E.P,C o T Texture Series -CommuniCarpet
Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 8:46PM 
When one thinks of richly detailed themed environments Epcot’s Future World is probably close to bottom of that list. With its large, featureless pavilions and streamlined interiors one might think of it as a world of basic forms with little texture. However, if one looks just a little closer you can see the future world is filled with wonderfully subdued surfaces with a richness of character all its own. With this in mind…
Welcome to the
EXPERIMENTAL PATTERNS, CARPETS OR TEXTILES SERIES!
or TEXTURES SERIES (for short:)
The series begins with one of the most famous custom carpets ever created for a theme park –
The CommuniCore Carpet!
Note on Color:
If you do a Google search of CommuniCore Carpet you’ll see two color variants (a Green, Red & Teal version and a Purple, Magenta & Black one). If you look at the dates you’ll notice the older the picture the darker the color and therefore more accurate. It's also my belief that considering Dark Purple (Plum?) was the identity color of the pavilion its more than likely that this was closer to the original state of floor covering that after 25 years of sun exposure faded into the lighter (teal) version seen in latter day photographs.
Reader Comments (8)
Is this an actual close up photo or recreation of the pattern?
Hi Ron!
It’s a recreation of the Carpet utilizing several reference photos of the original (most from the carpet’s last location (CommuniCore West – South). The actual file contains a fully editable Illustrator vector file with several Photoshop process to simulate the look and feel of plush/velvet carpet. Additionally, because I kept the source file I’ll eventually return to this desktop to create alternate “fantasy” versions (that never existed) featuring the other Future World logos with corresponding pavilion color schemes. But for now, there’s a lot of ground (and wall and ceilings) to cover so the Texture Series will continue with real textures before showcasing fictitious ones.
So you're going to do more? I can't wait! Have you considered the walls in the loading dock for Spaceship Earth?
Yep,
It’s on the list of possible Textures for the series.
The challenge with that one is the narrowness of its features. Still, (if safety weren’t an issue) I would love to see the space illuminated with nothing but the blue rim lights and lightning tubes (?).
Thinking: That might be a good idea to illustrate when it comes time to execute the concept:)
While on the subject (30 years later) Spaceship Earth’s load ceiling is still one of the most intricate, fascinating and futuristic structures I’ve ever seen! One of the things I love the most about it is that it’s not an ornamental “cheat”. Unlike many similar structures it’s not a false ceiling — No, for all its complexity It’s THE Actual/Solid “5th wall” (as interior designers call it) of the room!
When is your next post in the History or Legacy section?
Hi Matthew!
Unfortunately, working a full-time job and attending college full-time hasn’t left me much time to evolve E82 at the pace I initially intended. The History and Legacy sections are the most difficult to create. They both require large chunks of time for reflection and preparation that are in short supply at the moment. Additionally, my editor is facing similar transitions in her professional life so getting any written material proofed takes considerable time to return. Ideally, I need to find an editor with less of “a life” (read that over-extended) than she or I currently have.
Art and Music require far less external involvement, and are relatively easier to execute with the little time I have these days. Furthermore, those sections are well defined with a much clearer vision of execution. They also generate greater traffic/exposure than historical or philosophic essays.
I do have a great number of ideas for history pieces and an even greater number of things to say about futurism, the current and future state of theme parks, and an over-arching attainable vision of how to solve current problems and perfect the experience of a day at Epcot. Moreover, my current state is only temporary and after two non-stop years of college there’s a small dim light at the end of tunnel. In about six months from now I’ll have my Bachelors Degree and E82 can benefit from my evenings and weekends can once again.
Oh and did I mention I’m also planning a Epic length book about the alternate history of Progress City spanning three centuries and multiple timelines ! ? At E82 it really is a Great BIG Beautiful… Tomorrow.
Did anyone else smile when they noticed that the abbreviation for "EXPERIMENTAL PATTERNS, CARPETS OR TEXTILES SERIES" was another play on the acronym EPCOT? I chuckeled a little :)
From what I remember purple was the original color of he carpet. Like you say purple was a big part of the original color palate for EPCOT. I think do remember them switching out the carpet at some point. It's one of those weird things I'd notice. Centurium for sure had the purple carpet when it opened, back when it still had the two floors.