Earlier this month, two SCAD teams were selected as some of the six finalist teams to compete in the 2019 Imaginations Design Competition, which will be held this coming week.
The competition was created in 1991 by the design and development arm of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Walt Disney Imagineering, to seek out and nurture the next generation of diverse Imagineers.
This year’s challenge was to create an experience that explores a Natural or Ancient Wonder of the World. Projects could not include virtual reality, augmented reality or mixed reality-based solutions.
The first SCAD team selected is made up of architecture senior Nicholas Hammond, illustration junior Remi Jeffrey-Coker and production design seniors Carolyn Teves and Ezekiel Waters. Their final design is called “The Rose of Babylon,” and serves as a modern re-imagining of the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon to spark the rebuild of the nation of Iraq.
“The [gardens] have a fascinating history and location which inspired us to reimagine what it may be like as a family-friendly attraction today,” Jeffrey-Coker said. “The fact that it may or may not have existed and was said to be the center of booming Ancient Mesopotamia made an opportunity for a great backstory.”
Guests can slide through a submerged, overgrown shipwreck to discover the history of ancient civilizations and learn about the benefits of partnership and innovation then take in agriculture from around the world and actively contribute to the spread of resources and the growth of life.
“The biggest challenge was our experience’s location,” said Waters. “It was a challenge to develop an experience in Iraq that is accessible and fun to people from around the world, but we were able to overcome the obstacles to develop a one of a kind experience.” Jeffrey-Coker added that their experience “is very emotion-driven, and it was challenge communicating it through imagery.”
Each student brought a wide variety of talent and diversity to the table, and each found multi-roles contributions. “Because our team was filled with such diversity,” Teves said, “often we would have to learn to understand more specifically what a certain discipline or topic entailed to ensure every member of the team had a clear idea about every aspect of the project.”
Hammond thinks the experience of working with people of different backgrounds has prepared him well for his career. “I have been able to broaden my ideas of workflow, which will become vital within a diverse workspace such as Disney Imagineering.”
The second team selected that contained SCAD students included interior design graduate student Brooke Pandos. Through a summer internship, she met her teammates from California Polytechnic State University, University of Florida and University of California and worked to create “Port Pharos,” an experience designed to honor the history, architecture and ecosystem surrounding the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
“Because the real-life lighthouse was lost many hundreds of years ago,” Pandos said, “we wanted to find a way to recreate the lighthouse’s original purpose, which was to serve as a meeting place for mariners all over the world, while also teaching guests about Alexandria’s incredibly rich culture.”
The fact that team members from Pandos’ project were spread out all over the country, across three different states and two different time zones made communication particularly difficult. However, they have found a way to talk every week from August until next week’s finals.
“Often when collaborating with students from your same university, there is a mutual understanding that you were all taught to design the same way,” Pandos said. “However, across school lines…each of us had a unique outlook on design and were able to use all of our learned skills differently for a well-balanced project.”
Both teams will join the other finalists next week to present their projects to Imagineering executives and have the opportunity to interview for paid internships. The top three placed teams will be awarded cash prizes.
*** In featured photo: (L-R) Carolyn Teves, Nicholas Hammond, Zeke
Waters, and Remi Jeffrey-Coker, all a part of the SCAD Rose of Babylon
Team for the 28th Walt Disney Imagineering Imaginations Design Competition.***
Elena Burnett is the Editor-in-Chief of District. She’s a writing major who will graduate in 2019.
