"USC old-timers fondly remember "the stables," a nickname for the rickety old structures that housed the university's film department through the '80s, so called because they looked like horse stalls. Those former students would never have imagined a day when the School of Cinematic Arts might dwarf other institutions on campus.
Now, the opening of the first two structures in an emerging six-building complex -- named for George Lucas (the project's principal donor) and Steven Spielberg -- signifies a new set of priorities. Though the early California architecture recalls the school's 1920s origins, the interior has been designed with a plethora of state-of-the-art production equipment and a blueprint that should make transitioning to as-yet-unknown technologies almost effortless.
The new complex, which broke ground in October 2006, stands at the heart of USC's main campus and is expected to be completed by summer 2010. The first two buildings look like a single structure, rising four stories above subterranean post-production facilities and surrounding a central courtyard. Still to come are an animation and digital arts building and three production buildings largely consisting of soundstages."