that are rooted in nature.
Museu do Amanha by Santiago Calatrava
Rio de Janeiro just got a sculptural new museum by famed architect Santiago Calatrava. Museu do Amanha, or The Museum of Tomorrow, is a cultural space housing exhibitions that address the future of the planet. Its unusual sweeping design with a cantilevering roof resembling wings on either end takes its influences from local Brazilian culture as well as Calatrava’s favorite reference point, the biology of birds.
Space Race Museum
The design of this museum may look futuristic, but its contents are actually looking back into the history of space exploration, specifically at the race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Architect Islam Fikry Abbas envisions an environmentally conscious design with connected, organically-shaped volumes creating indoor/outdoor courtyards.
The National Museum of Qatar by Jean Nouvel
Especially from above, Jean Nouvel’s design for the National Museum of Qatar kind of looks like a bunch of flying saucers crashed into the ground in the same spot. Made up of a series of interlocking discs, the museum is set to embody “the pride and traditions of Qatar’s people while offering international visitors a dialogue about rapid change and modernization.”
