00:01Okay, how exciting is this? We are talking with the architect of the Lucas
00:05Museum of Narrative Art on opening day. Wow, this has been, I'm sure, a labor of
00:12love. How many years total have you been working on this, Ma? I met George 12
00:16years ago and we worked on this site, this building, for eight years. Wow, and I
00:23mean it is so incredible. Some people have called it a spaceship, some people
00:27have said it's otherworldly, which I think is pretty accurate. What were the
00:32specific challenges to bringing this to life? I mean, it's nothing like some
00:39building you have seen before. It's a floating structure, so someone think,
00:44okay, that's from the sky, that's from the future, so it's a spaceship, but I was
00:50inspired by cloud. You know, the cloud and sky is so attractive for me because
00:57they're, they're so normal because we see them every day, but they're also at
01:03same time very mysterious. You know, we can imagine a lot of things around them, so
01:09that's, that's why I think the sky, for example, this Oculus, you can see through
01:14and you can imagine the sky, then you can see the cloud moving, and what about the
01:21universe beyond us? So those architecture elements can bring our imagination and
01:30emotion beyond the reality. So that's why maybe people think that's a little bit
01:35surreal. That's what we want to do. You know, when you're curious and open
01:41yourself, you will have a lot of ideas. Was this your vision or George's or a collaboration
01:49as far as the building? I have this, when we work, we, we, the first visit to the site,
01:57I remember, we walk around the site. It was a parking lot. You know, there's trees and the cloud,
02:05and we look at the sky. And then I came up with the sketch. I showed him the sketch. He
02:12said,
02:12what, what, what this? I said, it's a floating building. It looked like a cloud. Okay. You know,
02:17oh, that's nice. Let's do it. Very simple. But that, that sketch was too rough. You know, we,
02:23later on, we had to figure out how this cloud could become a building. But that's the initial dream.
02:30Today, I talked to a lot of young designers, a lot of young filmmakers, young visitors. I said,
02:37you guys also do sketches. I thought my sketch is not special. I mean, everyone can do that.
02:44But what's important is you bring your, your dream, your, your initial idea to all the way to the end,
02:52to the reality. I think George himself is a visionary, but also he support the new ideas. So I,
03:03I feel I met someone can, we can share, you know, we can encourage each other. He is so supportive.
03:12So I feel lucky that when you have a dream, you find people share the same dream and appreciate your,
03:21your, your, your dream. That's why all through, through all these years after we can, we can make
03:27it happen. Tell me about how your childhood factors into your work. Hold on. Sorry.
03:37My childhood? Tell me how your childhood factors into your work or your vision.
03:43My mom was, uh, environmental engineer. So I spent a lot of time with her going to the countryside,
03:51you know, uh, treating, you know, the, the dirty water into something, uh, clean water, you know,
03:57something like this. And, uh, so I was quite close to the nature. So, and, uh, I read a lot
04:04of, uh,
04:05science fiction books. And when I grew up a little bit, I watched Star Wars, of course,
04:11but there is a funny story. I later on, I want to become filmmaker because I want to, um,
04:21make, make my, um, dreams into the, some visual reality, not the, not the real reality, right?
04:31It's like, you can show to the people, but I couldn't go into the film academy. And then I
04:37became architect. And then my first building, I designed this, uh, museum in inner Mongolia,
04:45Erdos, a city called Erdos. It's, uh, it's a museum. I, I, I inspired from a science fiction movie.
04:52I remember, but I forgot which movie I designed that building. Years later, I got the invitation to
04:59design this building by George Lucas. And the George says, I saw your, one of your early work.
05:06I like it. That's why I invite you. That was the building I designed, inspired from his movie.
05:14Wow. Later on, I figured out that was a Star Wars movie. I forgot, but that, that scenery was in
05:22my mind.
05:23You know, that's, that's a, when you're a kid, when you're young, maybe you, you, you read something,
05:28you see something that really, you know, you like, and then you'll remember forever.
05:34I know you are very humble and you are world renowned, but what is it like when George Lucas
05:38calls you and says, I want you?
05:42I think because we, because we started this project 12 years, 12 years ago, and back then I was a
05:51youngest designer among all these competitors. I feel, I feel okay. It's a challenge. Let's do it.
05:59You know, I was prepared for losing it. You know, you were prepared to lose it.
06:04I was, I was prepared for not winning this design. So I was just thinking, okay, this is a, I
06:11do this
06:12for myself. You know, I, I, I do, I have to do some work that I appreciate. I like, if
06:18I lose,
06:19I show this design that to, to, to tell people, you know, this is my idea and George cannot accept
06:27it,
06:28but he liked it. You know, that's a, of course, that's a, could you tell us about the sustainable
06:35cooling systems? Yeah. How does that work? This is a building totally designed for environment,
06:41right? This is a building that lived it. So on the ground level, on the lower level,
06:47it's important to have a lot of natural, uh, green and the feelings close to the park. To the,
06:55to the north, we have, uh, this water pond with the waterfalls. It's supposed to be very
07:02beautiful landscape feature, but we have a function in it. Behind the waterfall is actually
07:08cooling machines. So the water will help the circulating, uh, and, uh, and the cool down
07:15the temperature of this machine. So it's a both beautiful, but also functional, uh, and the
07:21sustainable technology. What was the idea behind all the curved walls? There's no straight corners or
07:29angles, right? It's all curved. Yeah. Everything is a natural form. We want to make this, uh, this
07:38building really like a cloud because the clouds, you know, constantly change the shape. So we don't
07:44want to repeat. That's make the, this building very, you know, complex because it's a full of organic
07:53surfaces. Each panel are unique. It's a different, so a little challenging to produce them.
08:02I bet. Uh, but, uh, I think repeating the same flat, uh, architecture elements like, like many other
08:13buildings belongs to the past. You know, the mass production, the industrial, you know, production,
08:20um, but in the future, um, but in the future, I think we have the technology to, to produce it,
08:28to design that. And we should design a space not as a simple product, but a space about emotion,
08:37about the nature. So this is a possible in the future. What do you hope people leave feeling?
08:44What do you hope people get out of this after they've walked through it?
08:49They, I hope the surrealness of this building can make people first excited and then open
08:59themselves and they're ready to look at the art and they will feel emotion is a very, the core of
09:08our
09:08human life in the history also. So they will inspire by art, by architecture and, uh, they will live with
09:16it. You know, they will live with, uh, openness, with a curiosity and maybe they will think, oh, I have
09:23this idea. I should make it happen. That'll be really nice. That's at least my feeling when I visit some
09:32classic architecture. Sometimes, you know, you go to a church with a really wonderful
09:37space. You feel so, uh, attached to, to that space. Also the museum, the art, that's really
09:45can help us to, to empower our, our own spirit. I could talk to you for hours, but I know
09:52there are
09:53a lot of other people who want your time. So in closing, what are you most proud of regarding this
09:59project? I'm here to receive the first group of visitors, but during the past days, I, I was meeting
10:10people from LA, from, uh, you know, this community. They all come to me and say, okay, this is, this
10:16is a
10:16strange building, but I feel so LA and they feel that they say thank you for, to, to make this
10:23building part of, uh, our culture, uh, part of our city. I feel so grateful, grateful for that. You
10:30know, I, I really, uh, appreciate this building can be, um, uh, welcomed by the communities.
10:39Well, we thank you so much, Ma. What's next for you? Do you get any kind of a rest or
10:44a vacation
10:45after eight years?
10:46I need it. Yes. Yes. Where would you go? I'm going to China next. Nice. And, um, we're, we're,
10:55we're trying some innovative new architecture there as well. Um, so we, we need that. So you never rest.
11:03You're always working. We have time. Slowly, slowly. Thank you so much. Thank you.
