Theme park architects/designers

[andrus]

Help! I'm currently writing an essay for school on theme park design. However (which might not be a huge surprice) there's very little litterature on the subject..

With this in mind I came up with the idea of including John Wardley's biography Do you guys know of any other famous park/ride/landscape designers/architects in the theme park business besides John? I thought that I could search their names and see if they've perhaps written something on the subject!

Any other tips on litterature would also be appreciated (N.B. I'm not looking for engineers like Ron Toomer and stuff)

Cheers!

 

[Ian]

So you're after master planners and imagineers?

Although the following companies might not roll off of every enthusiast's tongue, I would suggest looking at Thinkwell, BRC Imagination Art, Forrec and Goddards.

The CEOs of these companies have influenced many theme parks, but we don't hear about them in the same celebrity tones as Wardley et al. Biographies and projects can be found on their website.

 

[rtotheizzo17]

I would say this subject should start (and maybe end) with Marty Sklar.

 

[Dar]

Don't forget about Mr. Broome and his battersea plans for the opposite of Wardley!

 

[andrus]

So you're after master planners and imagineers?

Well yes, thank you for the help Ian! Didn't know whether it was just a Disney-term, or if other parks used the word "imagineer" as well. So to be precise; I'm looking for persons/comapnies doing masterplaning, landscaping and "imagineering" in the theme park bussiness

I looked up the companies you suggested and Forrec had some interesting stuff on their web-page; mainly promotional material though, but I think it'll still be of good use!


Don't know with Sklar and Broome though, couldn't find anything of use there :/ But still appreciate your effort guys!

Me myself on the other hand found this autobiography from John Hench, Disney imagineer: "Designing Disney - Imagineering and the Art of the Show". It seems like a really interesting book focusing on the design parameters (architecture, use of color etc) rather than just the parks and persons behind it (like most othe "fan-based" litterature on the subject).


If you find anything else; please let me know! I very much appreciate your effort! :--D

 

[rob666]

Joseph Emberton at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Give him a google,
did the casino (entrance) grand national station etc,
even named a butty shop after him,
though that has now gone.

 

[Hyde]

John C. Allen was one of the foremost roller coaster engineers of the 20th century, having begun at Philadelphia Toboggan Company in 1934. The Racer at Kings Island is often considered the roller coaster that kicked off the Second Golden Era of roller coasters during the 70s, and guess who was the designer? (He also provided engineering equations for the construction of Beast)

Allen is credited with advancing roller coaster design by using parabolic curving in the hill design for more precise engineering, and he also was one of the first to use lightweight aluminum cars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Allen
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/top ... #ref911014

 

[Brookes]

I have read a couple of books by Steve Alcorn called Theme Park Design and Building a Better Mouse (easily found through google). He worked for WED during the building of Epcot mainly on the electronics side but the first book I mentioned goes into much more detail about general attraction design, and might be what you are looking for. He now teaches an online class about being an imagineer. Definitely worth a look at.