Gateway Gifts

One of the quainter shops in Future World, Gateway Gifts more than makes-up for its miniscule Square Footage with its location — in both architecture and proximity. If one can look past the merchandise, Gateway Gifts possesses intriguing design. From its multi-level future-industrial ceiling treatments to its impressive view of the geosphere it supports, the shop itself is a subtle but prime example EPCOT Center’s unique architectural achievements.

What is not subtle is Gateway Gifts custom carpet. Installed in the 1990’s (probably to focus the eye downward towards the purpose of the shop), even this element echoes the geodesic structure of Spaceship Earth in a uniquely subversive manner. 

Designer’s Note: I know your probably thinking that I’ve spent a little too much time looking at walls and floors lately and I’ll be the first to agree with you. But, I always try to design things that fulfill more than one purpose at a time, and this Texture has a lot to do with the new section of E82 opening just after the beginning of next year.

In any case, I should transition from the mundane to the miraculous aspects of Epcot soon!     

Easy Living

“Easy Living… It’s always been just around the corner.”
The future as seen from the 1930’s, this second edition to the Texture Series pays tribute to the fanciful “Art Deco” scene from Future World’s dearly departed Horizons pavilion by focusing on the tableau’s colorful custom created carpets.

E.P,C o T Texture Series -CommuniCarpet

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.