What style Epcot?

[cloudboy]

I am slowly working on an idea to renovate Epcot Future World (and yes, I know all about project Gemini). I am going to be puttin gin some new buildings in Communicore, and I want to have a unifying architectural style.

I am looking for some suggestions on what style that should be. I want something optomistic anf forward looking, but I don't want something that is going to be cold or something that is oging to get really dated. I was originally thinking about doing it in a kind of Art Mordern/Art Decom streamlined style, but that is a bit cliche and is already being used in part over at the Studios.

What other ideas do people have?

 

[matt88mph]

Perhaps I can help. I did this thread back in December and I got a lot of feedback (some of it positive, some of it negative). http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?threadid=31712

For anyone who likes the thread, keep your eyes peeled for My Own Personal Project Gemini For The Disney-MGM Studios soon!

 

[cloudboy]

Man! Some of my ideas have already been taken! There should be a website for people who want to put up designs of their own parks. People who are strong in one area and are weak in another could get toegther.

Anyway, I was talking more about the architectural look of the buildings. You know - tech modern, streamlined, Neoclassical, Egyptian...

Oh, how would you move Spaceship Earth?

 

[matt88mph]

Through the power of imagination. :animwink: :lol: I really don't know how. I just thought it would be better somewhere else. Also, don't worry about your ideas being "taken," it just shows that great minds think alike.

 

[marni1971]

Did you know the Communicore/Innoventions buildings were designed to be extended from the start? That is why the sides facing outwards are just glass, with large gardens safeguarding the expansion areas. They originally built one extention at the start, EPCOT Computer Central (where the old Backstage Magic show took you) - this is the style of the extentions - like pieces of pie to be added as and when. Infact, some of the early concept art shows the buildings extended!

 

[cloudboy]

Trying to picture it - which sides? I guess I had always assumed them to be glass just to bring in light and all that. Where did you find this out? Sounds interesting - I will have to look at some old pictures more closely.

One thing I did notice was that each side is all ready two separate buildings that simply have an attached canopy.

 

[DarkMeasures]

A lot of the Innovention buildings are empty right now, so it wouldn't be likely for the add-on to go underway until the next economic boom.

 

[marni1971]

I`m trying to post an image to help describe this in my albums, but i have suddenly exceeded my photo limit - by 13 meg!! Something is wrong here...

Anyway, the expansion area was to make the buildings wider, along the sides facing east and west, M:S, TT and Imagination, Land and the Seas. The grassed areas and pathways between the monorail loop and the existing buildings would have been built on. Soon as I can post my pic you will see better how this could have been done in steps as and when required.

Yes, the buildings are very empty - another cost cutting sign (though not as bad as DLCs Innoventions / Carousell theatre).

When I last visited i couldn`t believe how much space wasn`t used compared to Communicore - the Future Choice Theatre looks still there, MouseGear protrudes into the South East walkway (which was still visible through locked automatic doors... you could see the back of the shop wall in the original corridor), they took the Centorium balcony out when refitting for MouseGear, Backstage Magics Balcony must still be in there, and the whole of the South West Quarter was empty. Pretty disgusting....

We could go on about wasted space upstairs at Imagination, how THAT ride was shortened when JII2 was thrown up to make more space for the gift shop, 20,000 leagues (10 years empty now), Skyway stations, Animation building, Mission Space being half the size Horizons was.. why? Because what would have been the MAIN M:S show was axed... etc. etc.

Phew.. got that off my chest! Anyway, I hope you can visualise how Communicore was planned to expand... in lieu of my photo album accepting the image, I can email it to you if you really want to see?

marni71.

 

[cloudboy]

Thanks. No, that is all I needed for a description.

It's a real shame what they have done, or for that matter not done, with Epcot. The thing that gets me is that I think there is so much potential there, too. Not just in attractions but also in shops.

Last time I was down there a friend noted that it seems like they try and squeeze every ounce of space for retail in some areas, while in others they just completely ignore. Is there any kind of logic to what they do - do they have plans that they are just waiting to act on? It makes no sense to me, and yet they claim that epcot attendance isn't what it should be.

 

[JackSkellington]

Perhaps EPCOT could go into virtual worlds. This would be a virtual Disney all within a room. It is rather complicated to explain, but it would revolutionize the theme parks as we know it.

 

[marni1971]

Epcot seems to be in kind of a mess now - is it a thrill park, a worlds fair, a theme park?

They destroy Horizons, World of Motion, Journey into Imagination and the build up in The Living Seas, then wonder why attendence is down.. Now we have the likes of Spaceship Earth, a traditional omnimover (and the only real EPCOT Center Future World attraction left , Living with the Land aside, thats not been dumbed down / humourised) ride that is in the same park as Test Track and Mission Space. These are 2 very good `thrill` rides and a lesiurely educational omnimover trip through time... kind of a mish mash of themes. Don`t get me wrong - i LOVE SE and TT, but this is exactly how the park has lost its way. Who knows and what Project Gemini will bring (apart from the information on the net) If it ever happens?

OK, Soarin` is being built. Lots of time and Money being spent by TWDC. Great. Will probably love it. But again, at the same time, WOL has gone seasonal and half of the Innoventions buildings are unused.