Again, Imagineers used forced perspective on buildings to make them appear taller than they really are. The only exception in the park was The American Adventure. It was originally intended to have a contemporary style, but later changed to the historical, Georgian style typified in America’s colonial days. An actual building from that time period would be too small to be seen from across the lagoon, so Imagineers used inverted forced perspective, making it much larger than it should be to achieve the far away effect.

The pavilions in Future World had corporate sponsors which helped fund and provide technical assistance in putting them together where necessary. For World Showcase, governments of those countries participated in the creation of the showcases, and also helped finance their construction.

Epcot: World Showcase

The EPCOT Center landmark, Spaceship Earth, took two years and two months to build. As the symbol of the park and its statement of world peace, it needed a design found nowhere else on earth. Thus, the world’s first geodesic sphere was created. It is 180 feet in height.

Innovative building techniques had to be used for Spaceship Earth. Support pilings are buried from 120 to 185 feet deep. The sphere is actually composed of two spheres, one inside the other. The inner sphere contains the track and rooms of the attraction, plus maintenance decking. The outer sphere is held about two feet away from the inner sphere by aluminum hubs. About 1,700 tons of steel were used to build the sphere. A special form of aluminum called alucobond was used for the 12,000 panels covering the entire globe. This material can withstand the Florida climate and essentially clean itself. A special gutter system was developed to prevent rain from cascading off the sphere. Water is channeled through the structure and sent to underground drains, where it replenishes the World Showcase Lagoon.