#Breathe Architecture

[toyastales]

Oh wow! Imagine showering with this breathtaking view.

[mascamaiorum]

Go’o Shrine (護王神社) by Hiroshi Sugimoto (杉本博司, Japanese photographer and architect, born 23 February 1948) erected circa 1998 on the island of Naoshima. It is a reinterpretation of a style of Shinto Shrine architecture.

The name Go’o means something like “Protector King”.

The glass steps lead up to the structure in which the deity is believed to reside.

The steps also continue down through the white rocks into an underground cave bringing daylight with them.

[bobdobalina]

Thanks to the Wikipedia article on Long-term nuclear waste warning messages, lots of people know the "THIS PLACE IS NOT A PLACE OF HONOR" quote, but it occurred to me to look up the original document that it comes from, the 1993 report "Expert judgment on markers to deter inadvertent human intrusion into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant," by Trauth, Hora, & Guzowski of Sandia National Laboratories... and the whole thing is pretty fascinating.

Specifically, the famous quote and the pages above all come from the sub-report by "Team A," consisting of Dieter G. Ast (Cornell University), Michael Brill (Buffalo Organization for Social and Technological Innovation), Maureen F. Kaplan (Eastern Research Group), Ward H. Goodenough (University of Pennsylvania), Frederick J. Newmeyer (University of Washington), and Woodruff T. Sullivan, III (University of Washington). "Team B," I was surprised to notice, included astronomer Frank Drake (creator of the Drake Equation for estimating the changes of contacting extraterrestrial life).

The diagrams of possible construction options look a little bit like architectural plans, but also quite a bit like Dungeons & Dragons environment designs... and perhaps like the ruined architecture of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

[twistedapple]

Miguel O'Hara: What's his deal

Ok so ever since the theatre realease of Across the Spiderverse back on May 31st (yes in France we get our new releases on Wednesday, this is why the early videos on YT had French subtitles btw in case you were wondering), I have been deep in it. Like. DEEP. The main offender for that being Miguel O'Hara, who immediately started living rent free in my head and he is clearly not leaving any time soon. Anyway, this is completely out of topic for my blog but I do what I want so let me rant about the aforementioned Depressed and Overworked DILF because we love men with problems in this house.

WATCH OUT FOR THE SPOILERS (and unhinged ramblings that totally sidetrack).

Ever since the release of ATSV, a lot of videos have been available on YT to dissect everything, and of course I have been having an intense focus on character analysis, because that movie is absolutely brilliant at establishing character arcs and presenting new Spiderverse characters in one of the most efficient, thrilling and engaging way I've ever had the pleasure to witness. We've been blessed with Gwen's heartwrenching character arc (and she deserves none of the hate she's been receiving, but don't get me started on that), Hobie more like Homie in the span of 5 minutes on screen... And Miguel, who blesses us with his ego, anger issues and massive trauma while also dropping bits of a gentler side - but only bits of it. And I have been extremely normal about Miguel, since he absolutely doesn't tick all of the boxes of the Tickle My Fancy list.

I have been ranting about him in many YT comment sections for more than 2 months now (hi Purple Kisseokjin and Schnee lol), but with the digital release of the movie, I finally remembered I have a Tumblr blog where I can yell about Miguel all I want, so here we are now. Now where do I start...

First Part: Miguel's character design

I've overall been highly impressed by the various art styles given to the Spiderverse cast, and how it reflects who they are and where they come from. Miguel in particular hits many soft spots for me for a good reason: his association with architecture and industrial designs, which are topics I'm interested in (especially architecture). As such, I will begin this study by analysing both the character and environmental designs for Miguel and Nueva York, and how the depiction of Nueva York 2099 reflects the state of the narration as well as how Miles and Miguel feel and think - following the same logic as what we get to see with the use of watercolours on Earth-65B, during Gwen's sequences, to express emotional states. A mandatory tangent will be made in regard to Miguel's themes as well, because they fall in line with my arguments for the character and background designs.

There are some main points to take into account when it comes to anything related to Miguel's design: straight lines everywhere, light rough sketch lines, gouache tones. Where do we find these elements? In architecture design. Older ones made in a traditional way usually have gouache for the colours (although ink and watercolour are also present), and the light sketch lines and straight lines are present to study the perspective, as shown in the example below:

Feels familiar? Well, will you look at that:

One of the reasons why I am giggling everytime he appears on screen is because of these delightful sketch lines. Looook, it has the same style as architecture concept art! Even better, from the mouth of one of the character designers, Kris Anka: NO CURVES!

Even his face has sharp angles (he truly has the most powerful cheekbone game), look at the sketch lines:

And you know what else has a lot of straight lines and sharp angles? Nueva York.

Look at this. Look at this. It's even in the title card when Miles arrives at the Spider Society.

Allow me to make a slight detour to explain what we are looking at while looking at the architecture of Nueva York 2099. What we are seeing here is a blend of brutalism and eco-brutalism. Brutalism is characterised by its materials, steel and concrete, as well as its intent: in a post-WW2 world, architecture is seen with more pragmatism and values function first. Eco-brutalism is a branch deriving from Brutalism, and aiming to reintegrate nature in the concrete jungle in order to create an harmony - albeit a fully man-made one.

The concept artists took (eco-)brutalism and ran away with it for a massive Solarpunk vibe, which makes the whole setting very interesting considering that in the comics, Nueva York is also very much a futuristic dystopia. Yet, using (eco-)brutalism to have us experience the place for the first time along with Miles is a great way to give a sense of awe by way of what we envision as the future to be now:

The interesting bit about it is how (eco-)brutalism and the adjacent solarpunk aesthetic are associated with a rather hopeful future, one where humanity manages to harmonise its modern way of life with a new development of nature. It feels like a haven mixing the relaxing greens of nature with the sharp lines of brutalism architecture, and that's how Nueva York feels on first sight. Similarly, Miguel O'Hara's first appearance leaves quite the memorable impression: tall, with broad shoulders and everything about him being sharp (it's even exagerated in the comics part), even his web.

(Fun fact time: ball pens have initially been designed for architecture and industrial drawings, they are fantastic tools to draw neat lines and create a nice variety of shading as well based on how you push on the pen and how you hatch/cross-hatch to modulate the intensity of the shading. You know who and what could be drawn solely with a couple of ball pens? Check the answer below.)

He also shines at the Guggenheim by showing how competent he is, with a certain benevolence on top of it: he initially rejects Jessica Drew's suggestion of adding Gwen to the lineup (yes Miguel, you don't want her because she's buddy buddy with Miles), yet saves her from being shot by her own father and ends up getting her on board as she finds herself with nowhere to go. It certainly leaves a similarly good first impression as the bright and harmonious first sight we get of Nueva York.

However, the environmental and character designs both give us a deeper look into Nueva York and Miguel, and it's certainly not as pristine as it seems. Just as Miles is about to discover the truth of the Spider Society, he enters a darker lab and Hobie keeps warning him, until they reach the area where Miguel is pretty much playing Big Brother by watching them through some of his screens:

I'd argue that the darker space is a callback to the comics, in which Miguel becomes sensitive to light after his genetic mutation, But it is the very opposite of what we've been shown when introduced to the Spider Society: soft whites and greens are traded for deep blues and the stark orange of multiple screens as well as the tone on Miguel's own costume - the bright orange light of the screens is even reflected on him. This is not a pleasant place, and everytime we see it (the Go Home Machine area has a similar style, albeit more organic in the creepiest way, as displayed above on the 4th screenshot), we witness Miguel having outbursts of anger as well. There is also something that feels disconnected from humanity in the sense that it's colder and more methodical in the design, either with all the sharp angles and stark contrasts, or the alien design of the Go Home Machine.

It's an impression that can also be found once we discover the underbelly of Nueva York, while Miles is being chased:

Here, we also have dark tones with stark neon lights that create the impression of a colder, less caring place, that points to the dystopic nature of the place. The impression is created with great efficiency not only by intense contrasts, but also by using the classic codes for a dystopic society: the solarpunk tones can be found in other stories such as the video game Mirror's Edge (classic case of solarpunk hiding a dystopia), and of course the darker cyberpunk aspects are a staple of the Dystopic Futuristic Society, that goes as far back as the first Bladerunner movie at least, and that can also be found in movies, series and games such as the Ghost in the Shell movies/series and the Cyberpunk TTRPG/video game (which pretty much gave its name to the genre) - I'd even argue we could go further back in time for the references with classics such as Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It matches with the atmosphere of the Spiderman 2099 as well, which is set exactly in that type of darker, cyberpunk dystopia.

I argue that there's something coldly methodical in Miguel's design and, by extension, Nueva York 2099's design as well. And it is delightfully balanced through an initial positive introduction of both, before being broken down for a darker turn later on during the movie, as it matches Miles' own amazement-turned-disappointment throughout the sequences in Nueva York when his initial desire to belong somewhere is brutally turned on its head by the very persons who could have given him that sense of belonging he was seeking.

Interestingly, even the soundscape for Miguel, "Spiderman 2099" and "Lab 2099", expresses the underlying coldness of Nueva York 2099 and Miguel's own scientific, methodical approach to problems. As explained by Youtuber Azcona in his Miguel O'Hara Suite playlist:

"I'd argue that it has the same tonal resonance that the Prowler theme in the first movie had, though is less villainous and dreadful as that theme. Miguel's theme is a five note synth line that sounds akin to an alarm or siren. It's blaringly loud, but is also used for more calm dialogue scenes in an effective way. The words that come to mind when describing the musical soundscape of Miguel O'Hara is "methodical", because no matter how loud or abrasive his theme gets it has an underlying feeling of coldness and efficiency. This is further shown through a repetitive synth ostinato that plods and chugs during a lot of his scenes/scenes involving the multiverse at large. It's reminiscent of Blade Runner in tone and it's mechanical nature, and I think it suits someone as jaded and distant as Miguel. Not only is his theme alarming and efficient, but also efficient in it's cold, electronic soundscape and melodies."

And this very methodical, cold tone is itself used during the infamous Train Chase and Miguel's on-screen mental breakdown... But more on that in the next part!

[blueeyeddarkknight]

Part 3 of Val's infinite skills.. I keep finding more!

[ofdarklands]

if your creature is big enough you should think of them as a structure more than an living being

[dragonji]

attempting with all my strength to not pull a mq on this day

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Leonardo DaVinci

* * * *

“There’s a space at the bottom of an exhale, a little hitch between taking in and letting out that’s a perfect zero you can go into. There’s a rest point between the heart’s muscle’s close and open - an instant of keenest living when you’re momentarily dead. You can rest there.”

- Mary Karr

[paynnincorporated]

Some of the ads seen in Dragon Booster! Pulled from the DS game, but they appear throughout Dragon City in the show :)

A friend and I run a DB discord server that’s made specifically as a screenshot repository for various elements of DB, from the dragons to the gear to environments and objects! Mostly it’s references that are tagged and searchable to assist with drawing/filling in art that involves designing sets/clothes etc. I’ve presently stopped picking out pics to sort, and think the Derg section is lacking. If you’d like to join and snoop, dm me I suppose!

[cavberry]

golden.

[lunavagans]

Even the non-fantasy worldbuilding in loz is generally illogical, but now that I‘m thinking about the Gerudo Towns from OoT and BotW for an AU, it just makes me so unreasonably angry.

In Oot, there are only the two buildings: the Spirit Temple, which is religious, and religious buildings sometimes just have impractical structure. That‘s alright, it just be like that. (It doesn‘t justify the monsters, though.) But the only other gerudo building is the fortress. Which doesn‘t make sense. It contains cells, hallways and a dining hall. Obviously Not Good for living in. Where do they sleep? Where do they get food from? (Of course, you could count that hide-out with the poe, but doesn’t it just add to my point? They have that one hideout/resting point and it’s haunted and nobody says anything about it.) But that‘s not even what I‘m mad about.

In BotW, it‘s better in the way that it‘s now easy to imagine how they go about their lives. They live in the town, they get into contact and trade with the outside world in the bazaar. Cool. But the problem I have is. Why are those places where they are. Sure, it‘s understandable why the bazaar is where it is; at an oasis and a short distance from the last resting place before the desert, it‘s about as easy to reach for people not used to the desert as can get. But the town? I thought they were militaristic to an extend. I thought they‘d consider attacks more. I THOUGHT THEY KNEW THAT ONE BODYGUARD DOES JACKSH*T WHEN YOU CAN SNEAK INTO THE THRONE ROOM FROM THE DESERT ITSELF TO MURDER THE QUEEN. WITHOUT ANY OTHER GUARDS INBETWEEN.

Why did they build their one place, where everyone from toddler to grandma lives, in the open desert, far away from the icehouse? Why not at a mountainside? Would‘ve saved materials for walls, you could use the same amount for four walls to instead build less and reinforce them, you could‘ve burrowed into the mountain as a bunker (which I guess they now did anyway), or for I DUNNO ice storage. THEY WOULDN‘T HAVE TO HAVE GUARDS ON ALL SIDES. IT MAKES ME ANXIOUS. In case enemies manage to get into the town, those incapable of fighting could flee towards the mountain. You could dig a tunnel for fleeing. They could‘ve gone into mining if hard times hit. They would‘ve had some more solid ground, maybe they could‘ve done some farming, maybe some trees. Depends on if there’s actual dirt or just Rock.

Of course, enemies could climb above the town and swarm downwards, overwhelming it… yeah. But I think undercover missions might pose the only problem, conveniently with the yiga being the closest enemies. However, the gerudo never were a large folk, they probably know each other from birth to death, especially since children seem to be rare anyway. They would know at first glance if someone impersonated them or pretended to be their own persona (gerudosona?) and as for hylian travellers? Suspicious acitivity would be caught eventually, as well as a swell in foreigners arriving and not leaving, and the yiga wouldn‘t be able to stage a large infiltration. Given, there would be a chance with small-scale operations. Nobody blinks an eye at a single person, no matter who they are, as long as they appear to be ordinary. But otherwise, enemies would have to attack from the front. (And from then on it would depend on how well the gerudo can bear the brunt and retaliate. Which I can‘t judge. I‘m not that into miliatry strategy.) And this is just the immediate defense for the town itself. The canon gerudo patrol the entire desert, I think it‘s easy to move the focus from desert to mountain range, and then that thing with enemies accumulating above wouldn‘t really happen without notice!

Just. Why smack in the middle of open nothingness. Heck, even on top of some ruins would make more sense, because WHY WERE THOSE RUINS ABANDONED? If there was no reason, then they should‘ve been maintained and updated with the times. They could have multiple settlements by now that way.

[alexis-royce]

.

[dogboyrevenge]

Actually I'm just a huge fan of creatures so big so incredibly huge that they're considered landscapes or biomes of their own.

[il3x]

"Can't stop thinking about them" special interests TM vs "if I think about them too hard I will Throw Up from excitement" special interests TM

[balteus]

sometimes i wonder if im reading to much into the political implications of fromsoft games (armored core, dark souls, elden ring) but then i remember miyazaki has an actual degree in sociology so what do i know

[chriee]

So I didn’t have anything to launch this sucker up the mountain, but what I did have is an engineering degree in building shit bridges.

So I made my monstrosity, glued the Korok to it, then dragged this with me around the mountain.

Now you’re probably wondering “how did he climb a mountain AND drag this beautiful feat of architecture?”  Well let me explain.

This poor Korok nearly drowned 3 times, but you see, I am a master of doing things the hard way.  So here is the secret: Recall.

I moved the device as far as I could, rested it against the mountain if possible.  If it fell, I used Recall, ran to a new spot, then grabbed it with Ultrahand.  Rinse and repeat, easy peasy.