This might be one of my favorite moments all week. LA is a city defined by bold ideas and two architectural marvels now nearing completion. And we are going to talk to the house whisper himself, Dean Sharp, about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and the Wallace Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.
Good morning, Dean, Good morning, Heather.
So nice to talk with you. I am really excited, especially about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Let's talk about what stands out to you architecturally about this project and how is it really reflecting George Lucas's vision for storytelling.
Oh my gosh. I mean, first of all, not a lot of people know that it's happening, which is shocking.
It is shocking. Yeah.
Huge. They took quite a while, several years to figure out whether it was actually going to be in LA or not. I think he initially wanted it up in the Bay Area and it was going to have a totally different look. But if you've been anywhere near Exposition Park or the Colosseum, this is happening, literally right across the street. It's a billion dollar construction project happening right across the street, and you just you know, it's very
as you know I sent you these images. It's very, very difficult to describe it other than it is some kind of mothership spacecraft that has landed in La I mean truly. And it's not it's not old and tattered like the you know, like the spaceships in Star Wars are designed to be. No, this is pristine and beautiful and and there are there are hardly a straight wall or plane in the entire complex. It also includes a full park area outside with all sorts of space. There
is a solar on the roof. There is living roof elements to it, there are green roof elements to it. It is amazing. And it is the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which always is a fascinating concept for me. Narrative art meaning not just movies, but any art form that essentially tells a story or a cultural setting. And that is something that has just captivated and captured George Lucas's imagination throughout the years, and so it's going to be. It is a fine art museum. There are two absolutely
world class, cutting edge cinemas inside it. In addition to gallery after gallery after gallery, and it is scheduled to open in twenty twenty six.
Wow, I personally am very excited for that. I'm a huge, like Star Wars fan, anything nerdy like that. And yes, I saw your pictures and just looks so so beautiful, And I want to shift gears really quickly and talk about the wildlife crossing. It's going to be over the one o one freeway. It is the first of its kind at this scale. How revolutionary is this structure from a design and engineering standpoint.
Well, from a design and engineering standpoint, you could say that this is not not super complex compared to most freeway overpasses, and it certainly doesn't have the juge of the Lucas Museum. But you know, if you're traveling up the one oh one corridor up out of the valley and into Thousand Oaks or Ventura, you're going to pass under the Wall of Sandenberg Wildlife Crossing, and its significance
is substantial. We're talking about the world's largest wildlife crossing and something so significant to our region because we realized several years ago with all of the deaths of Cougar's Mountain lions in our area, that essentially development, especially the freeway development in northern LA four five, the one oh one, the five, we've essentially landlocked the Santa Monica Mountains. There is no way for wildlife to get to and from
the Santa Monica's. If you're there, you're stuck. If not, you've got a risk crossing a freeway, which of course is when we see all of these animal deaths. Nor is it healthy for that habitat, because an animal like a mountain lion has a massive predatory range and the Santa Monicas just do not handle it all. So a lot, a lot of planning and thought went into this, a lot of funding, and it's called the Wall of Sandenburg Crossing because the Annenberg Foundation spearheaded the funding for it.
This is a freeway overpass over arguably the busiest freeway in the world for animals and wildlife, and it connects the Santa Monica National Region two the Semi Region next to it, which means there is is a means by which wildlife can get to and from and these are
proven to be effective. This is a large, big, beautiful one and if you see it from the air, you'll realize it looks like a freeway overpass while you're driving on your car, but up on top of it, it is nothing but an engineering marvel when it comes to the fact that it's holding soil and terrain and plant material up there, and it is a natural way of wildlife getting from one side of the freeway to the other.
Well, these are two huge projects and I know that we will be looking forward to you sharing more about them over the next year or so as they continue to be developed. Dean Sharp. The House Whisper hosted by Dean Sharp Arizon KFI here Saturdays from six am to eight am and on Sundays from nine to noon. Thank you so much, Dean, we'll talk soon.
Thanks Heather