Freaky Architectural Stuff for Ruin

[pigsinspaces]

Was listening to the Game Designer Workshop from GenCon today and Ross' description of the first Ruin game (mysterious hotel) suddenly brought to mind an episode of Sapphire & Steel that had a big impact in me when I was a little kid... primarily because I didn't understand it.

As I remember it, (though I suspect it may not bear up to much modern scrutiny) it was a genuinely bonkers piece of TV sci-fi .... and happily can be found on YouTube, 6 (quite long) episodes of weirdness.

[D6xD6 - Chris]

The Onion's parody clickbait site, ClickHole, has all sorts of bizarre/strange vidyas, but this one in particular has plenty of material that can be used in a fucked-up hotel:

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[clockworkjoe]

Haha, nice! Will use in Ruin, maybe.

[trinite]

Haha, nice! Will use in Ruin, maybe.

Thinking out loud here...

There's a grand 19th century European hotel where each time a guest checks in, they leave a regret behind in their room, which is symbolized by some sort of object. Maybe the architect was influenced by the Symbolist movement, and imbued his building with esoteric magic. Normally, it works great: the staff takes the object away and incinerates it, freeing the guest from regret and leaving them feeling relieved and invigorated. The hotel has become famous as a refreshing vacation spot, and the only a few of the discreet staff know the secret.

But not all regrets are so easily disposed of. Certain regrets of unusual strength, violence, or significance become symbolized not by simple objects, but by new architectural objects. There's a certain table in the cafe that turns tea into poison, which appeared after a newly-widowed heiress ate there in 1874. There's a claw-footed bathtub that, when filled, turns gradually hotter instead of colder, threatening to cook the bather alive. That psychiatrist who came in 1905 was famous for his hot water treatments on schizophrenics. And in 1949, after a dapper German gentleman checked in and out under a suspiciously false name, the staff discovered an entirely new second incinerator in the basement...

[trinite]

And speaking of weird hotels, here's the Camelot Castle Hotel in Tintagel, Cornwall. At first, it just looks like a cool hotel on an amazing piece of the Cornish coastline...which it is. I enjoyed my stay there.

But it's also owned by two crazy-go-nuts Scientologists: Ted Stourton, the self-proclaimed World's Greatest Living Artist, whose paintings adorn every available wall surface (here's a sampling that conveys his..."style"), and John Mappin, who excitedly explained to my friends and me that our souls are all 300 trillion years old, and demonstrated how we store all of our memories in the space around our bodies.

There are stories from other tourists that they have a special room in the basement where they try to high-pressure sell Ted's art to guests at exorbitant prices.

Their website makes it look like they've rebranded a little since I stayed there 8 years ago, maybe dialed back the weirdness a little bit. But it's still owned by the same folks. I would actually still recommend staying there, if you're ever in Tintagel. It was an...unforgettable experience.

[PirateLawyer]

Robin Laws just gave High-Rise, a 2015 film adapting the famous JG Ballard novel, 5 stars at the TIFF. (this was mentioned a few posts and a few months ago in this thread)

This is going to be a must-see for Ruin development.

[clockworkjoe]

! No longer available

[Alethea]

Less freaky and more general city/architecture design/news: http://www.citylab.com/

[trinite]

! No longer available

James Kunstler is my favorite angry post-apocalyptic architecture/economics/environmental curmudgeon. He's got a pretty good sci-fi novel, World Made by Hand, aboute life in a post-industrial society (his preferred apocalypse, at least at the time of writing, was Peak Oil).

[CADmonkey]

Now, if you don't find this building just a little bit freaky, I don't know what to say.

Media Library, Saint Paul, Ile de la Réunion

[trinite]

CADmonkey, I...do.

[Alethea]

Libraries don't eat people... Libraries don't eat people...

What the fuck is wrong with that architect??

[CADmonkey]

Libraries don't eat people... Libraries don't eat people...

What the fuck is wrong with that architect??

Actually, the architect says that the facade is supposed to resemble the pages of a book, and "In this book, some pages opens like eyes to create chapters".

[Tim]

Libraries don't eat people... Libraries don't eat people...

What the fuck is wrong with that architect??

Actually, the architect says that the facade is supposed to resemble the pages of a book, and "In this book, some pages opens like eyes to create chapters".

I find it titillating yet loathsome.

[trinite]

Libraries don't eat people... Libraries don't eat people...

What the fuck is wrong with that architect??

Actually, the architect says that the facade is supposed to resemble the pages of a book, and "In this book, some pages opens like eyes to create chapters".

To me, they also look a little bit more like mouths than eyes...though they do kinda look like both at once. Not that that's any better.