Wizarding World - Diagon Alley Discussion (Opens 2014)

[JungleSkip]

I'm going to London in April...So excited!:thumbs:

 

[Felipe]

So, was just dreaming my dreamy Teebin dreams and decided to look for some classic London facades that might work together as an amalgam. I focused on Fleet St. Take a look at the pics below and share your thoughts on buildings that might work as facades.

That's a perfect example of how they can do the entrance to WWoHP 2.0! NICE pics Teebin! :rep:

I'm going to London in April...So excited!:thumbs:

Lucky!! Nice! I'm pre-planning a trip to the UK to visit the WB Studio tour with the HP set exhibition which opens in April! You should check it out if you can! Should be amazing!

 

[JungleSkip]

Lucky!! Nice! I'm pre-planning a trip to the UK to visit the WB Studio tour with the HP set exhibition which opens in April! You should check it out if you can! Should be amazing!

No desire to do that. Way too much actual history and places to see.

 

[Teebin]

No desire to do that. Way too much actual history and places to see.

You might want to check out the round church in the pics... very historic and kind of creepy. It is called Temple Church and was used in a major book/movie somewhat recently. Also, get really drunk and then go and hang off the statues in front of Buckingham Palace at 2 in the morning and yell at the guards as they change over. I've 'heard' it is really fun. :look:

 

[violarum]

Brilliant facade ideas, Teebin. I think that first arch leading you into the London area from St. Pancras Station (that leads to IOA) coupled with a great forced perspective street with a London backdrop down the Earthquake backstage road would serve as a perfect picturesque entrance. Through the arch, there would be a road of sorts with pubs and the like reminiscent of Streets of New York, and one of those would be the Leaky Cauldron. However, it would be highly noticeable as there would be an arch placed there leading in, one that looks quite temporary, that splits the functional restaurant into two, and leads directly through to Diagon Alley.

 

[BJCool]

If there is going to be a London facade, this pub needs to be included..... (as a facade at the very least)

As the sign in the window says, it's where JK Rowling penned the initial stories.

 

[Teebin]

If there is going to be a London facade, this pub needs to be included..... (as a facade at the very least)

As the sign in the window says, it's where JK Rowling penned the initial stories.

Done BJ! (but isn't that in Scotland? Perhaps a franchise in London?)

Also, go back everyone and look at the two pics of columns with bronze statues on top. Both are VERY foreboding of Potter myth and history. I agree that the arch is very cool... and again has similar relevant references. My other hope would be that UC designs and builds true scale facades much like NY. Saint Paul's Cathedral could be built somewhat scaled on top of one of the service buildings in the distant background but pulleeez no flat paintings.

 

[AcidPop]

i'm going to london in april...so excited!:thumbs:

i hate you. :'(

 

[Felipe]

Done BJ! (but isn't that in Scotland? Perhaps a franchise in London?)

Also, go back everyone and look at the two pics of columns with bronze statues on top. Both are VERY foreboding of Potter myth and history. I agree that the arch is very cool... and again has similar relevant references. My other hope would be that UC designs and builds true scale facades much like NY. Saint Paul's Cathedral could be built somewhat scaled on top of one of the service buildings in the distant background but pulleeez no flat paintings.

PULLEEEEZZ!! Make it right! Not like FJ's building with its forced perspective ruined because they won't add rock work to the rest of the building. Or does anyone know if there's some safety code against covering those parts of the building? Are there some parts that need to be accessible? Otherwise they need to improve that already... But that belongs in another thread anyways...

 

[DragonSlayer]

Seeing an American view of London is always... Interesting I always find it funny listening to reactions in the UK pavillion at Epcot

But on the subject of Potter, I wonder how 'straight' they'll play it in terms of city realism vs 'Potterfied' visuals. Should be interesting.

 

[Disneyhead]

I would like to see Big Ben done in a similar way as the Eiffel Tower at Epcot (without the Swolphin looming over it).

 

[Teebin]

Seeing an American view of London is always... Interesting

You must be speaking of the pictures that I chose. In order to distinguish cultures without the cultures people, one must go back to the 1940's and 50's. That is why Uni's version of NY harks from the 30's and 40's. Today, a major city street/building anywhere in the world looks pretty much the same. Thus I chose images that scream LONDON yet unlike Epcot, I want them full sized.

 

[DragonSlayer]

I totally get where you're coming from Teebin, just teasin' You're right anyway, although come to think of it the modern elements of London are always highlighted in the films, for example the Gherkin and buildings like that. I suppose in a way that's what I meant by striking a balance between a 'London London' and a 'Harry Potter London'. If they were just building the city as a city then I'd totally go with the things you picked out, but I wonder how they'll balance tradition and classic architecture with the newer parts sometimes emphasised in HP.

 

[Teebin]

I totally get where you're coming from Teebin, just teasin' You're right anyway, although come to think of it the modern elements of London are always highlighted in the films, for example the Gherkin and buildings like that.

Good point... I would expect the Gherkin and the Eye might be a distant view rather than St Pauls or Big Ben. The Eye would be a superb nod to the fact that you are in a theme park.

Teebin Anecdote 42b: When I visited London once a very very very long time ago, I was sooooo expecting white stiff upper lip classic English Brits, "Mary Poppins", "Bridge on the River Kwai" types. Instead, EVERYONE in the service industry there were Indian with Brit accents. Once we got off into the countryside things became more classic Brit. London must be even more of a melting pot today than ever.

 

[violarum]

So I got my moleskine and quickly did a small sketch of what I meant with St. Pancras connected to that arch leading into London. I did a bit of lines to show traces of a boardwalk area, and there is a rough site plan on top. The building that has an arrow coming out of it is the one in which the Leaky Cauldron exists, and there are two large archways that lead guests down an arcade of sorts into Diagon Alley, with the actual restaurant split into two sides for more capacity.

 

[BJCool]

It would be cool if they turned the bridge from Simpsons to Amity into the Millennium Bridge (as shown in HP6)

 

[Teebin]

Are you studying design? I thought you were studying music. This is really good concept drawing. Wish it wasn't on lined paper but when you have to draw you have to draw! I would push the design back a layer before happening on Leaky. Remember that the back sides of the brownstones on the park in NYC are warehouses. All is a facade except that which is not.

 

[violarum]

I've impressed Teebin; my work here is done.

So okay you mean move Leaky a little ways towards the arch entrance? I kept it there because the space between St. Pancras and Diagon Alley (through that two-topped little facade) would be home to the storage location of the trains. Also, if you look closely, in front of the Leaky building, there is that brass-topped dragon column you posted, and the dragon is facing towards Diagon Alley and, more importantly, the dragon guarding Gringotts. :thumbs:

Oh! And I also did this now that I flipped back!

A floor plan of sorts for Diagon Alley. It will be a big grey building to house maintenance behind the shops, but the alleyway will be colorful. The queue for Gringotts is at the top, and the road is split into two with themed boxes guarding the forced perspective on either end. Knockturn alley is also there on the left! And of course, the entrance from Leaky is below.

Ignore the little sketches for the Gringotts ride on the right. :thumbs:

 

[Teebin]

I've impressed Teebin; my work here is done.

So okay you mean move Leaky a little ways towards the arch entrance? I kept it there because the space between St. Pancras and Diagon Alley (through that two-topped little facade) would be home to the storage location of the trains. Also, if you look closely, in front of the Leaky building, there is that brass-topped dragon column you posted, and the dragon is facing towards Diagon Alley and, more importantly, the dragon guarding Gringotts. :thumbs:

No no... I assumed that where your sig is was the waterfront and that the buildings are facing it. Am I wrong?

 

[Felipe]

So I got my moleskine and quickly did a small sketch of what I meant with St. Pancras connected to that arch leading into London. I did a bit of lines to show traces of a boardwalk area, and there is a rough site plan on top. The building that has an arrow coming out of it is the one in which the Leaky Cauldron exists, and there are two large archways that lead guests down an arcade of sorts into Diagon Alley, with the actual restaurant split into two sides for more capacity.

Beautiful job, man! :rep: Anything close to that would be amazing!