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Jora Vision celebrates Thea Awards win for Quake

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Quake Lisbon Jora Vision

The new tourist attraction in Lisbon was recognised by the TEA at IAAPA Expo 2022

Jora Vision, a leading design and production company, has announced that the Quake Lisbon Earthquake Center was awarded a Thea award in the category “Outstanding Achievement – Historical Experience, Limited Budget” by The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), a non-profit representing compelling places and experiences worldwide. After being recognised with Thea Awards for several of its dark rides in previous years, this is the first time the firm has been honoured for a tourist attraction project.

The attraction brings to life the story of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which devastated the city and was a key moment in history. It is still thought of as one of the most intense earthquakes of modern times and caused major political, scientific and historical transformations. Set within a new building in the Belém area of Lisbon, Quake is in good company with nearby attractions like the Museu dos Coches, MAAT and Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.

Jora Vision delivered full design development and turn-key production realisation for the project.

Bringing the past to life

Speaking about the guest experience, Robin van der Want, project development director at Jora Vision says:

“The 1.800 m2 experience features a 90-min immersive walk-through experience. Divided into nine timed and show-controlled scenes, visitors will be immersed in an educational, but most of all story-driven spectacle. The whole journey will be brought to life using: projection mapping, integrated media screens, interactive exhibits, special effects (smoke, scents), immersive show lighting, highly themed environments and simulator effects, all wrapped up in a beautiful custom-composed soundtrack.”

visitors at Quake Lisbon

As they step back into 1755, guests are guided through different scenes, beginning in an abandoned lab where they meet the Professor. He sets them a challenge to travel back in time to find some vital documents and return them to him. However, there are perils along the way, as they walk the streets of the lost city and see the drama unfold.

In 2017, when approached by Turcultur – Turismo e Cultura de Portugal, Jora Vision began working on the conceptual design development, followed by the schematic and detailed design.

“Designing Quake was certainly an interesting creative challenge,” says Marco Ruzza, creative director at Jora Vision.

“On one hand the project needed to be educationally relevant, to justify and enhance the quality of the experience. Therefore the Quake guidelines needed to be historically and scientifically accurate, as well as respectful. But on the other hand, we really wanted to deviate from a ‘traditional’ museum execution, so creating a true story-driven journey around the actual events was crucial for us.”

Quake Lisbon quiz

“The difference being that the experience really needed to bring visitors along for a plot – a beginning, middle, and end. Through these experiences, visitors needed to leave the experience having played a role on an emotional level. This whole process has been an elaborate undertaking consulting with many scientific and historical local academic experts, part of the client team. But at the end we found the sweet spot between the seriousness of the topic with the entertainment and fun factor.

“We now love to see visitors being absorbed in this extraordinary event, having fun but also learn to understand how Lisbon was so affected in 1755.”

A unique tourist experience

The unique tourist experience presents an immersive storyline instead of just listing facts and figures, connecting the key historical, scientific and cultural aspects of the momentous event. Quake is designed to blend historical, scientific and cultural correctness with the best modern show techniques found in the entertainment industry.

It features both active & passive participation throughout the different ride and show scenes. There is also an authentic custom soundtrack which, along with the accurate themed environment, helps guests to feel as if they have truly travelled back over 265 years. Plus, with the RFID wristbands, they can continue to explore the event when they get home. 

Quake_Lisbon

Jan Maarten de Raad, CEO at Jora Vision says:

“We love unique and meaningful (cultural) stories, and are excited to harness our design and production skills to bring these stories to life in ways that break the traditional barrier. We are confident “Quake” is a spectacular example of this, as shown by this recognition!”

Jora Vision worked with partners Painting with Light, Mr. Beam Studio, Kraftwerk Technologies and InFact Global to create the Quake experience.

The firm also recently celebrated the opening of Tata World River Adventure, a new immersive dark ride at VinWonders in Nha Thrang.

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charlotte coates

Charlotte Coates

Charlotte Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.

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