INVISIBLE CITIES

Online Greenlight Review

ZENOBIA
THEKLA
TAMARA
SOPHRONIA
PHYLLIS
MORIANA
LEONIA
ISAURA
FEDORA
BAUCIS
ARMILLA
ERSILIA
ESMERALDA
DIOMIRA
ISAURA - EXTERIOR
ISAURA - INTERIOR
MORIANA - EXTERIOR
MORIANA - INTERIOR
FINAL CITY
 ISAURA
In general I was looking for a city that gave me a lot of room for my creativity in designing a new world, rather than having a city that has known architecture in it. Therefore I
have chosen Isaura at the end because I am quite interested in the religious aspect of the city and the detailed atmosphere of the place.

“An invisible landscape conditions the visible one“

Especially that quote let my imagination flow. I was thinking about ways to create a city that is invisible and visible at the same time. The “calcareously sky“ of the city was an
additional aspect that would make a city invisible when it is covered in fog. However I wanted to go deeper into that interpretation and therefore came up with the idea of
making a city upside down over a cliff. Then the city would be invisible to those who are standing right on top of the cliff and visible for the ones looking from the different
direction to the cliff. The decisive reason for that was also the quote “a city that moves entirely upward“ - which supported my idea of an upside down city. The flipped
architecture would also support the movement of the buckets with the purpose to be as close as possible to the lake. That would also form a clear hierarchy since the richer
inhabitants would live closer to the water and the poor population would live up the cliff in caves. Therefore I would set the time period to be ancient with no electricity but the
basic knowledge of building machines by hand. Furthermore the text says “inhabitants dig long vertical holes in the ground“ to reach the lake, which would cause a giant cliff
after many years. Therefore some of the houses could have been carved out of the rocks, while others would have been build later on and attached to the cliff wall.

In general I see the buildings made out of natural based materials, such as stone, wood, glass and other valuable minerals they found while digging. Therefore I would also
choose natural based colours for my key thumbnails. In general I plan on using soft colours with a low saturation for my pallets to support the mysterious atmosphere of the
place. Furthermore I am planning on using a big contrast in light and dark, which will make some areas appear very bright and almost fading, while other areas are dark with
clear outlines.

To support the unusual architecture I would choose extreme angles for the point-of-view of the thumbnails. A very high or a very low three point perspective would help the
viewer to understand the depth of the cliff. For the interior I am looking to make a steampunk inspired designs. Rusting pipes of water, high ceilings, slender arches, wooden
poles - the mix of materials of the furniture will support the drive of this city. Nevertheless the most important aspect of Isaura is their religion, which will also affects the
architecture. Therefore they will have temples or sacred places within the city, which will be inspired by antique greek temples and therefore forms a contrast to their normal
houses. I also can picture cave paintings telling the evolutionary history of the city and its gods, there can also be statues of their gods, in whatever form. Which could even be
displayed within their city or carved out of walls.

I see Isaura as a drifting city with rotating and moving machinery all the time to the constantly demand of water for the city, which is decisively for the viability of the city and
its people. In contrast to that, the strong religious believe plays an important part of the city which will therefore provide spiritual gardens and holy water places within the city.

My hope would be to transport this message to the viewer within my three final drawings and also give Calvino’s words a suitable shape and form.
EXTERIOR
INTERIOR