discussion board

ALA100 Intro to Environmental Design Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts Arizona State University The Design School Max Underwood

Themed Environments From the Circus to Las Vegas

“Whether people live in the central city or suburbs, themed experiences increasingly characterize their daily life. Remember Las Vegas and Disney World are the world’s top tourist attractions.” Mark Gottdiener The Theming of America (1997). Part one: definitions Themed environment A themed environment may be defined as a unique and identifiable environment, designed in response to people’s dreams, fantasies and/or entertainment, which conveys specific meaning to its inhabitants through the use of storytelling, lighting, and imagery to create an evocative setting in which a story plays out. It is an enhanced reality or theater. As the famous entertainment and experience design architect, David Rockwell has noted, “it implies emotion, narrative, and the ability to tell stories that profoundly move you.” (see http://www.rockwellgroup.com) A themed environment (such as a resort, entertainment, retail or gaming destination) will often orient toward a specific fantasy lifestyle, and attempt to create a depiction of historical or fictional environments, working to create unique attributes and experiences for a visitor. Themes can be created around almost anything; cities, countries, landmarks, lifestyle choices, cultures, local activities, heritage, history, legends, folklore or fictional stories and places. Our recent preoccupation with themed environments is due in large part because these spaces provide the type of pedestrian urban experience that in the past was found in cities and small towns. But as popular as themed environments have become, they will never take the place of “rich public places that are nurtured in a healthy society with open cites and a strong public sphere of action.”

Part two: a historical survey of themed environments In the past, cultures throughout the world have always represented fundamental values and shared truths in their environment, whether permanent or ephemeral. The dawn of civilization World-wide, ancient civilizations believed the Natural world was a meaningful and signifying place, in which divine spirits controlled the cosmos, their immediate environment and in turn their lives. Thus these early people produced stories, myths, rituals and symbolic artifacts to worship and sustain them. Their themed environment was produced by the intertwined activates of belief, discourse and materialization (Greek and Roman gods and theatre, Aztec sacrifices, Hopi snake-corn dance, rebuilding of the Ise shrine in Japan, etc) Middle ages With the dawning of early capitalism, the medieval city became the symbol of accumulated wealth. The cathedral, trade guildhalls, town hall and market were all embellished as environmental symbols of commercial success (Bruges). Temporal and ephemeral themed environments helped to escape from the harsh realities of medieval life (Cathedral interior (heaven on earth), Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, etc). The grand illusion of the Baroque Fueled by colonization and global capitalism, the baroque environment is seen as the physical expression of the wealth, power and opulence of the King and his court, rather than of the people and their aspirations. The environment becomes a grand illusion of unity, power and order as far as the eye can see, fusing the city and the landscape into a themed environment, which celebrates royal lifestyle (Versailles fetes/pageants, Baroque Rome, etc). The Romanticism of the 19th Century As the pollution and swelling population from the industrial revolution overtook the 19th century city, commercial leaders retreated into their opulent estates and mansions. Each of which was designed as a total period setting, evoking a particular lifestyle and through association with culture and history, a noble social standing (Newport mansions, World exhibitions (1893 Chicago), invention of the department store, Bon Marche (1869 Paris), etc) The dawn of the circus age Another major development in themed environments during this time was the dawn of the circus age in America. In 1903, 98 railroad circuses including the Ringling Brothers, P.T. Barnum and Bailey, traveled the nation and had an enormous impact in transforming America from a series of loosely connected towns into a shared national culture. As soon as the circus train pulled into town, stores and schools closed, and everyday life was replaced by the magical world under the big top. Exotic spectacles of humans, animals and cultures from unknown places, semi-naked performers, aerial acrobats, and satirical clowns challenged deeply held provincial notions of gender, race, class and the wider world. A three ring themed environment transformed the small town into the big city. (see The Circus Age)

The modern functionalism of the early 20th century Following World War I the built environment was transformed by the themes of progress and technological efficiency. The form of an environment resulted solely from its function, with no regard of its culture, history or people. The city became simply a “machine for living.” One of the most important themed environments of this period was the ocean liner and it journeys throughout the seven seas. By the dawn of the roaring twenties, the jazz age had erupted with themed ballrooms, clubs and speakeasies, connected by automobiles and numerous new communication devices (telephone, telegraph, phonograph, photography, film and advertising). But the 1929 stock market crash would bring an abrupt end to these dreams. The age of television, advertising and mass consumerism With the dawn of the television age daily life in the city and new post war suburbs became intertwined with new themed environments supported by advertising, mass consumption and the freedom of the automobile and air travel. In 1955, the McDonald brothers opened a roadside hamburger stand with a golden logo in the shape of a large “M” (San Bernardino, CA, the “M” was miss read as arches); the rest is history (Burger King, White Castle, In-n-out Burger, Jack-in-the-box, Taco Bell, etc). Born was the age of the themed franchise. Most recent additions, which combine commercial, merchandising areas and entertainment, include themed restaurants (Hard Rock Café, Planet Hollywood, Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden, etc); themed malls (Mall of America (78 acres with 7 acre theme park), The Lab (Orange County youth mall), etc); and themed airports (O’Hare, Pittsburgh, etc). “Never forget that it all started with a mouse” In 1928 on a train trip from New York to Los Angeles, Walt Disney first sketched Mickey Mouse, giving birth to three important visions: “wholesome family entrainment, “ a consumer market exclusively for children, and the world’s most important themed environment of all time: Disneyland (1955, 182 acres). In the process, Walt invented the world’s first media conglomerate, turning his collection of cartoon characters into money as he paraded them on film, radio, television and his theme parks. Beginning with still drawings of his characters, Walt brought them to life on the silver screen of the movie theatres with full-length animated features (Steamboat Willie 1928 (first sound), Silly Symphony 1932 (first color), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937, Pinocchio 1940, Bambi 1942). Then with the birth of the television age, Walt’s characters and other future magic kingdom worlds entered our collective imagination on The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night. So in 1955, with the opening of Disneyland those ephemeral illusions and persistent memories became a place that everyone had to visit. By the early 1990’s, more than 300 million people had visited Disneyland, more people than the present population of the US. “It is an almost faultless organization for delivering, against cash, almost any type of environmental experience that human fancy however inflamed could devise. Here are pedestrian piazzas, seas, jungles, castles, outer space, Main Street, the old West, mountains, more than can be experienced in a single day.” Reyner Banham, Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies 1971.

Learning from Las Vegas In 1931, Nevada bucked the great depression by legalizing gambling and setting its sights on tourism as it future. The Strip was born on April 3, 1941, with the grand opening of the El Rancho Vegas motor lodge and casino. Beginning in 1947 with Flamingo Hotel, a Hollywood nightclub imported to the desert, Vegas met the national boom in tourism with an aggressive advertising campaign (J. Walter Thompson) and continuous growth. The payoff was larger than any gambler’s dream jackpot. In 1994, 23.5 million visitors filled 85,000 hotel rooms and generated $14.7 billion in profits. Las Vegas is an entire metropolitan area that is themed. The vast spaces of the desert southwest with explicit and heightened symbolism composed of “watts, animation and technology,” as Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown described in the landmark book, Learning from Las Vegas (1972). The function of the Las Vegas’ themed environment is straightforward – the seduction of the consumer. Las Vegas is a multi-dimensional experience of seductive pleasures – money, sex, food, gambling and nightlife. According to Venturi, “essential to the imagery of pleasure zone architecture are lightness, the quality of being in an oasis in a hostile context, heightening symbolism, and the ability to engulf the visitor in a new role: vacation from everyday reality.” Beyond the uniqueness of Las Vegas as a fully themed environment, the 38 amenity packed Strip casino-resorts have developed unique identities over the years though the use of elaborate signs (1950-60’s Flamingo, Stardust, Dunes), enormous theme palaces based on history, fantasy or exotic locals (1970-90’s Caesars Palace, Circus Circus, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay) and themed theatrical-media entertainment environments with live theatre, three dimensional light and sound entertainment (1990-today: Treasure Island (ship battles, Cirque du Soleil “Mystere”), Bellagio (Cirque du Soleil “O”), MGM Grand (Cirque du Soleil “Zumanity” and “MGM”). “The themes may change over the years, but the constant is this: Las Vegas is a mass medium reflecting the dreams, fantasies and desires of American mass culture.” Alan Hess, Viva Las Vegas 1993. The age of experiential design: the danger of Today our pervasive use of themed environments seamlessly merge with contemporary, commercialized popular culture and the entertainment media. Today’s commercial environments are not only increasing themed, but are also entertaining. As David Rockwell has observed, “the people who visit his environments are audiences, and he is dedicated to keeping those customers interested, amused, jazzed, awestruck, entertained by the physical space itself.” We have moved into the era of the large-scale manufacture and consumption of storytelling, special effects and 24/7 fun. Recent psychological studies have found that individuals reported greater happiness from “experiential purchases” than from “material purchases.” The study also found that as incomes go up Americans spend a greater proportion of their income on experiential experiences (theatre, travel, fine food, extreme sports, etc), which give them more pleasure than additional possessions. (see Elizabeth Farrelly’s Blubberland: The Danger of Happiness).

“Our culture as a whole is becoming increasingly theatricalized thanks largely to the impact of electronic and visual media. The reference point of the contemporary world is television, film, video, computer graphics and permutations of rock/pop music and their related venues (stadium concerts, clubs, MTV, personal stereos, the internet, etc). Rapid movement, intense color and light, continuous visual stimulation, and high decibel sound make up the palette from which this new architecture of themed environments is drawn.” Arnold Anderson, “The Art of Transition: Rockwell Group and Theater.” Conclusion We have witnessed the proliferation of themed environments that hide their real function (use as tools of corporate profit making) underneath a playful form, fantasy, or simulated real environment. Today, themed environments must entertain as well as sell experience and/or merchandise. The predominant content of our present themed environments is seamlessly derived from highly popular commercial images associated with television, advertising, film and popular music. In the end, themes are direct marketing appeals. They reduce the product to pure image and the consumer experience to its symbolic content.