Week 3: Disneyland and South Coast Plaza

I have to start off by saying that Sunday was a dream come true for me. Ever since I started to become interested in lighting, I have wanted to learn how a theme park like Disneyland is designed. I felt as though I was a small child discovering Disneyland for the first time with how much information was given throughout the day. The different pieces in which the areas were broken up for design was helpful because it all seemed overwhelming at first, but as we went along, we were able to classify each lighting fixture whether they were show/ride, area development or facade lights, and whether they were accent or character fixtures. It was all very eye-opening, and it made designing for such a large area not as complicated as I originally thought. It confirmed for me that whatever it is that is being lit has to tell a story.

Last night at South Coast Plaza was another eye-opener to the different techniques designers use when designing for large areas; especially malls because there is a cohesiveness to the stores while still maintaining an individuality in each store. For the majority of the mall because of its modern and upper class look and feel, the lighting reflected that tone throughout the mall. Some stores like Armani and Tiffany had better success with their designs than others. Armani with the use of the recessed down lights while still having the small movable lights to focus on certain items of clothing or areas of the store, was effective in singling out elements of the store while still keeping the visibility of the store. Tiffany broke the store into two parts, the overall jewelry side and the diamond/engagement ring side. The feel of the engagement ring side was completely different because of the temperature of the lights on the color of the walls. It gave the whole room this sparkling, cool and very expensive feeling while the rest of the store had a more inviting and warm tone due to the wood and more earthy tones on the walls.