Fantasy and science fiction in particular are genres where a strong sense of place is paramount. Where would Star Trek be without the Enterprise? Tolkein without Middle Earth? One method of creating that sense of place is through architecture.
Imagine walking into a village. What do you see? Wooden houses? A castle with stone walls surrounded by a picturesque buildings out of a greeting card? How about large, hide tents constructed with long poles, ready to move with the seasons? Sod houses surrounded by animal lots have a much different feel than small, crystal structures surrounded by orchards.
When dealing with architecture, it helps to look around and see what actually works. For example, if you have a civilization in a grassy plain, where will they get the wood to build a whole town? If they live in a desert, will they build with adobe, as the peoples of northern Mexico did? Or will they carve their homes out of the rock itself, as with the cliff dwelling nations of the American Southwest. How a people live will determine things like technology, defense, and the general personality of a people.
Going to my country of Myos, I wanted the people to be relatively advanced, but living in a desert. Because of the history of the place, they also have recently created mountains, but most of these materials were not available for construction when many of the older structures were built.
They don’t have ready access to trees, but import them from the southern parts of the continent. Glass is very expensive, so most windows either have nothing or wax paper in the panes. They have frequent sand storms, so shutters are necessary. The sand gets everywhere, and blasts any paint from anywhere it is applied. This being the case, wealth can be shown by using wood, glass, and obvious color on their buildings.
Major structures are limited to the churches. Only they have the strength of will or resources to put up structures of the massive size. How each of them are designed is based on the needs of the church, ecclesiastical requirements, and for administration of their duties as the ruling class of the country. Because Myos is a destination for pilgrims, the churches have to be large enough to support the people who come to worship. They are the seats of power for government, but also the seats of power for the churches themselves.
When creating your setting, look to the richness of ours, but also let your imagination fly. The Church of Myril is a massive ziggurat, similar to what’s shown below:
It has several levels with a pyramid on top, similar to a Mayan temple.
By combining Sumerian and Mayan ideas into a single structure, I have something new, but recognizable. It’s something people can visualize, but different enough to convey a feeling of the other world I am creating.
As always, thanks for your support. I’ll be back next week with more world-building tips and tricks.
