Toy blocks, tree forts were landscape architect\u2019s creative foundation<\/p>\n
David Fredenburgh spends his days dreaming up ways to entertain millions of people.<\/p>\n
Like a lot of kids, Fredenburgh, a designer with international entertainment design company FORREC Ltd., played tirelessly with Lego, making all sorts of fun, colourful structures and environments. Now, he essentially plays every day, while working very hard, in a unique workplace that designs one-of-a-kind entertainment destinations like theme parks for people all over the world to play in \u2013 all-ages parks that are like upsized play structures designed to thrill and inspire visitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt FORREC, we like to use the term \u2018playing in the sandbox,\u2019 because it is like play,\u201d says Fredenburgh, who works, and plays, out of the company\u2019s Toronto office. \u201cEvery day is different. Every project is different. The people I work alongside of are very talented and highly creative individuals. It\u2019s an entertaining job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I tell people what I do, they automatically assume that I just play RollerCoaster Tycoon all day,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are certainly some similarities. It\u2019s thrilling work but also very real, unlike the video game. Theme parks are complex developments of storytelling, attractions, human behaviour and economics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fredenburgh says there was plenty of room for fun and play in the University of Guelph\u2019s landscape architecture program, which he completed in 2013. The program reinforced his playful nature, encouraged him to push the creative envelope and balanced art and science.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I certainly didn\u2019t see myself designing theme parks when I first started. I didn\u2019t even think it was a possible career path.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of a professional practice course in his third year, Fredenburgh discovered FORREC and got his first glimpse into the world of entertainment design.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was tasked with researching and interviewing a local firm of interest. I interviewed a FORREC executive, and that turned into an internship interview and a placement.\u201d He calls that a turning point in his career.<\/p>\n
Following graduation, Fredenburgh was offered a job with the company. Within 18 months, he finished his first theme park project \u2013 the monumental Wanda Nanchang, a 78-hectare theme park in the Jiangxi region of China. He calls that achievement a great start to his career.
\n\u201cI was halfway around the world in China, standing on a construction site and basically watching a design that I had just finished come to life.\u201d While the scale of the project was beyond anything he had previously imagined doing, he grew up with a love of building outdoor structures.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was always a maker and creator as a kid. I was always making or assembling something from scraps in my parents\u2019 garage. As I got older, I took my interest in making things to the outdoors. I was interested in making bike trails and building tree forts. This grew into a liking for the outdoor built form and eventually an aspiration to be a landscape architect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Storytelling is at the heart of the work FORREC does.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take a story or a theme and create a place out of it, something that is completely immersive for guests,\u201d Fredenburgh says. \u201cAnd storytelling really resonates well with kids and adults alike.\u201d<\/p>\n
Theme parks and entertainment destinations, he adds, are important, treasured places where entire families spend their free time having fun. Designing them is a fun challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou definitely have an understanding that what you\u2019re designing will have an impact on a large number of guests. These places attract millions of visitors a year, and it\u2019s really important to stay focused on the guest experience. At the end of the day, the guests are really the driving factor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Toy blocks, tree forts were landscape architect\u2019s creative foundation David Fredenburgh spends his days dreaming up ways to entertain millions of people. Like a lot of kids, Fredenburgh, a designer with international entertainment design company FORREC Ltd., played tirelessly with Lego, making all sorts of fun, colourful structures and environments. Now, he essentially plays every<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[333,332,334],"yoast_head":"\n