Walt Disney ImagiNations 13' Semi-Finalist

-The project was conceived by the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Team and created for the 2013 Walt Disney Imagineering's Design Competition -This project is the sole property of Walt Disney Imagineering and all rights to use these ideas are property of Walt Disney Imagineering -The competition is a way for students and recent graduates to showcase their talents and for Disney to identify new talent The project submission can be found at: http://youtu.be/0rIz0fLYUI8

Team 8 Everyday Disney at Curitiba, Brazil Disney has the potential to inspire a more diverse audience. As the density of cities increases on a global level, more space must be devoted to everyday life. To adapt to the evolving city, Disney has the opportunity to create more accessible space by reducing scale within the urban framework.

Curitiba, Brazil, one of the most sustainable and innovative cities in the world, serves as a model for future urban development. Through current infrastructure and design initiatives, the urban fabric has come to incorporate economic and community collaboration to extend the values of the city. With this inspiration, the genesis of our design strays from the conventional Disney attractions to shed light upon new opportunities within the Disney realm. Through direct community interventions, we began to establish nodes within the urban framework at a scale derived from current Disney Park structure.

These established spaces will become an adaptive community park including public gardens, recreation spots, and highlighting local artistic talent. These nodes branch out into a series of small interventions recognized by an urban green wall, which serves as an indicator for organized activity.

The Disney nodes are situated along the state of the art Curitiba bus system creating societal connections through cohesive organization. Through this series of interventions, Disney begins to facilitate city unity and drives the community forward.

Team Member

Major/ Minor

Participant #1

Landscape Architecture

Team Leader, Research, Visual Graphics, File, Layout

Participant #2

Landscape Architecture

Research, Visual Graphics, Film, Layout

Participant #3

Landscape Architecture

Research, Visual Graphics, Film, Layout

Participant #4

Contribution

Story behind the design This is the story of a changing city. Society today has developed a network of integrated systems that have come to influence and shape community within an urban fabric. Population growth has led to the extensive development of land and has altered the discourse of a city environment. The dynamic nature of these emerging cities begins to initiate innovative, thoughtful design strategies that account for the various levels of impact from the individual to global scale. This lays the groundwork for our system of nodes creating a landscape narrative within the urban environment. As guests travel through each park, they gain an understanding of the surrounding community, which constructs the cultural identity of Curitiba, Brazil. As the system progresses, it becomes a unique attraction on an everyday and global level.

Guest Experience Guests are welcomed into an active environment that provides a range of cultural experiences within the community. At concentrated levels, visitors can experience the centralized Disney node with a complete cultural display. This system becomes dynamic through an array of elements dispersed throughout the city.

Small interventions are traces that mark the identity of the Disney Park as a whole.

The experience highlights the magic of everyday life. Cities are often associated with hardscapes and degraded environments because of concentrated population. Although typically having negative connotations, city environments bring beauty through intensive cultural sites situated closely within the urban fabric. As the guests move through various Disney Parks, one can experience the beauty that resides within the cultural landscape. Experiencing unity within this space sheds light on the function of a place as a whole, moving away from an individualized lifestyle. People begin to work as a unit, which reconnects them back to the community to function at various scales. Curitiba becomes the first node, giving Disney the opportunity to further the initiative on a global level.