EVER WONDERED WHAT it would be like to design a theme park? A few landscape architects don't have to wonder. Today, Walt Disney Imagineering employs 12 landscape architects – 24 if you include consultants from other firms who are embedded within the company. Walt Disney Imagineering was founded more than 50 years ago to design Disneyland. Since then, it has gone on to design theme parks and resorts around the world. Landscape architects have played an important role in these projects since the beginning.
What makes working as an Imagineer different than your typical landscape architecture job? "We do planting, irrigation, detailing... all the things most firms do." explains Jeff Morosky, ASLA, director of landscape architecture at Imagineering. ÒIt just gets integrated with many more layers and disciplines."
Imagineering employs professionals from approximately 140 different fields. The landscape architects here work side by side with writers, sculptors, show planners, and even special effects experts. But that's only one of the many things that make working for Imagineering unique.
Telling Stories in the Landscape
"As an entertainment company, our primary goal is to entertain," explains Morosky. One way they enhance the experience is by layering stories into the landscape. The stories they tell are not fine literature. but they add a richness not found in most landscapes. For example, as you walk along one path at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida, you might notice two sets of animal tracks imprinted into the mud-themed concrete paving. One belongs to a small rabbit and the other belongs to a big cat. Eventually, the tracks disappear at the base of a tree, and, if you look closely, you can see that the carnivore has captured the rabbit and is storing her meal in another nearby tree.
Children often notice the stories first and point them out to their parents. They may not always catch the attention of first-time visitors, but thatÕs part of the appeal. "We want people to come over and over to our parks and to see something new each time they come,Ò says John T. Shields, ASLA, who was the lead landscape architect for Animal Kingdom.
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