The race is on.(new Imax 3D production has elaborate theme architecture in the theatre)(Brief Article)

The lost city of Atlantis resurfaced this past December at the world's first permanent, giant-screen Imax 3D motion simulator thrill ride in--you guessed it--Las Vegas. The millions of people each year who visit The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace now have an opportunity to discover the fabled world of Atlantis as seen in 3D and projected on an 82'-diameter screen, the largest Imax dome ever built for an attraction.

Another first for the Imax Corporation is the elaborately themed queue designed by Robert Fleming of Orlando-based Idletime Network and Bruce Robinson of Cincinnati-based Bruce Robinson Architecture+Design. "We wanted it to have the appearance of a ruin covered up over time," explains Robinson. "In creating the architectural style, we tried to consider all of the different civilizations that may have contributed to Atlantis."

Guests are met at the entrance to the attraction by an imposing sculpture of King Neptune astride three-headed dragons, built by Orlando-based The Nassal Company, and softly lit with patterns in shades of purple and blue to suggest reflections from water. Once inside, visitors discover a 20'-wide entry hall with a low, overhanging ceiling. Idletime project manager Molly Rose says, "This also serves as a main exit corridor from the shops in case of fire, and one of our challenges in the design was to make it not look like an exit corridor." To accomplish this, the passageway was clad in rockwork and lit with diffused patterns and flickering torches made of glowing, amber crystals. Fleming adds, "On the walls, for example, we mounted pictograms which feature people coming for the Race. These are inscribed in five different languages, such as Latin and hieroglyphics, just to add …