In its original blank state, an observatory in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany was practically begging for a Star Wars-themed paint job. It was already the perfect shape for its transformation into one of the space epic’s most beloved characters; all it took was a fresh coat of white and a few new blue markings.

Hubert Zitt, an electrotechnology professor at the Zweibrücken University of Applied Sciences, was already known for injecting his lectures with a little pop culture flavor when he decided to take on the project. He’s spent the last few decades traveling the world, speaking at sci-fi conventions on the scientific realism (or lack thereof) in fictional worlds. He even has a class called “The Physics of Star Trek,” where he explores such topics as the feasibility of beaming and warp-drive technologies.

So it’s no surprise that, upon considering how to bring more visitors to the observatory, his first thought was an R2D2 paint job. Zitt brought together a team of volunteer painters, including his father and some of his students, to complete the transformation in late 2018.

R2-D2 Observatory Transformed Germans Into Giant Nerds https://t.co/s4vUwKGxEP via @LaughingSquid

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) March 22, 2019

Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, brought attention to the project on Twitter, rewriting Laughing Squid’s headline to make sure those responsible know they’re massive nerds.

As you might imagine, the scheme worked, going viral on American and European media and drawing in Star Wars fans from lands (if not galaxies) far, far away.

If your abiding love for the Star Wars franchise extends to collecting figurines but not to custom-building your own themed rooms quite yet, these projects might just kick you into that higher echelon of fandom. From parents who have built Millennium Falcon cockpit pods as beds for their kids to entire family homes filled with references to the series, these Star Wars-themed rooms and interiors definitely take it to another level.

Millennium Falcon Kid’s Bed

When Redditor Dericrw’s son refused to sleep in his own bed, insisting on creeping into mom and dad’s room night after night, he decided to tempt him with something too cool to pass up: a custom-made Star Wars bedroom featuring an elevated sleeping pod modeled on the Millennium Falcon. The pod is ten feet long, four feet tall and five feet wide, tricked out with color-changing lights, a fan and a bedside bookshelf. A vinyl mural fixed to the rear wall looks out into space, while the opposite wall features a custom grille to complete the effect.

Star Wars Home by White Interior Design

A family in Taipei, Taiwan gets a modern residence interspersed with Star Wars-inspired elements in this fun project by White Interior Design. The kid’s room is based on the Millennium Falcon driver cabin.

Millennium Falcon Cockpit Bed with an AT-AT Leg

Designer Edward McGowan collaborated with his brother Peter, an architect and interior designer, to custom-build a Millennium Falcon bed for his son. Peter explains on Reddit that the renovation makes use of found items and donated time for a final cost of only $250.

4 Awesome Star Wars Home Theaters

For this ‘man cave’ in Honolulu, Modern Home Systems was asked to fulfill the client’s dream of having a designated theater in his home with a design straight out of Star Wars. They definitely delivered, complete with a life size R2D2.

The listing doesn’t appear to be active anymore, but this home theater is part of a vacation rental in Kissimmee, Florida capable of hosting 24 overnight guests. Other themed rooms in the house include Toy Story and Despicable Me bedrooms.

Two married computer programmers commissioned Orren Pickell Designers & Builders to create this ‘Star Destroyer’ theater for their home in Libertyville, Illinois.

Patrick and Stephanie of Nixa, Missouri worked with Shawn Byrne of Quest Acoustical Interiors to incorporate a Star Wars-themed home theater into their new home. Most of it is made of MDF and frosted plexiglass.

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The Force Is Strong In These 10 Immersive Star Wars Themed Interiors

You don’t get a sense of just how large and complex Lego’s latest kit really is until you see it someone’s arms, or taking up the entire table surface in front of them. A gift for true enthusiasts of both the toy brick company and Star Wars, the Ultimate Collectors Series Millennium Falcon is the single largest and most expensive Lego kit ever sold, presented in a huge box full of 7,541 pieces. In fact, the box is so heavy that Lego teased on Twitter that they’d have to add wheels and a handle so customers can get it out the door.

The LEGO @StarWars Death Star fits in our yellow bag, but we have to apply wheels so shoppers can carry the next #LEGOStarWars set! ? pic.twitter.com/dd1d76B0W1

— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) August 29, 2017

An update on the last Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon, which was released in July 2007, this new set expands it by over 2,000 pieces, adding a stunning range of details that will delight discerning fans. You can even swap out the deflector dishes to either look as they did in the original Star Wars trilogy or in The Force Awakens.

It comes with 10 minifigures, including Leia, C-3P0, Han and Chewbacca from the trilogy and Finn, Rey, BB-8, ‘Old Han’ and two porgs from The Force Awakens. You can even spin the original Han and Leia’s heads around to reveal optional faces outfitted with air respirators.

Fans who missed out on the 2007 model still pay up to $3,000 in the rare occasion that one pops up on eBay, and Lego expects the new set to sell out, so if all of this news has you swiping everything off your dining table in anticipation, you’d better run out and get one as soon as it goes on sale October 1st.

Fans visiting Disney World’s upcoming Star Wars Land expansion, set to open in 2019, will have the opportunity to immerse themselves even more deeply into the fictional universe in an almost Westworld-style experience. At its D23 Expo in Los Angeles this week, Disney announced a new Star Wars-themed hotel where every window will offer views of ‘outer space,’ every employee will be in character, and every guest will be the protagonist of their very own Star Wars storyline.

Premiering as part of the new Disney 360 vacation concept, the hotel will be a ‘living adventure.’

“It’s unlike anything that exists today,” says Bob Chapek, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. “From the second you arrive, you will become a part of a Star Wars story! You’ll immediately become a citizen of the galaxy and experience all that entails, including dressing up in the proper attire. Once you leave Earth, you will discover a starship alive with characters, stories, and adventures that unfold all around you. It is 100% immersive, and the story will touch every single minute of your day, and it will culminate in a unique journey for every person who visits.”

Disney also unveiled models of the new park along with its name, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The park will also be an interactive experience with each guest as a character – so you don’t have to stay in the resort to enjoy that aspect of the action, but it certainly seems like it would add to the overall effect.

“One attraction will make you feel like you’re on a Star Destroyer inside a hangar bay. It’s an attraction built on a scale we’ve never done before.

The second attraction will give guests the opportunity to fly the Millenium Falcon, piloting the ship, shooting blasters or preparing for hyperspace – all while completing a critical mission. But how you perform on the mission holds even bigger stakes: perform with skill and you may earn extra galactic credits, while bringing the ship back banged up could put you on the list of a bounty hunter. End up on Harkos’s list and you may face a problem if you show up at the local cantina!”

Much of the magic of the Star Wars films derives from the fantastic landscapes and exotic built environments that serve as backdrops for its intergalactic tales of empires and rebellions. But when world-makers like George Lucas create these places, they often draw on real architects and architecture for inspiration, including the last and largest work of starchitect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Located north of San Francisco, the Marin County Civic Center consists of a massive rotunda housing a public library, offset by a strong vertical spire and long Hall of Justice (a classic Wright move to emphasize and juxtapose both horizontals and verticals). These same features can be found in the heart of Naboo, a Mid Rim world (near the Outer Rim Territories) featured across a series of Star Wars films.

As with their cinematic counterparts, Wright’s structures for Marin were designed to relate to the landscape – curved blue roofs pick up on the tones of the sky above while beige/pink walls tie into the earthen surroundings. Arched supports and the voids they create at different scales are also immediately recognizable as similar between the original Terrestrial architecture and its echos in Star Wars scenes.

For Wright as well as Lucas, there is an underlying idea at work in the design: a combining of grandeur worthy of civic architecture but also an aspiration toward something democratic, beautiful but accessible. The settings are also similar: complex and lush landscapes, fitting a similar vision found in both the architect’s and filmmaker’s works: a focus on working architecture into natural settings rather than envisioning dense cities. Lucas has directly acknowledged a debt to Wright for inspiring the architecture found in the Star Wars franchise, but has yet to announce whether he will be working on a sequel story: some of us are still waiting on Starchitecture Wars.