11/21/2013
Cinderella's Castle Architecture Essay.- by Mark of "Eternal Tourist"
In Florida, there are many different buildings that have very unique foundations and design to them that make them one of the finest pieces of architecture that I have seen in my life. In living in Orlando, I am able to see many variations of architecture in the theme parks because they are built to fit in a space that serves a function, a backdrop for a picture, or simply just to be placed there for some individuals to take in the abundance of work and creativity that went into building it. One of my most favorite pieces of architecture is that of Cinderella’s Castle that appears in the center of the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. Although it may seem like a cliché building to do an essay on, it is a piece of “magic” that holds so many purposes.
Cinderella’s Castle was built as an iconic building for the Magic Kingdom. Everyone seems to recognize this building from all over the world and was meant not only as a place where one can go to eat an upscale dinner or shop, but also to house an apartment that was recently finished as a memorable experience for certain guests. This was originally intended, however, to hold the apartment for Walt Disney himself to reside in whilst he visited the park. The castle also serves as a backdrop for many different shows and is very functional as a decorative piece for holidays and other special events.
Due to the fact that the castle is extremely tall and needs to provide essentials for many different functions, I would consider this to be a compression system because it needs to withstand not only the weather, but also the weight of everything that is placed on it. Fireworks, Christmas lights, people, and cables are just a few examples of things that add weight to the foundation of the castle.
Since it is also is made entirely of concrete instead of brick, this needed to be taken into consideration while constructing the building. The inner workings of the concrete are actually held together by a steel frame. While viewing the castle from the bottom, it seems to tower to a tremendous height. This height, however, is actually a force perspective. The turrets become smaller as the height of the building increases, but one’s eye is trained to see a taller outlook on it. As far as the structural systems that allows guests to pass through the castle, there is one tunnel in the shape of a barrel vault that allows guests to pass from one “land” of the park to another.
This building fits perfectly amongst its environment. It is formatted and placed in such a way that represents Fantasyland where the fairytale characters “live.” It is also place in its location as an iconic symbol and logo for the Walt Disney World Resort. It is probably the building that everyone knows and immediately recognizes as soon as they walk into the park gates. As the day and night progress, this beautiful piece of architecture “magically” changes color with the assistance of special lighting placed around the park.
