Ralph McQuarrie, legendary concept artist for Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and many other projects, has passed away at the age of 82. Previously, here and here.
posted by brundlefly on Mar 3, 2012 - 85 comments

Though George Lucas said Chewbacca was based on his dog, an intrepid fan tracked down a different origin story. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Sep 23, 2010 - 34 comments

Beautiful high-res images of Star Wars concept art by Ralph McQuarrie. [more inside]
posted by P.o.B. on Apr 5, 2010 - 42 comments

The Architects' Journal (home of British architecture) has recently listed their top 10 architectural features of Star Wars. The article cites the Sandcrawler of Tatooine (possibly inspired by the Hôtel du lac in Tunisia, and in turn may have influenced Casa da Música [virtual tour, requires Quicktime] ), gave Bright Tree Village an honorary rating of BREEAM Excellent (top marks for environment-friendliness and sustainability), then embrace the Ecumenopolis that is Coruscant. This is not the first discussion of the architectural styles of the Star Wars universe. George Lucas once said "I'm basically a Victorian person," referring to his love of "all kinds of old things," including sort of Art Deco or Art Moderne-type. The retro-futuristic styles of Star Wars has gone on to inspire others.
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 25, 2009 - 12 comments