ml

HOME SERVICES PRINCIPAL PROJECTS PUBLICATIONS RESEARCH  CONTACT
 
THEME PARKS
 
Epcot
Energy
Land
Horizons
Living Seas
Imagination!
Spaceship Earth
World Showcase
 
 
   
   

Photograph by Corey Dorsey

  Epcot ka
 

The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) was Walt Disney’s vision of a utopian city of the future, where people would live and work on projects for the betterment of mankind. Although the actual city was never built, the idea evolved into a 300 acre theme park that opened in October, 1982.

The park consists of two sections, Future World and World Showcase, laid out in an hourglass shape. Both sections are patterned after the types of exhibits found at world expositions. Future World consists of a variety of pavilions that explore innovative aspects of past and future applications of technology. World Showcase is a collective of national pavilions that surround a beautifully landscaped lagoon. The gardens of Epcot are among the most extensive at the resort and set the stage to help tell each country’s story. Inside the pavilions, attractions and restaurants highlight the art, architecture, culture, and cuisine of eleven countries.

MLA began working on Epcot in the late 1970s when we were selected to do the acoustical engineering for the Universe of Energy Pavilion, the most technically complex of the Future World projects. As our work progressed we were given more and more responsibility, eventually including all but two of the Future World pavilions and nine of the World Showcase pavilions. Much of the work was highly innovative, some involving problems that had never been encountered before.