2032 — Part 1

Centorium Celebration

Originally opening with the rest of the park in 1982, EPCOT Center’s primary gift shop, Centorium was the Center Emporium for Future World and featured two levels of shopping with the second floor overlooking the Fountain of Nations.
Inside the store contained many forward-thinking toys and devices the seemingly foretold the future of high-tech shopping that is now so commonplace. Unfortunately the dawn of the new millennium, for which Epcot announced nearly two decades before, also claimed this fun and futuristic shop in 1999 to make way for is now Mouse Gear. 

In continuing E82’s 5th Anniversary Celebration, we are set to re-open Centorium with several products in the works that will once again bring New “Gifts of Future World” into your home and on your computer. Starting with one of the most requests assets of The E82 Project…

  

I realize that a singular product does not a store make, but there are actually several new, innovative, and nostalgia-based items that will be coming online and in the store very soon!     

Five Years Later

At this Moment Five Years Ago, “The E82 Project” was begun with the lofty goal of revitalizing the original experiences, aesthetics & ideals of EPCOT Center in the hope that utilizing the philosophy of “Influence through Inspiration” it would be possible to bring forth the “Dawn of a New Era” for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.

Since that day, The Epcot Legacy has been in a constant state of becoming with (what I hope are) insightful historical essays, dynamic philosophical dissertations, immersive listening experiences, and completely new artistic interpretations of classic EPCOT Center concepts. And yet, the journey is just beginning with many new and exciting things taking flight this year and the years to come! In many ways, "we've still just begun to dream! Therefore, it is only fitting that we begin the fifth year the way we started the project with the iconic sunrise over Spaceship Earth. 

 

On this our 5th Anniversary,
Please Share What "The EPCOT Legacy" means to YOU!

Not this site, but the Real Legacy of the City, the Center, & as a State of Mind.  

Guest Relations

Originally located in the absolute center of Earth Station (now Project Tomorrow), EPCOT Center’s Guest Relations was predictability prototype in both design and function. Depending on your perspective, the park’s customer service facility was ether a (then) revolutionary 360° desk or (even more prophetically) a large bank of WorldKey touchscreen kiosks where one could engage in a live-video conference with a professional in plaid. 12 years later, Guest Relations lobby (and World Key) was moved into a more tradition setting on the former site of CommuniCore’s Backstage Magic inside the newly christened Innoventions.

Making its debut in 1999 shortly before the Millennium Celebration, this fanciful custom created carpet exemplifies the aesthetic of the times and most probably was designed in counterpoint to traditional function of the facility. For it is safe to presume that, unlike the rest of the park, one always visits this location out of necessity instead of pleasure — a condition that is subconsciously eased by the whimsical patterns found just below your feet.  

Designer’s Note:
This edition of the Texture Series is most appropriately dedicated to My Fellow Futurist, EPCOT Evangelist, & Friend Kyle Smith:
Twitter, Instagram, & Flickr

Future World Fractals

On repeated visits to the still new and exquisitely re-themed Test Track, you will find several tributes to Classic EPCOT Center and even Progress City scattered around the “Sim Track”. The first of these is a cleverly designed snowflake created from the original World of Motion Logo. This got me thinking…
What if this could be expanded to include all of Future World’s original logos? And although traditionally in a “tropical” setting what would Winterized Epcot look like? Here’s my attempt at an answer…

Designer’s Note:

The End Credits of a “Winter-centric” film with an incredibly beautiful snowflake motif provided much need direction to complete the difficult task of taking round icons and extrapolating them into stellated shapes.