Constructing the Future Vol. 2

Spaceship Earth is such an extremely complex entity that its mere existence alone could be called an engineering miracle. From its structural technique to is metaphoric message, it is so completely symbiotic that, like is triangular exterior, it is often hard separate its many and interconnected facets. Nevertheless, the intricate way in which the story of man-kind was compiled and presented serves as a testament to Art of Imagineering and its way of presenting history and factual information in an thoughtful, intelligent and surprisingly entertaining way. In the future, E82 will go in greater detail on all aspects of Spaceship Earth’s development, construction, thematic structure, and four generations of evolution. But for now, I’d like to examine just exactly why she is encased into such a specialized material. Alucobond is quite literally (and appropriately) a space-age composite that was first manufactured the year we landed on the moon in 1969. Interestingly, like the Lunar-Lander, the original concept for Spaceship Earth was to be covered in a metallic gold. After through research it was determined that gold would retain heat and reflect the already blinding Florida sun. As a result, silver (known for being able to reflect heat) was chosen as the primary color of Spaceship Earth’s Geosphere. The brushed Aluminum surface solved the reflected light problem, and also led to more thematically appropriate aesthetic.

To paraphrase from the original literature, Spaceship Earth surface reflects the world it stands in tribute too. During the day, it softly defuses and refracts the blue skies, white clouds, and the green Earth. At night, her more prismatic qualities are revealed by the way breaks-up the color of a relatively small number of lights into hundreds of variating hues. In past years, the lighting schemes of Spaceship Earth were changed and more subtle variations enabled the sphere to reflect the lights of Future World and more specifically those of World Showcase. It is this description that encapsulates the visual meaning and message of Spaceship Earth: the precious sphere reflects Who We Are (W.S.) and our Collective Dreams for Tomorrow (F.W.).

Spaceship Earth Mornings

My Fellow Futurists,
You wouldn’t know it by the amount of posts I’ve been giving lately, but things are very busy here at E82. I’ve got more projects than I know what to do with! I’d love to tell you all about them, but in the telling I would both spoil the surprise, as well as take time away from the project themselves, so excuse me for not being as chatty as I normally would be. I will say that there have been some recent developments that have prompted me to take The Project to an entirely new venue. I can’t reveal too much at this time, but I will say that it’s become a sort of “Project X” for E82 (yep it’s that big!) Actually, I have TWO such projects in the pipeline one is mostly Artistic, and the other “Architectural” in nature.
So to continue my proverbial game of intellectual-leap-frog, here‘s yet ANOTHER “by request” while I work on some (hopefully) unexpected material for next week.

Wide Screen - Full Screen

Year One

E82
is dedicated to the
original philosophies of EPCOT-
the City, the Center, and its Legacy.
Here, the “Architects of the Future” are celebrated
through Art, Music, and History.

May E82 continue EPCOT Center’s original vision:
to entertain, inform and inspire.
And above all, may it present innovative
perspectives on still unrealized concepts
for the community of tomorrow.
Joshua L Harris
Founder
JLH Omnimedia
January 11, 2010

“This is Just the Beginning!”
-Walt Disney (the EPCOT Film, 1966)

And It’s Still Just the Beginning…

A year ago on this day, I started The E82 Project with the rather lofty goal doing nothing less than redirecting the destiny of park itself. A reach that probably exceeds my grasp, nevertheless small voices can usually become influential for the direction and tone of entire initiatives. E82 is largely and artistic project designed to capture the best elements of the park, the city and the “Center” and reinterpret its Classical concepts for the 21st Century.

In the past year, Epcot has gone back to the future in many new and extremely surprising ways. The most unusual of these is the return of Captain EO, a show that still manages to impress 25 years after its release. The amount of “Retrocenter” merchandise has continued to grow, and early in the year the affectionately termed “TRON-o-rail” heralded the release of the sequel to (for all intense and purposes) the EPCOT Center movie. Above all, the thing that most surprised me this year is the Company’s embracement of the EPCOT Center Legacy. D23 was giving members patches for all the original Future World Pavilions, and well as writing stories about the park for its “Twenty-Three” Magazine, The Disney Parks Blog recently posted a historical recollection of EPCOT’s original merchandise, and in the last week the company’s internal headlines series “This Week in Disney History” selected Horizons Last Operational Day (1-9-99) as a featured story. Following the now old cliché, “Acceptance is the first step to recovery” Epcot seems to be well on its way to a (slow but) full renewal!

To be quite honest, the evolution of E82 has been slow too and (thanks to unexpected “real world” distractions) filled with unexpected interruptions. I had hoped to be far ahead of where I am now, but it’s also important to note that for every project I complete there are at least ten others that I come up with. With that being said, I should also note that every new concept does get filed away for completion at a later date. All of this means the E82 is far from running on empty! In the next few months, the Imagination pavilion will reach completion and new pavilions with their music, history and art will soon rise into spotlight. (They may even start before Imagination has completed!) In addition, I am already hard at work on a project that will take Epcot into “The Digital Frontier” like never before! So as ISO Program-Castor would put it, 2011 is shaping-up to be “quite a ride”!

To follow up with the original poster for the E82 Project, I present this new design in which the Sun has now risen to become an optimistically bright morning.

The E82 OVERTURE
“Voices of Tomorrow”

To some of my closest friends this recording is nothing new. In fact, I had hoped to launch the blog with a full video “trailer” featuring my vision of all the E82 has to offer. Alas, as I am far too busy writing, designing, and “mixing” I have yet to find the time to learn video production.
SO HERE’S WHAT I’D LIKE TO DO INSTEAD…
If anyone out there is interested, and has a strong video graphics background please let me know if you’d like to working with me in making a video featuring this music.

AT E82...
We’ve Just Begun to Dream!