Via Lonelyplanet.com:

In May, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened at Disneyland in California. It’s set to open in August at Walt Disney World in Florida. The setting for this new theme park land is Black Spire Outpost on the fictional planet of Batuu. We sat down with some of the creators and designers of Batuu and discussed what went into the place-making of this new planet.

Scott Trowbridge, Portfolio Creative Executive and Studio Leader for Walt Disney Imagineering said when tasked with building Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, one of the first decisions was to create an entirely new, never-before-seen planet. Guests now have the opportunity to become a character and part of the story.

Walt Disney Imagineering collaborated with Lucasfilm Ltd., to create a planet that feels like it has been a part of the Star Wars story forever. Doug Chiang, Vice President and Executive Creative Director, Lucasfilm Ltd., discussed what went into creating this new world, with its influences from Istanbul and Marrakesh to Arizona.

Q: What’s it like to design a real place that’s not a movie set?

Chiang: One of the great challenges and joys we had was designing and building a real location. When you’re designing movie sets, they’re false – because that’s movie making. You’re experiencing a place from a very specific point of view of the director. Here, the point of view is you. So the challenge is how do you design a space that’s so immersive, that’s real?

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