A long time ago…

The photo above is all that’s left of the UA 150/70 Cinema that once graced downtown Seattle.  This little piece of terrazzo and tile is a mini shrine for me.  As a kid I shuffled right past it with my dad, in May of 1977, to see Star Wars.

You may be thinking, “Nerd alert!”  Okay, but the special effects were awe inspiring.  Star Wars helped shape my personality as I became intensely interested in space, science, and art.  I wanted to know how they created the effects.  For hours on end I pored over photos of the intricate props and models, and the incredible concept renderings and matte paintings that Ralph McQuarrie and others had created for the film.  I dreamt of one day working at Industrial Light and Magic.

When I found industrial design in college, it was like the feeling I had when I saw Star Wars for the first time (or how Luke must have felt when he first saw his lightsaber crackle to life).  I thought, “How incredible it is to be part of creating real life objects and environments that become part of people’s everyday lives.”  I work with extremely talented designers and craftsmen every day now and every day is like I am on the set, helping to create that next big fantastical blockbuster…though sadly without Wookies.

In the words of R2D2, “Bleep, blip bleep, whistle.”  Translation: “If you want to visit the terrazzo shrine, it’s in Seattle, on the west side of 6^th Avenue between Lenora and Blanchard.”  And hurry it up because it’ll be gone soon…twin skyscrapers are slated to go up there.  On a brighter note, during construction the buildings will briefly look a bit like the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi.