Flamic architecture? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Flamic architecture? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Bobitron
03-08-05, 07:27 PM According to the description of art and architecture in the Thrane section of the campaign book, the Flamic style is dominated by visions of the Silver Flame and Tira Miron (in sculpture and paintings) and the use of light and soaring spaces (in architecture). How would you best describe the architecture in particular? I'm running a group that is currently in Sigilstar, and I'm running dry when describing the surroundings.

Thanks, folks!
Lasrifriir
03-08-05, 07:46 PM In my campaign, I look to very late era Gothic and Middle Ages architecture for inspiration. Some of the old Gothic cathedrals and churches were simply awe inspiring; ceilings that stretched hundreds of feet in the air, giant reliefs of saints and religious events, all very epic and grand in scope.

You can have a little fun with the actual layout of the areas too; if I recall correctly, most Gothic cathedrals were laid in the shape of a cross. Substitute that for the Flame's arrowhead holy symbol, and you have a very interesting layout. I think it would pretty impressive from the air.

But I think the most important thing to remember is to use your imagination. Thrane is a virtually monotheistic and theocratic nation at that. Religious aspects will be everywhere you go; I can very easily see gleaming flametouched iron statues of fallen champions and martyrs standing watch over village squares, shrines to the Silver Flame on every street corner, etc.

I might as well try to fetch some websites with my Google-fu while I'm at this.
Bobitron
03-08-05, 07:54 PM I might as well try to fetch some websites with my Google-fu while I'm at this.

Thanks. My Google-fu is weak. I grabbed a bunch of stained glass images for inspiration, but was having trouble finding suitable religious buildings.
ekomega
03-08-05, 07:55 PM I was going to suggest Gothic architecture as well. I figure they could have columns carved like flames. And like the Catholic Church, specifically in Saint Peter's Basilica, you could have statues depicting other famous heroes of the church and various things they've overcome. Like that martyr who died from the lycanthropes.
Lasrifriir
03-08-05, 08:03 PM Hail Wikipedia!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture

They've got a nice fat list right there waiting for the pickings.
Siran Dunmorgan
03-08-05, 08:07 PM It's unlikely you'll find any exact matches or photos that you can show people to say "it looks like this," but there are a few pieces in the real world that you could use to inspire your own experssions.

A good starting point would be the work of the great—well, incredible, actually—Turkish architect Mimar Sinan, particularly his original walls for the Suleymaniye Camii, near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

Looking up at the walls, even from the outside, on a sunny day is like looking at walls made of light, with even lines of the stained-glass insets drawing the eye upward. It's more incredible in person than it is in pictures, because in person, standing near the base, you can't see the dome: the lines of the walls just seem to merge with the sky, like they're free-standing.

I once passed it on a cloudy day in early spring, when the air was thick with smoke; and even then, even in its darkness, the lines of the buttresses and the arched walls catch the eye and uplift the spirit. Most buildings on such a day would seem dreary, even oppressive, but not this one.

There is a writer[1] who speaks of such things, such places, as having a 'glow', an 'inner light', as if, no matter what, they are illumined from within. This was such a place.

Inside, when it is lit by the thousands of lights—I may be exaggerating here, it may only be hundreds—that hang from chandeliers on chains from the ceiling, it is like being inside a globe of fire, but a fire that warms and enriches, a fire that speaks to the contentment of the heart, and warmth after days in the cold. In full daylight, the walls are transformed to airy walls of light, the sunlight given meaning by the passages from the holy texts illuminated for all to see, and casting brilliant shadows of color across the congregation.

Now, I've just described the Suleymaniye Camii, but aside from that I haven't actually been there, I suppose you could use a similar description for the Cathedral of the Flame...

—Siran Dunmorgan

[1] Christopher Alexander, whose texts should be mandatory for anyone interested in world design.
Bobitron
03-08-05, 09:37 PM Thanks for the replies, folks. I should mention this is for a play-by-post campaign, so I will be passing along descriptions, not images.
Kid SixXx
03-09-05, 09:34 AM Gothic should fit the bill, but I always thought that Byzantine archiatecture, or even mosque-style buildings would work.

I always figured Sigilstar looked similar to the Hagia Sophia, only bigger.

http://www.greatbuildings.com/cgi-bin/gbi.cgi/Hagia_Sophia.html/cid_hagia_sophia_jag_004.gbi
Vharuck
03-09-05, 01:34 PM I dunno, rounded holy buildings didn't come into European style until after the middle ages and during the Renaissance. That's when they though the circle was perfect and therefore holy. Before that, they constructed their churches and other buildings in the overhead shape of a cross.

So, would they construct it in the overhead shape of a flame? Kind of hard.
Kid SixXx
03-09-05, 03:18 PM So, would they construct it in the overhead shape of a flame? Kind of hard.

*nods*

That's why I reworked "flamic" to imply that the building looked like a flame from the ground rather than resemble a flame from an aerial view.

Hence the Hagia Sophia or mosque-style building: center dome or fluted roof and numerous spires & towers surrounding the center structure.
TwinBahamut
03-09-05, 03:30 PM There is a sub-style of late French Gothic architecture which is literally called "Flamboyant", literally meaning flame-like. You could use that as inspiration.

Also, keep in mind that churches throughout history were not shaped like a cross for the sake of being cross shaped, but rather because certain aspects of that shape, namely the transept, the cross of the cross-shaped basilica, were very effective to allow complex movements of people in a crowded space.
gaerfindel
03-09-05, 03:46 PM Another thing you might want to include is the use of coldfire throughout the interior. Flames winding up the columns and the like.

Also, silver-embossed works of art reflecting and rereflecting all the light.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Bobitron 03-08-05, 07:27 PM	According to the description of art and architecture in the Thrane section of the campaign book, the Flamic style is dominated by visions of the Silver Flame and Tira Miron (in sculpture and paintings) and the use of light and soaring spaces (in architecture). How would you best describe the architecture in particular? I'm running a group that is currently in Sigilstar, and I'm running dry when describing the surroundings. Thanks, folks!
Lasrifriir 03-08-05, 07:46 PM	In my campaign, I look to very late era Gothic and Middle Ages architecture for inspiration. Some of the old Gothic cathedrals and churches were simply awe inspiring; ceilings that stretched hundreds of feet in the air, giant reliefs of saints and religious events, all very epic and grand in scope. You can have a little fun with the actual layout of the areas too; if I recall correctly, most Gothic cathedrals were laid in the shape of a cross. Substitute that for the Flame's arrowhead holy symbol, and you have a very interesting layout. I think it would pretty impressive from the air. But I think the most important thing to remember is to use your imagination. Thrane is a virtually monotheistic and theocratic nation at that. Religious aspects will be everywhere you go; I can very easily see gleaming flametouched iron statues of fallen champions and martyrs standing watch over village squares, shrines to the Silver Flame on every street corner, etc. I might as well try to fetch some websites with my Google-fu while I'm at this.
Bobitron 03-08-05, 07:54 PM	I might as well try to fetch some websites with my Google-fu while I'm at this. Thanks. My Google-fu is weak. I grabbed a bunch of stained glass images for inspiration, but was having trouble finding suitable religious buildings.
ekomega 03-08-05, 07:55 PM	I was going to suggest Gothic architecture as well. I figure they could have columns carved like flames. And like the Catholic Church, specifically in Saint Peter's Basilica, you could have statues depicting other famous heroes of the church and various things they've overcome. Like that martyr who died from the lycanthropes.
Lasrifriir 03-08-05, 08:03 PM	Hail Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture They've got a nice fat list right there waiting for the pickings.
Siran Dunmorgan 03-08-05, 08:07 PM	It's unlikely you'll find any exact matches or photos that you can show people to say "it looks like this," but there are a few pieces in the real world that you could use to inspire your own experssions. A good starting point would be the work of the great—well, incredible, actually—Turkish architect Mimar Sinan, particularly his original walls for the Suleymaniye Camii, near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Looking up at the walls, even from the outside, on a sunny day is like looking at walls made of light, with even lines of the stained-glass insets drawing the eye upward. It's more incredible in person than it is in pictures, because in person, standing near the base, you can't see the dome: the lines of the walls just seem to merge with the sky, like they're free-standing. I once passed it on a cloudy day in early spring, when the air was thick with smoke; and even then, even in its darkness, the lines of the buttresses and the arched walls catch the eye and uplift the spirit. Most buildings on such a day would seem dreary, even oppressive, but not this one. There is a writer[1] who speaks of such things, such places, as having a 'glow', an 'inner light', as if, no matter what, they are illumined from within. This was such a place. Inside, when it is lit by the thousands of lights—I may be exaggerating here, it may only be hundreds—that hang from chandeliers on chains from the ceiling, it is like being inside a globe of fire, but a fire that warms and enriches, a fire that speaks to the contentment of the heart, and warmth after days in the cold. In full daylight, the walls are transformed to airy walls of light, the sunlight given meaning by the passages from the holy texts illuminated for all to see, and casting brilliant shadows of color across the congregation. Now, I've just described the Suleymaniye Camii, but aside from that I haven't actually been there, I suppose you could use a similar description for the Cathedral of the Flame... —Siran Dunmorgan [1] Christopher Alexander, whose texts should be mandatory for anyone interested in world design.
Bobitron 03-08-05, 09:37 PM	Thanks for the replies, folks. I should mention this is for a play-by-post campaign, so I will be passing along descriptions, not images.
Kid SixXx 03-09-05, 09:34 AM	Gothic should fit the bill, but I always thought that Byzantine archiatecture, or even mosque-style buildings would work. I always figured Sigilstar looked similar to the Hagia Sophia, only bigger. http://www.greatbuildings.com/cgi-bin/gbi.cgi/Hagia_Sophia.html/cid_hagia_sophia_jag_004.gbi
Vharuck 03-09-05, 01:34 PM	I dunno, rounded holy buildings didn't come into European style until after the middle ages and during the Renaissance. That's when they though the circle was perfect and therefore holy. Before that, they constructed their churches and other buildings in the overhead shape of a cross. So, would they construct it in the overhead shape of a flame? Kind of hard.
Kid SixXx 03-09-05, 03:18 PM	So, would they construct it in the overhead shape of a flame? Kind of hard. nods That's why I reworked "flamic" to imply that the building looked like a flame from the ground rather than resemble a flame from an aerial view. Hence the Hagia Sophia or mosque-style building: center dome or fluted roof and numerous spires & towers surrounding the center structure.
TwinBahamut 03-09-05, 03:30 PM	There is a sub-style of late French Gothic architecture which is literally called "Flamboyant", literally meaning flame-like. You could use that as inspiration. Also, keep in mind that churches throughout history were not shaped like a cross for the sake of being cross shaped, but rather because certain aspects of that shape, namely the transept, the cross of the cross-shaped basilica, were very effective to allow complex movements of people in a crowded space.
gaerfindel 03-09-05, 03:46 PM	Another thing you might want to include is the use of coldfire throughout the interior. Flames winding up the columns and the like. Also, silver-embossed works of art reflecting and rereflecting all the light.