BrickTopia Star Wars Museum
|
Several years ago, the Smithsonian Institution
put on a Star Wars exhibit at the National Air and Due to the extreme popularity of this exhibit, developers began looking for a permanent site to house this ever-growing collection. BrickTopia, with its deep government pockets, wealthy population, and rich traditions of museums fit perfectly with such plans. However, it became clear that the necessary display space required a huge building. Even in the relatively under-populated BrickTopia suburb of Euphoria, such space simply didn't exist. It was obvious that a multi-floor sky-scraper would be required, a sky-scraper taller than any other existing structure in BrickTopia. An additional requirement was access to the public monorail line. A solution to the space and transport access issues was to erect the new
tower on top of the existing Euphoria monorail station (see
here for more information). |
|
|
|
|
|
Here, one can more clearly see the futuristic, architectural style of the building. Fashioned in a style that would fit in nicely on the Star Wars planet of Coruscant, the building rises to a stunning 38 inches above the ground. The three dark gray "globes" on the top of the building are for artistic effect. However, the radar dishes are used to beam television and other signals. Since the museum is such a high building, it provides an ideal platform for beaming such signals, and the money received from broadcasters for the service helps to pay the building's expenses. The two gray cylinders on the top of each wing of the museum are air conditioning units. The trans-gray bubbles on the top of these units hide the air intakes. The silver cylinder on the top of the highest tower is also an air conditioning unit, this one providing service to the top two floors. One might be surprised at the lack of Star Wars markings on the museum. Except for the small droid statues at the entrance (at the bottom of the picture) and the flag in Jedi colors, it is not entirely obvious as to the purpose of the building. Originally, it was planned to include a large video sign welcoming visitors, but the Bricktopia mayor canceled this as excessively gaudy. In the end, there is no need for such visual advertisement as people travel from far and wide to see the Star Wars exhibits based purely on word of mouth. |
|
|
|
|
|
The bottom of the museum is supported on two, massive, white pillars. Although these pillars start at a width of only 2 studs, they blossom out into a roughly 6x6 diameter at the top. These pillars absorb much of the building's weight. On top of the pillars are hidden large numbers of Technic beams that help distribute the downward thrust between the pillars and the top of the monorail station. The resulting "foundation" is surprisingly solid for something so visually diminutive. Above the foundation rise 4 floors of museum display floors, split into two wings. Each floor is supported by numerous1x1x6 pillars coated with a maple-stained wood veneer. The entire front of the building is covered with large numbers of side-mounted, curved, Plexiglas panels. This provides passers-by with glimpses of the exciting exhibits inside, while providing the building’s inhabitants with stunning views outside. At the top of the building, another tower erupts from the center of the structure providing ample, office space for museum personnel. |
|
|
|
|
|
This picture shows the rear of the museum. At the bottom of the shot, one can see people waiting for the monorail at the station below. Although original plans called for the tower to completely cover the station, this was not practical because of the need to access the monorail control knob (the yellow arrow at the bottom center of the photo, pointing up). |
|
|
|
|
