|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Aug 12 2015, 10:52pm
Post #1 of 20
(2797 views)
Shortcut
|
|
A life-size version of Minas Tirith - how realistic is it?
|
Can't Post
|
|
A group of architects in England want to build a life-size version of Minas Tirith. This from a newspaper story:
"We are an ambitious team of architects and structural engineers who are passionate about creating a beautiful, inspirational and fully-functioning replica of Peter Jackson's depiction of Minas Tirith, as seen in his Lord of the Rings films," (said architect Jonathan) Wilson.
"We all share a love of Tolkien's work, and a desire to challenge the common perception of community and architecture. We believe that, in realising Minas Tirith, we can create not only the most remarkable tourist attraction on the planet, but also a wonderfully unique place to live and work."
It's wonderful to dream big, but how realistic is to build something like Minas Tirith? Are there any architects or builders here who can enlighten us on the difficulties of constructing a city on seven tiers? What challenges would these architects face?
(Note: the news stories around are angled on a fundraising campaign for the construction. Please do not link to the fundraiser page from here as that would break a rule in our Terms of Service about linking to or promoting fundraising efforts.)
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
|
|
|
Nomad
Forum Admin
Aug 12 2015, 11:53pm
Post #2 of 20
(2729 views)
Shortcut
|
|
it's a $2.8 billion crowd funded campaign...
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
...that doesn't pay out unless the goal is met. I think either someone was amazingly optimistic or just did it for fun. So far they are just over about 8 grand.
|
|
|
cats16
Half-elven
Aug 13 2015, 12:09am
Post #3 of 20
(2724 views)
Shortcut
|
Of that billionaire (vague, I know) who was trying to rebuild the Titanic. I think it was confirmed to have fizzled out only just recently.
Best of luck to this one, of course!
Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!
(This post was edited by cats16 on Aug 13 2015, 12:09am)
|
|
|
Brethil
Half-elven
Aug 13 2015, 1:16am
Post #4 of 20
(2702 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Where are they planning on building? //
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
|
|
|
squire
Half-elven
Aug 13 2015, 1:46am
Post #5 of 20
(2712 views)
Shortcut
|
As noted, unless you are going to build the mountain too, you need a suitable site. Then you have to engineer a relatively massive city out of stone with detailed medieval architecture, which is expensive. Then you have to decide what level of infrastructure you are going to support; the more modern conveniences you introduce (running water, sewerage, electricity, lifts, automobiles, etc.) the more you are going contrary to Tolkien's neo-medieval romantic vision. Then you have to recognize the hideous impracticality of urban circulation in a city designed primarily for defense against siege: one gate for access to each new level, deliberately staggered to delay and defeat rapid ascent and descent from bottom to top and back again. Finally: what is the function, what are the economic drivers, of the place? If tourism, what will the tourists do besides gawp? Every cinema, every modern restaurant and hotel, will make the site resemble an infinitude of actual European tourist cities. If not tourism, but a "place to live and work" for some resident population, what will they do for a living? Ask the citizens of Venice what they do besides accommodate tourists, and then calculate whether an artificial fortress of Gondor in some mountainous location will repay any imaginable investment in building, running, and maintaining it.
squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Footeramas: The 3rd & 4th TORn Reading Room LotR Discussion and NOW the 1st BotR Discussion too! and "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
squiretalk introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary
 = Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.
|
|
|
Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Aug 13 2015, 2:17am
Post #6 of 20
(2703 views)
Shortcut
|
Then you have to recognize the hideous impracticality of urban circulation in a city designed primarily for defense against siege:
Yes, exactly this. Minas Tirith sounds and looks wicked cool but actually living there would, I think, be a pain in the bottom. (Not just the difficulty of circulation but also being in shadow for half the day, given that it's structured on a half-circle that has that bisecting prow jutting from the city.)
I would love to visit a life-size replica - remember how Billy Boyd practically bragged on the DVD extras about working on that set? - but pulling this off would be a monumental task.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
(This post was edited by Ataahua on Aug 13 2015, 2:18am)
|
|
|
geordie
Tol Eressea
Aug 13 2015, 10:45am
Post #7 of 20
(2662 views)
Shortcut
|
|
they say they are looking at a couple of sites in southern England
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
- and they admit that there are no mountains in southern England, so - just put it down as a piece of daftness.
.
(This post was edited by geordie on Aug 13 2015, 10:45am)
|
|
|
Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
Aug 14 2015, 12:26pm
Post #8 of 20
(2593 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Hmm - 'a wonderfully unique place to live and work'
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
but unique is not the same as welcoming and functional. We may walk the sloping stone pathways of Minas Tirith in our dreams, but I'd suggest that would be the best place to do it. Can you imagine the nightmare of making such a place disabled accessible, as public buildings should be? Also, while there are many Tolkien fans around who might visit it, the majority of the population would, I think, regard such a project as at best an extravagant folly, at worst as a white elephant. I'd like to be a flly on the wall if they ever reach the stage of applying for planning permission...
|
|
|
phij2
Rivendell
Aug 15 2015, 7:59am
Post #9 of 20
(2523 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Yes, as much as it would be fantastical......
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
the practicalities of such a thing would be bordering on impossible.
I would be up for it if they were making a replica Hobbiton in England, or a Great Hall of Rohan. These would both be relatively much less expensive, but if done well, could be really beautiful!
|
|
|
ShireHorse
Rohan
Aug 15 2015, 5:16pm
Post #10 of 20
(2497 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Aww, don't be defeatist, peeps!
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
I imagine Tolkien was thinking of Italian hill towns when he created Minas Tirith and these are built on hills, not mountains, and didn't defeat the architects of hundreds of years ago nor the little old ladies who run up and down their streets every day:
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/...re_37071_600x450.jpg
There are plenty of medieval villages built on the side of cliffs in England:
http://www.ivizzit.com/...nHoodsBayTheDock.gif
And the Romans built the city of Lincoln on the side of an escarpment with the main street, Steep Hill, going straight up to the castle and the cathedral perched on the top:
http://thelincolnite.co.uk/...13/01/steep-hill.jpg
It may turn out to be a pipe dream but I would rent a holiday cottage there, just like I shall be doing in the beautiful fantasy village of Portmeirion, used to film the cult series, The Prisoner, next year. That started off as a dream in 1925 and became a reality.
http://www.attractionsofsnowdonia.com/...194-53f8e7811f6b.jpg
|
|
|
Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Aug 15 2015, 7:37pm
Post #11 of 20
(2484 views)
Shortcut
|
Remember that one of the primary features of Minas Tirith is the huge, prow-like prominence that is part of the mountain on which the city is built. I'm not sure where that could be duplicated without building it artificially.
"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock
|
|
|
Hamfast Gamgee
Tol Eressea
Aug 16 2015, 5:21pm
Post #12 of 20
(2316 views)
Shortcut
|
But why do this to the movie version of Minas Tirith, when there is a better version in the books? If one has the time and money, why not simply make an extended miniature model of book Minas Tirirth? One which is bigger, it's a proper city for example, not just a fortress, more challenging, interesting and you come up with something a different sight. Then, when you have finished with that, how about doing a miniature of the Shire, Bree, Rivendell, Moria, Rohan, Isengard , Barad-dur, and Minas Morgul? Actually, if you are feeling really energetic you could build Minas Morgul both as Minas Morgul and as Minas Ithil as well.
|
|
|
Meneldor
Valinor
Aug 16 2015, 5:30pm
Post #13 of 20
(2313 views)
Shortcut
|
|
In my headcanon, Ted Naismith's paintings
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
are the definitive images of Minas Tirith. I just love his landscapes and architecture.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
|
|
|
Hamfast Gamgee
Tol Eressea
Aug 16 2015, 5:54pm
Post #14 of 20
(2305 views)
Shortcut
|
But if these guys were to bother to actually read the books, and I don't know, I just get the feeling these are movie watchers, they would find quite a detailed description of Minas Tirith in the text. In fact, probably more detailed than the glimpses we get in the movie.
|
|
|
Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Aug 16 2015, 11:28pm
Post #15 of 20
(2281 views)
Shortcut
|
I think that Peter Jackson's Minas Tirith is one of the best-realized set-pieces in the LotR films and is a pretty good match for Tolkien's description, both in size and design. It is both a living city and a fortress.
"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock
|
|
|
QuackingTroll
Valinor
Aug 17 2015, 1:23pm
Post #16 of 20
(2229 views)
Shortcut
|
|
One element that's always missing from Minas Tirith...
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
Is that the outer wall is supposed to be black. Made from the same indestructible material as Orthanc.
Ted Nasmith has done a few illustrations of Minas Tirith. He actually went back and corrected the outer wall when he realised this over-looked detail. That corrected image is what I consider the definitive version of Minas Tirith.
|
|
|
Annael
Immortal
Aug 17 2015, 2:13pm
Post #17 of 20
(2227 views)
Shortcut
|
|
realistic, not at all. Would I go? IN A HEARTBEAT
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
Although I'd rather live in Rivendell, which I think could actually be done.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
|
|
|
Misty Mountain Hop
Rivendell
Aug 18 2015, 6:57pm
Post #18 of 20
(2161 views)
Shortcut
|
|
Realistic? No. Ridiculously epic? Of course.
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
It would be the 8th wonder of the world if they could build it to scale along side a mountain. I would spend $$$ to visit that place!
"Only, you've never done a hard day's work." - Merry
|
|
|
Ostadan
Rivendell
Aug 19 2015, 6:37pm
Post #19 of 20
(2030 views)
Shortcut
|
It would be cheaper in the long run to build the whole thing digitally, down to millimeter resolution (including interiors, of course. Huge amount of data, but increasingly feasible). As VR tech improves, more and more people could 'enter' this environment and interact (without having to change into costumes!). Not a game, just an environment.
No, you won't be able to look out across Cormallen and feel the wind in your hair. Not until the 'RealEnv' upgrade in 2027, at any rate.
|
|
|
Advising Elf
Rohan
Aug 21 2015, 5:13pm
Post #20 of 20
(1981 views)
Shortcut
|
|
They obviously don't get the concept of "living in a fantasy world".
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
You don't actually live there.
That said, I agree with Annael (don't let that scare you, Ann); it is totally unrealistic, but I'd love to see it.
Link to Youtube video about my daughter's book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCo-bF0u8xI
|
|
|
|
|
