Co.Design | business + design: Way out in the Ain Sokhna desert in Egypt, near where the Red Sea meets the Suez Canal, untouched landscape is interrupted by a Chinese-built industrial city. Nearing the center of town, a flurry of factory buildings and shipping containers give way to lines of storm troopers, wandering animatronic dinosaurs, and colossal Transformers—all inhabitants of a colorful amusement park called Fun Valley.
11 comments:
This alleged "Fun Valley" deeply upsets me in a profound way. Flipping through all of the photos, I think there are a multitude of things about this amusement park that disturbs me: 1. WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE 2. Despite being a conglomeration of 4 different "zones," the park still feels incredibly empty. I think that is because the park feels pretty poorly created with a lack of consideration towards visitor flow. 3. The fact that it's literally in the middle of a desert in Egypt probably contributes to the fact that it's deserted (pun) and so barren! I can't believe that over 6 million dollars were poured into building this amusement park....just think about all of the other things that that sort of money could have gone into rather than the build of a creepy awkward park. It's off and weird and gives off a very apocalyptic feel to it. I also feel like in its design and feel, it's very reminiscent of abandoned amusement parks from the 1960's roller coaster boom. I would actually love to go to check it out and asses its creepiness, but man. This is one failed park in my opinion.
The title of this article is so surreal, I was interested in it immediately. The article doesn’t give much information either, I would like to read more about this odd theme park. I tried to imagine the park being “The result is four separate amusement parks that bring together a hodgepodge of cultural references, from Hello Kitty to Jurassic Park. When Thymann visited, the park was nearly empty except for a few families and visitors here and there. "It looks a little bit off," he says. "It's so clean it almost looks like a Sim City”. It almost seems like something that isn’t real. Theme parks are meant to be crowded and dirty, and to have the complete opposite is a little unnerving. This park is so weird but interesting at the same time.
It is very interesting to me that this amusement park was built as a perk for employees and their families while working in Egypt. I think the idea of a weekend getaway as a perk for families of this company is amazing. It really shows the company's devotion to their employees. However, that is a quite a lot to go through, and very unusual for a company to do. This makes me wonder: are the other benefits so bad that they had to build an amusement park? Or maybe I'm wrong, and the company just genuinely wanted to find a creative way to attract more employees with families. I think a great thing about this is the fact that this company has brought some joy and whimsy back to a part of the world that has been torn up by conflict and hatred. Although it is no Disneyland, I applaud the company for putting forth something special and meaningful. Hopefully this will inspire more people to build creative solutions to company problems or niches to be marketed to. I think this could change the way companies build benefits.
I'm unsure why is it a Chinese theme park because from what I saw none of the themes pertain to Chinese culture or have Chinese cultural reference. It was as a perk, a recreational zone for the employees, most of whom are Chinese, from different companies that are located in the middle of a desert. But apparently, it is not only built for the Chinese people. Maybe the company who built it is a Chinese company so it's a Chinese theme park.....?
If I were one of the employees, I would appreciate the theme park because I'm working in a desert. Deserts are beautiful and have their unique liveliness and greatness. However, the concept of working in a desert may scare people away because it indicates desolation, loneliness, dullness and potential danger for long-term stays. At this point, building a theme park shows considerations and appreciation for the hard-working employees, regardless of how well-designed the park is. It is indeed an effective way to encourage companies or employees to move abroad. I do agree, though, this park is surreally crappy. It looks like some sad old deserted park that's weirdly colorful. Some of the sets are just plain ugly..... the colors don't work well together and what is that creepy mushroom in a warehouse crowded with all kinds of mesh-up stuff? Clearly the $6.3 million has not produced the best outcome it can.
Due to a lot of economic factors that I can't really understand and articulate, Chinese labor is becoming more and more expensive, and China is no longer the huge manufacturer/export country as it used to be. Therefore, the government has been encouraging businesses to move to other places where the labor is even cheaper, so many Chinese industrial companies moved to Africa. Some of them literally built "cities" of just factories -- a entire industrial town with nothing but factories, employee housing, and some other really basic shops and restaurants that would allow people to live. Obviously, living in a place like this would be absolutely miserable, so the hella rich Chinese companies decided to built something for the employees' entertainment, so they built such a amusement park.
This is the context of the weird park being discussed in the article. I think some of the previous comments are confused about this idea of this "Chinese theme park," but basically it just means that it is a park built by a Chinese company in a Chinese built industrial town in Egypt for their employees. The purpose of this park is different from the purpose of regular theme entertainment -- it doesn't strive for creativity, wonder, and it definitely doesn't care if it has any Chinese cultural elements. I feel like its sole purpose is just to provide the factory employees with something fun to do with their free time. It is basically the equivalent of an employee lounge in a regular office.
As the previous comments indicate, this park seems weird, surreal, even upsetting. I can't imagine what it's like to live on a isolated town like this. It is good that the Chinese company made such an effort to provide means of entertainment for its employees, but still, this business format just doesn't feel right for the people's mental health and general well-being.
Seeing the pictures of this planned economic community was a jarring reminder of the odd and far-reaching effects of human thirst for oil on our world today. Who would have thought that that lowly hydrocarbon would eventually prove responsible for the creation of desert water parks like this one, or some of the bloodiest conflicts in human history. Say nothing of the comparable power of Chinese government investment, which has moved mountains, both literal and metaphorical.
It's also important to note that this eerie, isolated theme park, while not possible without oil Chinese industry, is not an amusement park in the traditional sense. When I look at these pictures, I don't see fun in the sun, I see an escape from an oppressive and isolated industrial wet-dream. I also can't help but to imagine what the amusement park will look like in 50 or so years, after investment in the area has been deemed a lost cause and the area abandoned. Once this starts to decay, I suppose one could start to shoot horror films there, but in the mean time, I'll remain creeped out by the spectre of rampant industrialism.
This is terrifying. What a strange dystopian place in the middle of the desert. It looks like its in a video game, and they just didn't bother to render anything but the park. The fact that it's name is just "Fun Valley" seems like they couldn't even really be bothered to veil the industrial intentions of the park with a real name. I had no idea that Chinese businesses were looking overseas to expand their companies using other workers. It seems like this happened not to long ago with Western countries and China.
The park itself is a strange attempt to give perks to employees. How did it get so much licensing to so many different franchises, etc. It's a very strange conglomerate of things, that don't seem designed, but instead thrown together to create an amalgamation of references and rides. And they all seem to be outdated, too like Spyro and Hello Kitty.
But the idea is nice, with it being a perk for the employees in the region. Even though its scary and freaky, it is a nice sentiment.
This is a smart idea, i bet land is cheaper in the middle of the desert. Also they will get a wide variety of employee applications because who wouldn’t want to spend their weekend with their family a this exclusive brand new theme park? In fact I’d think about applying. But I am not a big fan of water parks, granted I haven’t been to one that is this new, but I generally think they are very dirty, similar to a sesspool. What I don’t think is a good idea is the Jurassic Park amusement park. I think that the desert is a safer place for those instead of like, california, but as we saw with the last Jurassic Park even putting the dinosaurs on their own island wasn’t enough to keep them or us safe. We must reconsider a safer alternative for the dinosaur park, because nothing can hold them in, not even the strongest of gates.
These days, most media reports make Egypt seem to be part and parcel a part of violence and unrest in the Middle East. This image of stability, which mirrors customs and rituals belonging to Western civilizations, seems out of place with current publicized notions of Egypt. The notion of "employee perks" seems like a very distant concept from what we often hear the reality of Egypt is. Another surprising aspect of this venture is how far Western culture has permeated. The different amusement park regions almost exclusively reflect Western characters and phenomena.
As for this amusement park's viability and use, it appears to be out of proportion with the population it supposedly serves. That aside, I believe this represents an important lesson in not only cultural permeability, but also in how media shapes our perception of unfamiliar regions, often at the neglect or detriment of other aspects of a country or area.
Seeing a water park in the middle of the desert would probably be a relief to pretty much anyone who has been stranded for days. It isn’t often that you would see a venue like this in this type of location. Why? The amount of water that would be evaporated each and every day is quite a bit. My parents have a swimming pool at home, and over the summer it can evaporate up to a half inch or more depending on the heat. I can only imagine what it does to a water park, especially one located in a desert. I would most certainly take advantage of the amenities available while trying to stay in the shade as much as possible. I haven’t been to Africa yet, but it is someplace I would want to go. With different areas to explore, no better way to relax a little than to cool off.
This is interesting. I am curious about the amount of traffic an amusement park in the middle of the Egyptian desert will get. I agree with some of the prior comments, it honestly does seem a little creepy out there. But I wonder if people said the same thing about Las Vegas once upon a time. Another question I have from this very brief article would be, how did they get the IP rights to Jurassic Park when Universal obviously already has it? I'm going to need to do some research on the legality of shared IPs, etc., because my guess is I'm missing something. All the best to the park.
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