Themed Space

This thread is going to be of a kind with shannondegroot’s “Favorite Rides at Disney World/Land” and my own “When Hinges Creak in Doorless Chambers…,” but it’s a topic that (1) rarely receives any attention, (2) that interests me, and (3) seems to appeal (I think) to movie fans as well: the analysis of themed space. By “themed space,” I should note, I don’t only mean theme-park rides, though they often tend to be the best exemplars, but also any area or building, whether in a theme park or not, that is specifically themed or tailored to appear something it is not. (For one example, there’s an outlet center on Long Island that’s themed to an Italian market town!)

I know Umberto Eco analyzed Disneyland and Las Vegas in one of his books, but outside of a few architects (Robert Venturi comes to mind), this topic has been pretty much untouched. What say you?

For me, Disney is the champion here (in rides, “lands,” and hotels), which makes it all the more worrisome (and infuriating) when they rip up some of their masterpieces: Pirates of the Caribbean, the Court of Angels, the Tower of Terror, and now the Jungle Cruise. It’s as shocking and stupid a decision as a producer’s buying and burning all prints of a classic movie because he abruptly decides it won’t make him any more money. Universal, too, has contributed some impressive areas with their Diagon Alley, Mummy, Jurassic Park, and Men in Black sections. (Full disclosure: I’ve never been to Universal, but I’ve seen some of the ride-videos and have spoken to friends who have gone.) I tend to find Vegas too gaudy and over-the-top for my tastes; my taste in theming tends to the subtler. If we compare all three to, say, a Six Flags, we see that the two approaches to entertainment are nigh-completely distinct; Six Flags has a number of rides, laid out without any semblance of order, and no real theme of any qualitative level.

I like theming for a number of reasons, including that it can make the most utilitarian area attractive and even palatable (say, making a mall into Main St., USA, for Disney)—which, I think, would be able to improve living conditions. (Beauty tends to raise the well-being of places; this is a point broached by landscape architect and critic Frederick Law Olmsted, sociologist Jane Jacobs, the late architectural historian Vincent Scully, social and political scientist James Q. Wilson, and others.) Imagine, say, if they actually put effort into making a Walmart look nice. (Perish the thought!)

I’d love to read your thoughts and opinions, especially on examples I’ve missed (which, in my focus on theme-parks, I know I have). 

A few more links:

www.transparencynow.com/eco.htm (Eco on the fascinating principle of “hyperreality”) 
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longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2014/01/unseen-twists-and-turns-in-corridor-of.html

longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2012/06/haunted-mansion-is-blue-and-phantom.html

longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2010/04/but-is-it-art.html

(All three Dr. Dan Olsen on the Haunted Mansion)
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passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2016/11/marc-davis-and-pirate-gold.html 

passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2007/08/long-lonely-march.html

passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2007/11/visual-structure-in-new-orleans-square.html (a good overview of the topic)

passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2010/05/history-and-haunted-mansion.html

(blogger “FoxxFurr” on the Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and themed space in general)
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towersecrets.com/tower-of-terror-architecture-styles (this is not as intensive or substantive as those links cited earlier, but comparing the architecture of these Towers is intriguing)