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Photos: Lucasfilm's new home

Art, technology and politics intersected in San Francisco as big names from each world feted the new home of "Star Wars" director George Lucas.
By Bill Detwiler, Contributor
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yoda

A waterfall and stone statue of "Star Wars" Jedi master Yoda greet visitors to San Francisco's Letterman Digital Arts Center, new home to Lucasfilm.

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picnic on lawn

Guests at the opening of the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco lunched on fare from celebrated local chef Alice Waters, drank wine from Niebaum-Coppola and enjoyed the music of Boz Scaggs, Bonnie Raitt and Metallica's Lars Ulrich. Picnic blankets and pillows were donated to San Francisco Bay Area shelters following the event.

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presidio park

The Letterman Digital Arts Center, which replaced a hulking, out-of-service military hospital, overlooks public park lands.

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lunch box

An estimated 2,000 guests at Lucasfilm's opening festivities were given a wooden, commemorative lunch box, with gourmet food inside. Plastic containers inside doubled as a brain-challenging spacial/visual puzzle.

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presidio

A garden view of San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts from the new Letterman Digital Arts Center, home to Lucasfilm.

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George Lucas

George Lucas, speaking to press on Saturday, said that the San Francisco Bay area, next to Hollywood, is "a teacup next to a large wine barrel." Yet it's home to the first digital game, digital film and digital movie center, he said. Silicon Valley companies such as Apple Computer, Intel and Sega and filmmakers here "have changed the face of entertainment...and part of the celebration today is to say, 'I love San Francisco.'"

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hall art

A mechanical model of a "Jurassic Park" dinosaur sits in the wing of building B, where Lucasfilm digital-effects unit Industrial Light & Magic will work.

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Darth Vader

A reproduction of famed "Star Wars" intergalactic villain Darth Vader adorns a hallway in Lucasfilm's new digital center.

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