Imagine you enter a book in a zeppelin and as you pass through the land, attractions come to life like a pop-up book. The particle that you see guide you on the screen represents the magic that makes this all possible. Watch this in full screen and enjoy.
Song Credits: Radiohead "Everything in its Right Place"
Key Art for "Book of Possible"
Story
Planning
Like the origins of the world fair, this is an elaborate land of stories for people of all ages to come and enjoy.
Early map draft
Concept
Concept Sketch for Avatar Towers
Main Street Storefront Concept Sketch
Anthology
Key Art for "The Anthology" entry
Ground Level Concept Sketch
Ground Level Concept Sketch
At an astonishing 200,000 sf, this adventure inside of a book includes a full service restaurant (green) with 2 bars (lime), a full dark ride explaining the story of the Anthology (See Storyboards below), A performing arts stage, hot air balloons that take you to upper levels. Included are also two retail shops where you purchase with your avatars, office space, and large robotic arm rides that fly you into the air to select your favorite books (Orange).
This full service restaurant/ bar & lounge is approx. 34,000 sf and operates on 3 levels accessible by hot air balloon elevators.
Along the East corridor of the Anthology, there will be a dark ride that explains the "concept" story of the park. Beyond the familiar characters form existing book properties, I wanted to create a new story that would tie everything together and explain why there's 4 lands that come out from a big book.
Below the heavens, there is a fortress of books, guarded by ghostly beings known as Ringers. Housed in a forcefield between two trumpet like structures, Anthologies exist for every planet in existence to document every existing book, and every book yet to be written.
After a flash of white light overtakes the dome of Anthologies, one of the ringers are removed from their "ring" and begins to exhibit a personality. As the other ringers draw near, our story begins. Who took the Anthology for planet Earth?
Guests on this dark ride, will experience the story unfold through selected scenes (as shown in the storyboards above). It will end with our heroes failing to capture the book and 4 pages flying out to create the 4 books (Themed lands)
Since its inception, the Scholastic foundation has been about education. While the theme park itself is based hugely on the World of Possible, the education aspect is integrated into the environment of the Anthology's second floor. Once guests take the hot air ballons and arrive at the second floor, not only will there be an endless array of seating to check out books and discover new titles, there will be workshops that can be rented for hours at a time for various purposes. The clientele for these rooms can range from teachers and instructors to design groups who want to get together to discuss current or future projects.
"How Do Dinosaurs Stay Safe?' Dark Ride Interior, based on the best-selling children's book published by Scholastic.
Scrolls along the ride path light up as people read passages aloud on the vehicle's interactive dashboard. This will cause the ride vehicles to spin and the dinosaur figures to move.
"How Do Dinosaurs Stay Safe?" Dark Ride Interior
"How Do Dinosaurs Stay Safe?" Dark Ride Exterior
"Runaway Ralph" Motorcycle Ride
"Lift Your Underpants" Ride
"James and The Giant Peach Smoothie" Concept Sketch
"James and The Giant Peach Smoothie" Concept Sketch
"Matilda's Flying Chairs Cafe" Concept Sketch
"The Witches Stage Show" Concept Sketch
"The BFG 4D Experience" Concept Sketch
"Wings of FIre" is a high speed coaster ride that is based on the Scholastic franchise of the same name. Guests will zoom past life size audio animatronic dragons that breath real fire in close proximity to the ride vehicle. Projection mapping technology will also be used on the dragons to give their facial expressions and movements a life like feel.
"The Library" Dark Ride is an origin story of the Anthology. In this ride, guests will go on a fast paced storybook journey about how the ringers were created and what went wrong.
Goosebumps Swamp Ride Concept Sketch
This was my first time using After Effects so the animations are a little choppy, but this is just a conceptual idea of how an integrated story could work along a wall projected on angled surfaces.
Song Credit: Raphaël Beau - Larrons en foire
This isn't just a theme park. I think that gives the default impression for many that it's just a place for young children and families. It may be based off children's books but that's only a small part of it. In exploring the design of environments, I think theme parks are a canvas of limitless imagination where our realities are left at the door step. Much like film, the storytelling aspect plays a much larger role than just "interior design" or "architecture" which is why I am draw to it. When all is said and done, however, I don't see labels placed on it. It's architecture, it's illustration, it's graphic design, interaction design, urban planning, etc...It's a World of Possible.
