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Disney’s magical footprint is about to expand through a new strategic initiative at its long-established Orlando and Anaheim theme parks. The company’s largest-ever expansion of Walt Disney World in Florida is reportedly worth $17 billion and will unfold over a period of 15 years to cover... View full entry
The Walt Disney Company has announced detailed plans and a developer for its new 1,300-unit affordable housing development outside of Orlando. The company says its latest housing project says will support the local Orange County Housing for All plan that will deliver 86,100 units of... View full entry
In what has been dubbed a milestone in U.S. legal history, a lake has filed a lawsuit against a developer in Orange County, Florida. Lake Mary Jane is suing property developers Beachline South Residential in Florida state court over the developer’s plans to construct a new development on the... View full entry
The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida (HMREC) has just revealed architectural renderings for the new Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity in downtown Orlando, Florida. It aims to be the world’s first Holocaust museum designed around survivor and witness... View full entry
Now, more than 50 years later, a more urban part of Disney’s utopian idealism is taking shape. The company is announcing a new project to augment its vast theme park and resort development with 1,300 units of affordable housing, set on 80 acres of land right next to Disney World. — Fast Company
The Walt Disney Company is hoping to work with an unnamed third-party affordable housing developer to build the project. The units will be available to income-qualifying candidates from the general public and Disney employees. This initiative comes as Orlando-area rents are increasing, with the... View full entry
Orlando International Airport's largest-ever expansion is about 90% complete, according to a Greater Orlando Aviation Authority press release shared with Construction Dive. The three-level South Terminal C project at Florida's busiest airport will encompass 300 acres, add 15 gates to accommodate up to 20 aircraft and serve 10-12 million additional passengers each year, the release said. — Construction Dive
The approximately $3 billion project was a collaboration between a Turner-Kiewit joint venture, which provided construction management services for the Landside Terminal C, Hensel Phelps, which served as construction manager for the Airside Terminal C, and Vanderlande, which served as the... View full entry
Future generations of concertgoers in the Orlando area will want a ticket to commemorate the moment the city’s dynamic new $612 million performance venue makes its theatrical debut at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts this Friday. Designed by former UCLA faculty member... View full entry
The Walt Disney Co. said Thursday it planned to build a new regional campus in central Florida to house at least 2,000 professional employees who will be relocating from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development. — CNBC
Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products, Josh D’Armaro, in a letter to employees, said the move would allow creative and business teams to be better integrated. The new campus will be located about 20 miles to the east of Disney World in a master-planned community called Lake... View full entry
President Biden formally signed H.R. 49 into law this weekend, officially recognizing the now-vacant site of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting as a national memorial in a historic move that clears the way for a new permanent monument in Orlando. The bill, named to honor the tragedy’s... View full entry
Brooks + Scarpa gave a first glimpse of their commissioned design to expand Orlando's Mennello Museum of American Art. Collaborating with locally based KMF Architects, Brooks + Scarpa will add 40,000 square feet to transform the current 12,000 square-foot building into a more inclusive... View full entry
The AIA has announced that a “conversation” with former First Lady Michelle Obama will be held on the first day of the 2017 AIA Conference on Architecture in Orlando. The press release notes the four primary initiatives that Obama engaged with during her time as the First Lady of the United... View full entry
After her grandparents passed away, Kelly Wise Valdes found a treasure trove of candid pictures taken by her grandfather, Chester "Chet" Wise, a master craftsman and woodworker who worked on the construction of the Magic Kingdom in Florida. [...]
Thousands of construction workers were there during the Magic Kingdom construction. Disney kept a small handful of these master craftsmen and made them full-time Disney employees, and my grandfather was one of the chosen few.
— CNN
Click here to find more photos. All images via cnn.com, courtesy of Kelly Wise Valdes.Related stories in the Archinect news:Relatively soon, in a galaxy (not so) far far away: announcing Star Wars LandsKeeping the Disneyland magic alive, by limiting neighbors' building heightsAll the Lights of... View full entry
In light of the recent killing of 49 people at Pulse, a gay night club in Orlando known to many as a center for Queer and Latinx culture, our focus for this week’s podcast is the role and significance of queer spaces in creating community and culture.We wanted to use this time to encourage... View full entry
Disney raised more questions than it answered at the D23 Expo with the announcement of plans to unveil Star Wars Lands at Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Fla.
Here’s what we know so far: The new 14-acre lands will each feature two attractions set in a remote frontier town on the outer rim of the “Star Wars” galaxy. No opening dates have been set for either the California or Florida projects.
— Los Angeles Times
Star Wars fans may be salivating at the mouth right now, with a new trilogy on the horizon and now Disney's announcement of two themed parks at the D23 EXPO. Construction will begin at the Anaheim version in 2017 in the Big Thunder Ranch area, which is currently a bit of a no-man's land for themed... View full entry
