My Disney Library: Building a Dream, The Art of Disney Architecture

Building a Dream: The Art of Disney Architecture by Beth Dunlop. 1996. 208 pp.

This is a fantastic book if you have an interest in the architecture commissioned by Michael Eisner. The author does spend some quality time in the parks but she takes a serious look at the offices, Team Disney buildings, upscale (read modern) hotels and other Disney buildings. If you can find one for a decent price, it is worth adding to your collection. There is quite a bit on Disneyland Paris, as well.

From the blurb:

Disney is not just for kids. Over the past 10 years, the Walt Disney Company’s chief executive, Michael Eisner, has commissioned some of the most renowned contemporary architects–Robert Venturi, Robert A. M. Stern, Arata Isozaki, Frank Gehry, Aldo Rossi, and Michael Graves among them–to design important buildings for the company. In the process, Disney has set new standards for postmodern architecture and has become one of its leading patrons anywhere in the world. The resulting projects, which include quirky, fantastic theme parks, hotels, resorts, movie studios, and offices, are evidence of how Disney’s long-standing use of popular, often surreal, imagery and iconography has been absorbed into the architects’ styles. This stunning volume offers original architectural drawings and superb color photographs of the projects alongside an expertly written text that incorporates extensive interviews with the architects and executives involved.