Theme
parks are a uniquely interactive and enduring modern form of
entertainment that have influenced architecture, technology and
culture in surprising ways for more than a century. Theme Park takes
the primitive amusements of the nineteenth-century pleasure gardens
as its starting point and continues with an in-depth investigation
of the theme park throughout the twentieth century and beyond. Lukas
examines theme parks around the world - including the United States,
UK, Europe, Japan, China, South Africa and Australia - and how
themed fairs and parks developed in a variety of locations.
World-famous and lesser-known parks are discussed, including the
early parks of Coney Island, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Kidzania in
Japan, World's Fair 'theme parks' and their luxurious exhibition
halls and virtual theme parks, and, of course, Disneyland and Walt
Disney World.Packed with
captivating illustrations and photographs, Theme Park takes us on a
historical roller coaster ride that both reanimates the places that
shaped our childhoods and anticipates the future of escapist
entertainment. |
