In 1994, the Walt Disney Company figured out what they could do with a sliver of undeveloped land near Disney World. Executives decided to transform the swamp land (previously used as a holding tank of sorts for captured alligators) into a master-planned living community, deeming it Celebration, Florida.
According to Wikipedia, there are two versions as to the reasoning behind this decision:
One story for the reason behind Disney’s idea to build a community there was that Osceola County was considering taxing the land at a higher rate to recognize its potential, and so Disney chose to make money off it.
Another version, which seems to be more personal and friendly is that the Walt Disney Company was fulfilling Walt Disney’s original vision of EPCOT as an “experimental prototype community of tomorrow”. Instead of becoming a testbed for community living and city planning, his original vision turned into more of a showcase for current and future technologies; a hands-on learning center.
In Walt’s words:
EPCOT … will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise.
During the construction phase, the Walt Disney Company sought the help of world-renowned Robert A.M. Stern architects, Cooper Robertson & Partners and Michael Bierut and partners from Pentagram who worked together in creating a harmonious concept of “New Urbanism”. A relatively new ideal, New Urbanism is the synergy of modernism and futurism where residential and commercial zones would be meshed together.
Architects and graphic designers worked together in creating every minute detail in the town, from the homes to the movie theatres including custom designed manhole covers and street signs. According to one of the lead graphic designers on the project it wasn’t always a pleasant collaboration as designers and architects would on more than one occassion clash horns. In the end, the result was nothing short of spectacular; a neighborly community wrapped in architectural perfection, even if that sense of perfection has attracted critics who see Celebration as nothing more than a “celebrated” movie set.
We talked about Celebration, FL in an urban planning class I took last year. Very fascinating.
It’s interesting to see examples along the planning spectrum — from unplanned cities like Old Boston to overplanned cities like Celebration. The right way, as always, is somewhere in between.
The trick is to provide enough structure and guidance that it’s easy for people to build smart. With no planning or guidance whatsoever, you get chaos. At best, when there are geographical constraints (like in Boston), this turns out to be lively and interesting. At worst, with no constraints, you get big box retail.
A great example of doing it the “right way” is Chicago. After the Great Fire in 1871, the city was rebuilt with a new opportunity for good planning. Apparently, the pre-fire Chicago was chaotic and disorderly, only minimally constrained by the location of the lake. After the fire, a new set of guidelines helped direct future development and as a result Chicago is one of the best-planned cities on a fundamental level. (More recent planning, including public transportation, is another story…)
Hey Erik, on a totally unrelated subject, WB is planning on remaking the Looney Toons.. You can find a preview of the upcoming cartoon here:
here.
John: Thanks for the added insight. I’m always interested in the different methodologies of design and architecture in particular, an aspect of design that is sometimes overlooked.
On that note, it’s a good thing the Great Fire of 1871 occured, otherwise Chicago wouldn’t have been restructured the way it is today.
I read a long article on Celebration some years ago in NYT magazine. Walt Disney indeed thought of EPCOT as a full-fledged urban project, complete with residences and all (though in a somewhat more futuristic fashion than the actual quaint home designs over there).
From what I remember of such article, it talked a lot of how the development process went, and how Disney’s idealistic vision of a perfect community “done right in all counts” clashed with the realities of an imperfect world.
Coming to think of it, our capitol city would make good use of a great fire like Chicago’s — it is such an unsolvable urban mess that best bet should be being able to start from scratch. Honestly.
By capitol city, I assume you mean Washington, D.C. Right?
Funny thing about that… Washington is one of the few master-planned cities in America. Pierre L’Enfant was recruited by George Washington himself to design the city, but then “fired” before he could finish. Later, his plan was re-adopted and continues to be used today in planning development in the city.
Capitol city = San Jose, Costa Rica. I was lacking better terms to say “main city of third world country” or something like that.
Assumptions are funny, huh?
BTW, I was on DC last August. I’d be more than happy if our cities were a tenth as organized as Washington, though I like San Francisco best.
Yeah, I totally assumed you were in the U.S. Silly me. Guess I will be more careful from now on…
If memory serves me (which it doesn’t always), Michael Bierut helped design quite a bit of Celebration — I believe he mentioned it at a local AIGA presentation I attended. I think he talked about how everything from the manholes to the street signs were touched by his team at Pentagram.
Hi recently found your site, enjoying your blogs and have added them to Sage (firefox plugin). I visited celebrations while I was over in the states last Christmas.
To be honest I actually found the place a little spooky. The whole place is so regimented, there is no opportunity for self expression or artistic licence, in some cases I can see how this would be a good idea i.e. no cars parked on the lawns being worked on and no ghastly neon pink or electric blue houses.
However one thing I found especially odd was the fact that every house has had sudo windows placed into the roof to make it look like the perfect American house. Yet there are no rooms behind the windows in fact apparently the windows are just stuck onto the outside of the houses to make it more aesthetically pleasing.
Is this not just the furthering the image consciousness of society? Here in the UK young children are obsessed with looking older and like pop stars before they are grown. Yet another step in the wrong direction its like sending a message to all the Americans who live below the poverty line “look another piece of the American dream you can’t hope to attain”. Also I wonder if you live in a utopian town which has a utopian community if you think much about what is going on outside your town, state dare I say it Country?
Just my two peneth worth
Nice Blog
Jx
If you didn’t see oddly-colored houses in Celebration (not to mention junky cars), you didn’t come very far into town. We’re got electric blue and mustard yellow houses, as well as a large, purple Victorian that is currently under construction. A few of the homes have the fake windows, but most of the upstairs windows are genuine. It amazes me at how many of the old rumors refuse to die and how many people still believe them, even when they have supposedly been here to visit.
We’ve owned our home in Celebration for two years now, and I snicker over supposed “facts” about our community. We’re not even close to Walt’s vision of Epcot, although I guess it makes a quaint story. I have a blog at http://celebrationfl.blogspot.com that gives my take on life in the “Disney Town.” It’s probably as skewed as anything else, but I like to think it gives a more genuine portrait of our community.