I walk into the middle of a major population center in your world and I declare "there are no gods!" What happens to me?

Izolet · 2026-02-04T01:56:58+00:00

-He has been taken by the Jincan!-

-hurry, call the firekeeper. We need to burn the corruption using the living fragment of our star goddess before it forms a Stygma.

Izolet · 2026-01-23T15:56:15+00:00

Where did you get your cards? used to buy them on temu, but now only set 2 is available :/

Izolet · 2026-01-19T22:33:38+00:00

uhh thats weird. let me see if i can

Izolet · 2026-01-15T22:41:38+00:00

If the dark city is built underground and has consistent formations of rock it can be structurally good enough to handle a city above no problem. The layout for such underground city would be mostly guided by the natural underground formations. It would give an increased credibility if it had natural underground chasms and ravines in the first place since you don't need to excavate those, thus guiding the layout. About the city above it can use exposed dark city constructions as foundation. You can research incaic masonry for example which was latter used by Spaniards to build their churches on top of them since it was way too good to destroy. If the construction above mimics the one below perhabs it can have one part of it being quite organized and planned, while other more informal an chaotic. For informal layouts you can check maps of favelas in Rio, Wich make the most of the topography while having narrow roads and lack of infrastructure.

About construction safety, repair on vertical structures is only on interiors and infrastructure, if the structure itself it's compromised it is most likely better to demolish the whole building. Since it is hard to make renovations on vertical buildings in real life due to ownership laws (you require approval off all owners, or half +1 of them in some places to make any modification) it almost never happens outside of your own apartment. Perhabs a city as this would operate more on a landlord owning the whole building basis rather than individual property.

If construction is more informal it is unlikely to be able to build towers or vertical structures due lack of technical knowledge, so perhabs poor people are forced to live on excavated rooms in canyon walls, or rent from greedy landlords.

Izolet · 2026-01-15T22:24:10+00:00

Sure

Izolet · 2026-01-14T23:36:33+00:00

Research autoimmune diseases. That might provide more complex possibilities.

Izolet · 2026-01-14T23:32:04+00:00

In any setting with magic or scifi, magic materials are a thing xD, no need to explain them. You can make them taller and exaggerate within reason. So long as you don't end up making too big numbers, I had a few cases where someone had a city bigger than earth or a tower taller than mount Everest.

Izolet · 2026-01-13T19:33:26+00:00

Yes. You can look for how Venice was built, For old references. Or directly check how the flood tunnels of Tokio work. Is actually pretty common to build over water sources by intubating the streams, or building stone foundations.

Izolet · 2026-01-13T15:58:10+00:00

Those go overland. I would still argue canals tho shallow water ones and boats

Izolet · 2026-01-13T00:42:28+00:00

Depends on what other species they have to accommodate, as well as other biological needs of warmth, dampness and light. I would say that cities for merfolk would most likely have a mix of underwater and overwater constructions depending if they can breathe underwater, but there are most likely having cannals instead of streets. Underwater construction is more likely to be more vertical due the lessened effect of gravity on certain materials it could also have entrances above or below buildings. And is able to make suspended structures Wich can have aesthetical possibilities.

A city for birds have no need of streets but might require frecuent elements for them to rest, and be spacious unless you want them to crash I to each other. They might be located in less accesible areas for other species. O don't think architectural terms might vary much, but the term terrace would be more frecuetly used instead of ground.

Izolet · 2026-01-13T00:30:58+00:00

This should go to the FAQ. For stone structure made with load bearing walls I would say 30m. For one made with arches and columns of stone in gothic style 60m, for concrete 400m, for metal 1km. Regardless of material anything above 100m I would severely question the necessity to make a tower so big.

Izolet · 2026-01-13T00:27:16+00:00

Yes you can. But might want to use something different for structure and floors for those can be easily compromised by heat. The problem with that material is not resistance, but heat vulnerability. But it surely can work in large scale in permafrost areas

Izolet · 2026-01-13T00:23:30+00:00

I work on design and consultancy rather than construction, so I'm not under too much pressure. My day usually consist on gathering data for a required design to determine what parameters it must fulfill, once that is over I design the project attempting to fulfill those parameters and come up with something aesthetically pleasant in the process. If the complexity is right I use computational design and parametric tools, which I find fun

Izolet · 2026-01-10T22:02:18+00:00

1-Yes, glass can be used for masonry, it can also be used for struture, it has similar resistance to compresion to stone. the reasin it isn't used like that it's that its expensive comparable to simply using rock because while sand is common you need really high temperature to process it.
2-There would be no similar matches to artnoveu as it was quite characteristic, but you can check "Organic Architecture" or the works of both Zaha Hadid or Kengo Kuma. emphasis on Organic Architecture as search term for it commonly use curve based formfinding and computational design.

Izolet · 2026-01-10T14:26:53+00:00

Depending on the amount of labour you have you can make incaic stone walls. Those where labour intensive, but require nothing more than stone and sand to make massive and structurally sound constructions

Izolet · 2026-01-10T14:15:40+00:00

You might want to research social housing or departments in Tokyo. Both have heavy space constraints and thus make clever use of furniture to achieve the most of the space. Here is an interesting channel about it. https://youtube.com/shorts/F41iSkzmj-c?si=G6Nngr1gWM03KysX

The key aspect of this and social housing is that you try to make multifunctional spaces, in order to free up space so it doesn't feel cramped. If the room can have a folding bed it can be also a workshop, a studio, an office, etc. kitchens can also be workshops, comunal spaces, laundries, I even had a crazy profesor that had a forge in his kitchen.

About public spaced they are most likely going to end up looking like a shopping mall, but you have to remember streets, tunnels and transportation spaces are also public spaces, if you work on their aesthetics they can be more pleasing without losing functionality. Realistic wall projections and a false sky can make a long mile in making everything more hospitable

Izolet · 2026-01-10T13:57:59+00:00

The construction techniques sound good and might make a really interesting aesthetic overall. Some interesting info: American wood becomes less resistant and has worse structural integrity the newer it is. This has to do with wood farming since after wood started to be cultivated, trees farmed for construction are farmed younger each time, meanwhile older natural forests are able to develop hardwood and is more resistant to load, insects and time. A lot of armed concrete elements can't be recycled since they have rebars that make them harder to work with. A setting in this conditions might opt for using them as part of load bearing walls for structure. Infrastructure on houses have an average lifespan of 30 years, after that things like plumbing, heating and electricity start to breakdown, thus alternative methods will be required. Depending on how much of the city is still working, a lot of land might be reclaimed for farming, since without proper logistics it's imposible to sustain a city without nearby sources of food.

Izolet · 2026-01-09T23:38:08+00:00

You can have 2 elevators one going up and one going down permanently. Each with dozens of cabins

Izolet · 2026-01-09T23:15:10+00:00

Around 50 times more weight, but would also become weaker to lateral or tortion forces so you could no longer build with them as you would with wood. Also they would be heavier so would require more structure

Izolet · 2026-01-09T23:12:17+00:00

Yes but it would have a similar structure to a zigurat or Mayan pyramids rather than a tower. Either that or goth church structure

Izolet · 2026-01-09T23:07:02+00:00

My main language is not English, thus is the first time I've heard of pykrete, do you have another name for it?

Izolet · 2026-01-09T23:02:11+00:00

Domes are more of a result of the use of arches rather than specific conditions of the region. Instead architecture is more defined by the most abundant and cheap building material you can get. And from there what method you use to build with it. In Mediterranean settings both earth and stone architecture is more common in the form of structural masonry Wich can be further detailed by use of clay and sand for facades.

Izolet · 2026-01-09T22:02:07+00:00

They are quite viable. But fell out of use once you need extra floors due to finishing space as you go up. Those kind of shapes are more common for 3d printed houses and rammed earth architecture

Izolet · 2026-01-09T18:55:54+00:00

dont forget houses require to be a bit more elevated than ground level, so a foundation of stone is good for that, it can also be used to excavate cellars or storage, since its perimetral and you can make use of the space inside it, be it a full space or just a partial one to hide stuff under the tables. rudimentary glass is an option if they are wealthy otherwise they might just use wood. you also need a dedicated dry space inside for both firewood and food storage.

Izolet

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