Sarah Marie Cahill
Inspired by the giant spider burger from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, this project reimagines the iconic food creature as a thrilling theme park rollercoaster. The design transforms the spider burger into the central structure of the ride, with twisting coaster tracks weaving through its towering bun, patty, and legs. Riders travel in meatball-shaped carriages, immersing them in a playful food-themed adventure. Combining storytelling with sculptural model making, the project explores how cinematic fantasy can be translated into a dynamic theme park attraction. Designed as a proposal for future theme park development, the ride blends humour, spectacle, and immersive design creating a memorable and visually striking experience.
This project is inspired by the spider burger from the animated film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The concept reimagines this surreal food creature as a large-scale theme park attraction. The design transforms the spider burger into a section of a rollercoaster structure, with meatball-shaped carriages carrying riders through the ride.
The project explores how playful and exaggerated food imagery from the film can be translated into a physical theme park experience. The spider burger acts as both the central visual icon and the structural base of the ride, with rollercoaster tracks weaving around and through its form. The meatball carriages reinforce the food-based theme while creating a fun and immersive ride experience.
Designed as a proposal for future theme park companies, the project focuses on imaginative world-building, sculptural form, and the translation of cinematic design into a three-dimensional attraction. Through model making and set design techniques, the project demonstrates how a fictional object from animation can be developed into a dynamic and engaging theme park concept.
The outcome of this project is the development of a conceptual rollercoaster design intended for a theme park environment. The ride is themed around a giant burger, incorporating large-scale sculptural elements representing layers such as cheese, lettuce, tomato, bun, and meat. Additional visual features including ketchup and mustard are integrated into the surrounding structure and track design to enhance the immersive food-based theme. Riders are seated in meatball-shaped carriages, reinforcing the playful and cohesive narrative of the attraction.
Throughout the project, a range of design and fabrication processes were explored and applied. These included sculpting, mould making, casting, modelling, 3D printing, and detailed finishing techniques. Each process contributed to the development of the final physical model and allowed for experimentation with materials, structure, and surface detail.
The finishing stage involved painting and airbrushing to create realistic textures, depth, and colour variation, improving the visual quality and presentation of the final piece. This project demonstrates the ability to combine creative concept development with technical making skills, problem-solving, and iterative design processes. Overall, the project reflects an understanding of themed entertainment design and the translation of imaginative ideas into a cohesive three-dimensional outcome.
Sarah is a model maker from Kildare, currently in her final year studying Model Making. She has a strong passion for model making and stage set construction, with three years of previous experience constructing and building sets in the United States.
Sarah is a versatile maker who enjoys working across a range of scales, from detailed small models to larger sculptural builds. Her practice focuses on creative problem-solving, craftsmanship, and bringing imaginative concepts into physical form. Enthusiastic and easy to collaborate with, she values teamwork and hands-on making.
She has thoroughly enjoyed her time studying at IADT, where she has developed building within the model making and design industry.
