Speaker 1: This might be one of my favorite moments all week.
Speaker 1: LA is a city defined by bold ideas and two
Speaker 1: architectural marvels now nearing completion. And we are going to
Speaker 1: talk to the house whisper himself, Dean Sharp, about the
Speaker 1: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and the Wallace Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.
Speaker 2: Good morning, Dean, Good morning, Heather.
Speaker 1: So nice to talk with you. I am really excited,
Speaker 1: especially about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about what stands out to you architecturally about this project
Speaker 1: and how is it really reflecting George Lucas's vision for storytelling.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. I mean, first of all, not a
Speaker 2: lot of people know that it's happening, which is shocking.
Speaker 1: It is shocking. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Huge. They took quite a while, several years to figure
Speaker 2: out whether it was actually going to be in LA
Speaker 2: or not. I think he initially wanted it up in
Speaker 2: the Bay Area and it was going to have a
Speaker 2: totally different look. But if you've been anywhere near Exposition
Speaker 2: Park or the Colosseum, this is happening, literally right across
Speaker 2: the street. It's a billion dollar construction project happening right
Speaker 2: across the street, and you just you know, it's very
Speaker 2: as you know I sent you these images. It's very,
Speaker 2: very difficult to describe it other than it is some
Speaker 2: kind of mothership spacecraft that has landed in La I
Speaker 2: mean truly. And it's not it's not old and tattered
Speaker 2: like the you know, like the spaceships in Star Wars
Speaker 2: are designed to be. No, this is pristine and beautiful
Speaker 2: and and there are there are hardly a straight wall
Speaker 2: or plane in the entire complex. It also includes a
Speaker 2: full park area outside with all sorts of space. There
Speaker 2: is a solar on the roof. There is living roof
Speaker 2: elements to it, there are green roof elements to it.
Speaker 2: It is amazing. And it is the Lucas Museum of
Speaker 2: Narrative Art, which always is a fascinating concept for me.
Speaker 2: Narrative art meaning not just movies, but any art form
Speaker 2: that essentially tells a story or a cultural setting. And
Speaker 2: that is something that has just captivated and captured George
Speaker 2: Lucas's imagination throughout the years, and so it's going to be.
Speaker 2: It is a fine art museum. There are two absolutely
Speaker 2: world class, cutting edge cinemas inside it. In addition to
Speaker 2: gallery after gallery after gallery, and it is scheduled to
Speaker 2: open in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: Wow, I personally am very excited for that. I'm a huge,
Speaker 1: like Star Wars fan, anything nerdy like that. And yes,
Speaker 1: I saw your pictures and just looks so so beautiful,
Speaker 1: And I want to shift gears really quickly and talk
Speaker 1: about the wildlife crossing. It's going to be over the
Speaker 1: one o one freeway. It is the first of its
Speaker 1: kind at this scale. How revolutionary is this structure from
Speaker 1: a design and engineering standpoint.
Speaker 2: Well, from a design and engineering standpoint, you could say
Speaker 2: that this is not not super complex compared to most
Speaker 2: freeway overpasses, and it certainly doesn't have the juge of
Speaker 2: the Lucas Museum. But you know, if you're traveling up
Speaker 2: the one oh one corridor up out of the valley
Speaker 2: and into Thousand Oaks or Ventura, you're going to pass
Speaker 2: under the Wall of Sandenberg Wildlife Crossing, and its significance
Speaker 2: is substantial. We're talking about the world's largest wildlife crossing
Speaker 2: and something so significant to our region because we realized
Speaker 2: several years ago with all of the deaths of Cougar's
Speaker 2: Mountain lions in our area, that essentially development, especially the
Speaker 2: freeway development in northern LA four five, the one oh one,
Speaker 2: the five, we've essentially landlocked the Santa Monica Mountains. There
Speaker 2: is no way for wildlife to get to and from
Speaker 2: the Santa Monica's. If you're there, you're stuck. If not,
Speaker 2: you've got a risk crossing a freeway, which of course
Speaker 2: is when we see all of these animal deaths. Nor
Speaker 2: is it healthy for that habitat, because an animal like
Speaker 2: a mountain lion has a massive predatory range and the
Speaker 2: Santa Monicas just do not handle it all. So a lot,
Speaker 2: a lot of planning and thought went into this, a
Speaker 2: lot of funding, and it's called the Wall of Sandenburg
Speaker 2: Crossing because the Annenberg Foundation spearheaded the funding for it.
Speaker 2: This is a freeway overpass over arguably the busiest freeway
Speaker 2: in the world for animals and wildlife, and it connects
Speaker 2: the Santa Monica National Region two the Semi Region next
Speaker 2: to it, which means there is is a means by
Speaker 2: which wildlife can get to and from and these are
Speaker 2: proven to be effective. This is a large, big, beautiful
Speaker 2: one and if you see it from the air, you'll
Speaker 2: realize it looks like a freeway overpass while you're driving
Speaker 2: on your car, but up on top of it, it
Speaker 2: is nothing but an engineering marvel when it comes to
Speaker 2: the fact that it's holding soil and terrain and plant
Speaker 2: material up there, and it is a natural way of
Speaker 2: wildlife getting from one side of the freeway to the other.
Speaker 1: Well, these are two huge projects and I know that
Speaker 1: we will be looking forward to you sharing more about
Speaker 1: them over the next year or so as they continue
Speaker 1: to be developed. Dean Sharp. The House Whisper hosted by
Speaker 1: Dean Sharp Arizon KFI here Saturdays from six am to
Speaker 1: eight am and on Sundays from nine to noon. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much, Dean, we'll talk soon.
Speaker 2: Thanks Heather