From the day it opened in July
1955, in an event given live TV coverage, Disneyland has been a
key symbol of contemporary American culture. It has been both
celebrated and attacked as the ultimate embodiment of consumer
society, a harbinger of shopping mall culture, a symbol of
American hegemony in entertainment, the epitome of fantasy,
simulation, pastiche, and the blurring of distinctions between
reality and mass media imagery. Yet for all the power of
Disneyland as metaphor, almost no one has discussed the making of
this unique place, with its far-flung colonies in Florida, Japan
and France. Written to accompany an exhibition at the Canadian
Centre for Architecture in Montreal, Designing Disney's Theme
Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance is the first book to look
behind the myths of Disneyland.
Using a roster of authors chosen
from wide-ranging disciplines, this study is the first to examine
the influence of Disneyland on both our built environment and our
architectural imagination. Tracing the relationship of the Disney
parks to their historical forebears, it charts Disneyland's
evolution from one man's personal dream to a multinational
enterprise, a process in which the Disney 'magic' has moved ever
closer to the real world. Editor Karal Ann Marling, Professor of
Art History and American Studies at the University of Minnesota,
draws upon her pioneering work in he Disney archives to
reconstruct and analyse the intentions and strategies behind the
parks. She is joined by Marty Sklar, Vice Chairman and Principal
Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, historian Neil
Harris, art historian Erika Doss, geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, critic
Greil Marcus, and architect Frank Gehry to provide a unique
perspective on one of the great post-war American icons.
This a large, glossy, hardback
book, with numerous colour photographs.
Condition: Mint
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