When Disney acquired vast expanses of land in Florida, it was to house a theme park and planned community called EPCOT, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (wiki). It would integrate residential and commercial interests, acting as an experimental blueprint for the future technologies.
That’s a model of a residential space above, on view at The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.
So very mod.
The entire museum is quite solid, regaling the history of Walt and the empire he built. Is it sugar coated? You betcha.
Florida would eventually get multiple theme parks, one bears the namesake Epcot — but the residential bits were shelved. Disney has been dipping their toes in planned communities with Storyliving, but ended up way more Stepford Wives and less Jetsons.
Feels like it’s time again for new, optimistic visions of tomorrow.
Semi–related reading: Hopepunk