Here I dreamt I was an architect
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:59 pm
This thread will be my picture dump for my attempts to render Hyperborean buildings from now on. I'm hoping to one day collect enough to put them all together into a city, maybe Tala or Taras.
This one is the Temple of Ainai Mantyumion (the Goddess of Beauty in her aspect as the mid-day) in Taras. It's a very traditional design, featuring both the ascending spiral (kidun) on the top and some smaller domes. The spiral and domes are built out of ice; in more southerly cities, they would melt in summer and be rebuilt each winter, but Taras is cold enough that these structures are pretty much permanent features, as you can see from the pictures below from different seasons. The decorations on the side are not quite stained glass windows; Raikothlin buildings usually don't have large windows because of insulation issues. In fact, they're stained glass placed before a mirror, giving the same lighting effect without the fragility. On the front of the building are two inskrils (mandalas). On the bottom, just above the doorway, is the kai-inskil, the symbol of Raikoth, its government, and its religion. Higher up and more prominent is a complex mandala, unique to the temple, drawn by a mandala artist to represent the goddess of midday. For scale, the doorway is just large enough for a tall person to walk through without having to duck.
This one is the Temple of Ainai Mantyumion (the Goddess of Beauty in her aspect as the mid-day) in Taras. It's a very traditional design, featuring both the ascending spiral (kidun) on the top and some smaller domes. The spiral and domes are built out of ice; in more southerly cities, they would melt in summer and be rebuilt each winter, but Taras is cold enough that these structures are pretty much permanent features, as you can see from the pictures below from different seasons. The decorations on the side are not quite stained glass windows; Raikothlin buildings usually don't have large windows because of insulation issues. In fact, they're stained glass placed before a mirror, giving the same lighting effect without the fragility. On the front of the building are two inskrils (mandalas). On the bottom, just above the doorway, is the kai-inskil, the symbol of Raikoth, its government, and its religion. Higher up and more prominent is a complex mandala, unique to the temple, drawn by a mandala artist to represent the goddess of midday. For scale, the doorway is just large enough for a tall person to walk through without having to duck.
