George Lucas chose the Presidio for his headquarters after decades in various Bay Area locations. The campus was designed to blend with the Presidio landscape, using low-profile buildings that defer to the surrounding parkland. It houses Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm Games, Lucasfilm Animation, and the corporate offices of Lucasfilm Ltd., along with screening rooms, sound stages, and the massive computing infrastructure required for digital effects at the highest quality.

The site previously served as the Letterman Army Hospital, adding an ironic layer to its current use. Ground that once treated real casualties of real wars now hosts the creation of imaginary ones. The campus design acknowledges this history through its integration with the Presidio landscape and preservation of the site's open character. The buildings sit in parkland accessible to the public, and visitors walking the trails can see the campus without necessarily realizing what happens inside.

The Yoda fountain has become one of the Presidio's most photographed features -- a small, affectionate gesture from a company better at creating iconic images than making corporate statements. The three-foot bronze Yoda sits atop a fountain near the main entrance, contemplating the park with serenity appropriate to a fictional Jedi master and a very real corporate campus. Visitors pose for photographs. Dogs splash in the water. The Force, it appears, is with them.