Keep Moving Forward

epcotexplorer:

Early 1981 and the framework of Spaceship Earth, the Universe of Energy Energy, and the World of Motion serve as a promising vista with the Contemporary and the Magic Kingdom looming in the background. 

Weird to see EPCOT so bare and formative like this.

epcotexplorer:

Spaceship Earth: Time Station 

Before the plans for Spaceship Earth coalesced into the final design of a massive geosphere, plans in 1978 detailed the construction of a massive dome for EPCOT’s entrance and icon to house the keystone attraction.

Because of this less ambitous design, the attraction loaded from the “back” of the attraction, as the “front” face of the dome faced north and the entrance to EPCOT. So, when entering from the south, the original designers of Spaceship Earth had a bit more room to work with than the in the final design of the geosphere, which would require Load/Unload to be in a small, cramped facility literally wedged under Spaceship Earth’s support columns. 

With this extra room, a much more dramatic entrance to the pavilion was plotted out. Instead of having the line of Omnimovers snake their way around curved aluminum panels (Complete with Lightning In A Bottle- admittedly one of my favorite effects)  and up the steep incline to get into the geosphere, the geodome would have allowed for a much broader entrance, and one with a few effects. Fully embracing that Spaceship Earth was using time travel as a plot device, an elaborate system of projections depicting the ride’s events would have greeted guests as they began their journey into the pavilion. Dubbed the “Time Station”, this effect would have been in the entrance area and served as a pallet cleanser before guests and their Omnimovers were whisked into the main show building to travel back in time vis-à-vis more traditional Audio Animatronic tableaux. 

Interesting…

epcotexplorer:

Humanistic Horizons

On the land, under the sea, and even out in space… Horizons was the one pavilion that took the topical elements of Future World and blended them into one grand ride that served as the capstone or thesis statement for EPCOT’s forward thinking part of the park. 

Even with this in mind, the reasons behind Horizons’ large fanbase, even today, 13 years after it was demolished, are quite simple. Horizons was warm and relatable. The pavilion dwelled in the serious subjects of Future World but presented them in an organic way: through the eyes and actions of a family. Nameless re-occuring characters, warm narrators, amusing situations and gags populated the fantastical and scientific settings that we had seen earlier, but under industrial pretenses. Now, the ride and the settings were personal, and felt closer to home. Much in the way that the Carousel of Progress addressed the audience, the narrators did the same in Horizons. You were being talked to, given a tour, and welcomed into the home of the family that was living in this fantastical, futuristic environment. For this reason, the Carousel of Progress and Horizons were considered to be in a symbiotic relationship and Horizons to be Carousel’s sequel. 

Further, the aesthetics of the environments supported the warm connotation that Horizons had. The treatments that each scene and environment were given were highly similar, even if not geographically (or spatially!) related. Each vehicle was of a concurrent shape and design to another in a scene. In fact, the design of the Solo Subs in Sea Castle were much of the same body type as the Space Shuttles in Brava Centauri. With this in mind, the familiarity of each aesthetic, of each environment you were being shown played a subtle trick on the guest’s brains. You’d expect to see certain things, and the relatable feeling to the pavilion was created and fostered by the simple memory of the scene before it. 

Horizons’ warmth was not accidental. The pavilion was the humanistic manifestation of all of the subject matter and challenge that was put on display in Future World. But in the fact that the basis for the experience was rooted in family, and in relationships, the pavilion’s intent was one that anyone could enjoy, relate to, and feel at home in. 

EPCOT Center is missing this today. We all cry and clamor for EPCOT to attack the broad and sweeping subjects now missing from it, but if EPCOT Center truly wants to return, it must be based in warmth and feeling like a relatable future that you can easily imagine yourself in. 

I feel like I have no right to comment on anything related to Horizons because I never rode it…

epcotexplorer:

Colonies In Space (Taken with instagram)

:-)

epcotexplorer:

EPCOT Art: Imagination Atrium 

EPCOT, by my measure, is one large exhibition hall. Topics and themes are put on display, showcased, and given different mediums so that their content can be expressed in a way so as to convince guests of their importance in today’s (or tomorrow’s!) society. To help this thematic motif along, the park can be adorned with art that’s pleasing to the eye and supportive of the message conveyed. 

Journey into Imagination captured this modus operandi perfectly. Under the careful expertise of Walter Peregoy, the loading area for the abstract adventure through the cognitive process was whimsical, light, and airy- all moods and tones that lend themselves to flights of fancy and imagination. The central pylon of the staircase leading to the Imageworks transcended functionality and was a graceful staircase piece of sculpture. The soft pastel tones in the murals were vibrant but soothing and reassuring. The textures of burnished metals and glass were sleek and futuristic, but not in a utilitarian way. Further, the whole atrium was open, allowing glimpses up into the monumental pyramid that makes up Journey’s facade. 

The artful appearance of Journey into Imagination made EPCOT a warmer place and one that was easy to feel at home in. The colors, aesthetics, and forms chosen were done so to be convincing and reassuring. EPCOT was art on a grand scale. 

Why haven’t I visited the Imagination pavilion yet?

epcotexplorer:

EPCOT Center from the air. Perfection. 

Yes!

magicjourneysdisneyland:

Space Mountain, Magic Kingdom - We’ve Come So Far (Star Tunnel music with lyrics, 1991).

This is good.

epcotexplorer:

The 21st Century Begins… (Taken with instagram)

Yes.

epcotexplorer:

EPCOT Colors III: Universe of Energy

Resplendent in it’s simplicity, the radiating hues of the Universe of Energy provided contrast, added to it’s monolithic form, and suggested the vibrancy of it’s subject matter. 

Perhaps one of the most literal designs for a Future World pavilion, the Universe of Energy’s wedge-like shape is meant evoke images of plate tectonics, and the movements of the Earth’s crust. The shape of the building is not only crafted to be at a proper angle to the sun, so its acre of solar cells on the roof can help contribute to the actual show but to suggest that part of the earth has sprung up due to the cataclysmic forces the pavilion focuses on. 

Plants and walkways surrounding the pavilion were angled in a way to make the massive form of the building much more noticeable and pronounced. Dark green shrubs and plants used to compliment the angles and hard lines of the pavilion, while not competing with the reds, yellows, and oranges that could be considered the pavilion’s “weenie”. (A term used by Walt for architecture that would draw an audience into the building) Meanwhile, pathways surrounding the pavilion place guests in line with the borders of the pavilion’s structure, only allowing guests to be “in front” of the immediate sides of the building, unless at the apex of it’s form. The apex itself is where the marquee for the pavilion resides, but even that is alluring and methodically in step with the scale and scope of the architecture. Recessed in a blue reflecting pool, the original sign was a wedge of concrete, much in the shape of the pavilion. Today, this set up is a slightly lessened, as a towering spire now offsets the pavilion’s size, while baring the marque and name.

Where there wasn’t color on the Universe of Energy, there is reflection, instead. Clad in thousands of mosaic mirrored tiles, the building radiates light and heat. The rest of the building is a soft gray, allowing the swaths of warm colors to radiate on the buildings surface while the mirrors ubiquitously dampen pavilion’s surroundings while still shimmering and adding to the overall effect of the pavilion. 

Today, most of this illusion remains intact, if executed in less thoughtful ways. The pavilion’s warm colors are back, after several years of being replaced with a pallet of rainbows. Most of the trimmed shrubs and plants are overgrown, dampening how effective the Universe of Energy’s size should appear. And, as mentioned earlier, the original marquee was replaced with a spire that doesn’t fit the aesthetic of the original EPCOT Center architecture. 

Even so, Energy survives. The building is still massive and monolithic, a true monument to EPCOT Center’s original scale. The colors and vibrant feeling remains. EPCOT’s visual message on Energy is still clear, despite having several muddled edges. 

————

For past articles on EPCOT’s color scheme and aesthetics read here: 

http://epcotexplorer.tumblr.com/post/19735776492/epcot-colors-journey-into-imagination-one-of

http://epcotexplorer.tumblr.com/post/20067883313/epcot-colors-ii-world-of-motion-much-like

I love the “warming” graduation of the colors.

epcotexplorer:

Earlier tonight, news broke that Bob Moline, composer of several of EPCOT Center’s most memorable songs had passed away. His words and music were part of the spirit and dynamic sound of EPCOT that we all hold dear. He will be missed, and his contribution to EPCOT’s legacy will not be forgotten. 

RIP, Mr. Moline.