Tile Your Way to Happiness

In 1971, The Contemporary Hotel at Walt Disney World opened. Forgive me, but it’s not too purty of a building. It used state of the art building techniques,  but the design is a little clunky. The true genius of the building is inside, the Grand Canyon Concourse Mural designed by Mary Blair (yes, of It’s a Small World fame). The concept, now lost amidst fighting thematic elements was that the interior of the hotel would reference the space of the Grand Canyon. The 90 foot mural made up of ceramic tile is a recreation of the strata of the Grand Canyon. The subtlety of the color combinations is remarkable. And the attention to the smallest details including 3 dimensional texture is genius, or OCD. Here’s a tip: you need to take the elevator up to the upper levels to see the best views of the mural. Okay, that’s kind of OCD too. Which leads me to Obsessed on A&E, but that’s another post.