Horizons Pavilion CAD Project

By Matthew Castronovo

3rd Year Mechanical Engineering Student (BME) at Auburn University

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-castronovo/

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General Information

Software: SolidWorks 2024, Google Earth Pro

Project Time: 2.5 months

Scaling: 1 meter : 1 Inch

Total Features (Building): 423

Total Features (Entrance Sign): 121

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About The Project

This is an architectural model of the Horizons pavilion formerly located at the Epcot Center theme park at Walt Disney World. Horizons was an attraction depicting future lifestyles in the 21st century and served as a synthesis of the different themes featured in Epcot. It was demolished in the year 2000 to make way for new offerings.

The goal of this project was to obtain a stronger understanding of theme park architecture in order to further diversify and enrich my educational journey as an engineering student. This was achieved by successfully recreating a retired theme park attraction structure in SolidWorks using publicly-available reference images, videos, blueprints, and data obtained through the internet along with some artistic interpretation to fill in any missing information.

The Horizons attraction was chosen as the subject matter specifically because of its simple yet complex geometry. Additionally, the attraction’s themes of improving humanity through mutual understanding, cooperation, and technological achievement with a positive outlook on the future have been a source of constant inspiration in school, which factored into the final decision.

This project was developed in SolidWorks because it was the CAD software I had the most experience with at the time. It may not be a preferred software for architectural models, but by using SolidWorks I was able to produce a final model of acceptable quality.

Horizons was created using both additive and subtractive processes. Much like a sculptor chisels a block of stone to craft a desired shape, I performed an extensive series of cuts to achieve the basic shape of the building. Once formed, I added appropriate structures like the exterior ribs, the roof parapet, and the faux window frames. After the building was finished, I modeled the landscaping, pathways, and planters directly attached to the main structure. Finishing touches to the model included the attraction’s main sign, which was modeled as a separate part file, and the vehicle maintenance spur track. After completion, this model was used in a presentation about dark rides I gave at Auburn’s TEA Student Organization this past school year as a case study of theme park architecture and design.

The Horizons project ultimately expanded my understanding of architecture and the role it plays in communicating the story of an attraction or other themed entertainment experience. Thank you to the panelists for their time in reviewing this project and the Themed Attraction website for the opportunity to share my work.