Building a Dream: The Art of Disney Architecture by Beth Dunlop

Building a Dream: The Art of Disney Architecture Reviews

• 
  Mauricius A. Gibin

  Money well spent: awesome pictures, excellent supporting stories, well written. Not just for Disney fans, but also excellent research material for architecture as a whole.
• 
  G. Askey

  If you are a Disney nut like me you'll find this book fascinating. Ii shows Disney's buildings how they were conceived, what they looked like on paper and how they were created. It's a beautifully put together book with history and explanation and illustrated throughout.
• 
  Paul Nicholls

  A must for any true Disney fan!
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  debra stanton

  love it
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  C. Sudeen

  thank good product cant wait to read it. read and loved just like new so thanks agin and have a magical day
• 
  Skyler

  80 % small black and white pictures. BoringLots of text, very little images. I thought this was going to have fun, color photos of the parks but no.
• 
  Paula Maria

  I'm very happy with the book. It's great.
  Got the product in Brazil before the deadline and in perfect condition.
  Thank you so much. I'm sure I'll be happy to do business with you again.
• 
  Sam Gennawey

  Building A Dream is an updated version of a first edition printed in 1996. The two books may share the same title but there are both worthy additions to your collection in their own right. In the fast paced world that is The Walt Disney Company, a lot of things have happened since 1996.
  
  Let's start with the obvious. The book is beautiful and contains hundreds of photos that show off Disney architecture at its finest. However, I noticed, for good or bad, virtually every photo showed off the building but was devoid of people.
  
  More importantly is Dunlop's critical eye and talent in describing not only what you are seeing but also what was the design intent. The book is a comprehensive look at Disney architecture that reaches far beyond the theme parks. The book starts with an overview of the grand tradition of architectural design, which began with Disneyland.
  
  ""Urban planners study Disneyland to understand ideas of proportion and perspective and to learn, technically, about the flow of pedestrians and the placement of public spaces. Disneyland simply changed the way we think."
  
  Disclaimer: In a conversation with Ms. Dunlop she mentioned an analysis I once did applying a planning tool called the Urban Transect that shows the proper hierarchy for town development to Toontown at Disneyland.
  
  "Ironically, Mickey's Toontown was actually invented for the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In its three dimensional form, it actually creates a town real enough that planner and blogger Sam Gennawey was able to create a detailed analysis of the way in which it portrays what New Urbanists call The Transect, showing the proper hierarchy for town development."
  
  Apparently it made an impression and I am cited in the book on page 26. The fact that my name is mention in the book in no way influenced this review other than I think it is pretty cool to make it to the index.
  
  "With its nineteenth century architecture, Main Street U.S.A. was a major revelation, and in many ways is one of Disney's great contributions to American life. The small town sensibility of the architecture reaffirms the beauty and joy of the American streetscape. The buildings represent a pastiche of styles and were built at a scale that reinforces the pedestrian experience."
  
  From Disneyland we move on to Walt Disney World with plenty of concept artwork and outstanding photos. In some cases the photos are expanded to cover both pages. There are a lot of examples of conceptual artwork placed next to the built product. One entire chapter is dedicated to the town of Celebration.
  
  "By extrapolating familiar approaches to design (among them, the generic late Victorian style of Main Street), Disney offers up memorable architectural symbols that are much greater than the proverbial sums of their individual parts. John Hench referred to these as "archetypal truths," adding that the visual symbol is the essence of the painter's genius."
  
  Next stop are the hotels. There is an especially loving look at the three hotels from Peter Dominick (Disney's Grand Californian, Disney's Wilderness Lodge, Disney's Animal Kingdom). There is also a concentrated look at the two Post modern monuments from Peter Graves, the Swan and Dolphin. It is an interesting contrast in how designers go about their work. Most of the resorts at WDW get a treatment. I will guarantee you will not look at these structures quite the same way after reading the book. Dunlop tries to put the hideous design of the value resorts into context with just enough intellectual shine as to build a case. However, I am still not buying it.
  
  One of the legacies of Michael Eisner's run at the top of the Disney corporate ladder was a commitment to significant architecture. This extended to office buildings. There is one chapter that gives you a chance to peek inside of these buildings. Did you know that the Orlando Team Disney building features the largest sundial in the world? Even service structures like the WDW fire stations and the McDonalds get their day.
  
  While I was reading Building A Dream: The Art of Disney Architecture by Beth Dunlop and came to realize that Walt's vision of EPCOT sort of actually exist and it is in Marne la Vallée region of France. Along with the theme parks and resort hotels there is a 290 acre mixed use development by the architectural firm of Cooper, Robertson. All of the land uses are within a radial highway and bisected by a mass transit train system (the TGV and RER lines) connecting to other regions. The neighborhood was designed around "a framework of boulevards, streets, and large and small squares and parks." This vision is much closer to what Walt was seeking then what happened in Florida.
  
  The New Amsterdam theater in New York, the Team Disney building in Anaheim, the newer buildings on the Walt Disney Studios lot, and all of the other projects (including the cruise ships) that came online over the past two decades.
  
  This is not the typical Disney book. It is a serious look at a very narrow topic architecture and the magic of placemaking. It is stunning to look at and for that reason alone should be a consideration for your library.