Utumno and surroundings (Including Angband)

None of these exactly get to how I'd envision Utumno, but I do think they start to show the type of language I'd use. I see Melkor's style as being massive, focused on richness of material (at this point focusing on its ability to magnify and reflect light...plant some seeds for why he loves the Noldors' gems), and severity (being highly regimented and hierarchical both in geometry and rhythms).
 
Once we get to Melkor's fully fallen mode of design, after returning to Middle Earth to Angband, I really like the idea of going down the route of the bone churches...Particularly as Morgoth does not seem to live in light, but rather in darkness and gloom. These would look amazingly creepy in the dark!
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I'd like to see some really high towers as well. A couple of thousand feet high.
 
Maybe Melkor could have designed Utumno partially inspired by the Timeless Halls? It could somehow remind the viewers of that, in a warped way.
 
Haakon said:
Maybe Melkor could have designed Utumno partially inspired by the Timeless Halls? It could somehow remind the viewers of that, in a warped way.
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That could work. However, given the nature of Melkor's experience in the Timeless Halls, it seems more likely he'd either go the complete opposite direction or do something (not necessarily ugly or distasteful) on his own to 'improve' on them.
 
I do see Melkor as a copycat - so he only makes the orcs after Aulë makes the dwarves, and his throne room in Angband in the future should owe something to the Ring of Doom (but with only one throne....of course).

I guess I can revise my Baroque/Rococo suggestion back in time to the merely massive (and less ornamented) Romanesque time period. I'm not sure why I hesitate to go too full-on classical.....it's probably fine. I think I would avoid Gothic for Melkor, though.
 
I was thinking that he is a copycat, but also, that this would be an expression of his lack of understanding of the order of things. It would be hubris. He could see himself as the High Representative of Ilúvatar in Arda. Having a structure somewhere in Utumno that somehow represents the Timeless Halls adds to the feeling of being King. Of course, he remembers the Music and what happened, but I don't think he learned anything from it, or he would not continue to try to dominate everything. Similarly, he would remember the Timeless Halls in his own way, warped, with much more extremes than someone alse would have. It would be almost like a mockery of the Halls, but unintended.
 
I've always envisioned Melkor building underground, or into mountains; even for Utumno. Given that, especially with your suggestion MithLuin of Romanesque architecture, something akin to the cave churches of Matera or Cappadocia seems appropriate:
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Just on a gargantuan scale.
 
MithLuin said:
Which begs the question....what do the Timeless Halls look like?
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I did a quick search (session 1-03 and 1-05) but it seems there wasn't much said about the Timless Halls.
Maybe he could have this enormous hall with obsidian floor, walls and ceilings, and a distant fire to symbolise the Flame (that he ironically never found)? Or a floor made of clear ice with a deep chasm under, making visitors feel like they're walking in the air.
 
Haakon said:
Or a floor made of clear ice with a deep chasm under, making visitors feel like they're walking in the air.
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You know, that could be really cool, if it's an icy or glassy material, with translucency minimally, as if Utumno has forges in the depths below, you'd automatically get a sort of far off flame. Visually that could be pretty stunning.
 
Haakon said:
Yes, it could. Sometimes there could be lights moving far below.
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It basically turns the architecture into a large narrative device: speaking to the remoteness and intangible nature of the Secret Fire, which is always just beyond reach and not what it first appears. By utilizing the forges of war, this drives home the seemingly beautiful parallel which has been marred at its core.
 
Tim_Widman said:
It basically turns the architecture into a large narrative device: speaking to the remoteness and intangible nature of the Secret Fire, which is always just beyond reach and not what it first appears. By utilizing the forges of war, this drives home the seemingly beautiful parallel which has been marred at its core.
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That's awesome!

It will be like he's recreated the Void.
 
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That *is* awesome!

I really like this idea.

But I see your cave churches and raise you the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia :p

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Not that I associate these with Melkor AT ALL, but they are awesome! Not even with windows like this....

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(The bone churches are perfect for a dungeon in Angband - we'll see inside a bit more in our story, so can make some use of different dungeons - we'll see Maedhros imprisoned prior to being hung on the cliff, we'll see Gwindor fighting within the gates and then captured, we'll see Beren and Luthien infiltrate all the way down to the throne room in the depths....)
 
MithLuin said:
That *is* awesome!

I really like this idea.

But I see your cave churches and raise you the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia :p

12.jpg

Not that I associate these with Melkor AT ALL, but they are awesome! Not even with windows like this....

Hypothetical_Window_Detail-_Church_of_Bet_Meskel%2C_Lalibela%2C_Ethiopia_%283223137647%29.jpg


(The bone churches are perfect for a dungeon in Angband - we'll see inside a bit more in our story, so can make some use of different dungeons - we'll see Maedhros imprisoned prior to being hung on the cliff, we'll see Gwindor fighting within the gates and then captured, we'll see Beren and Luthien infiltrate all the way down to the throne room in the depths....)
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They are awesome indeed!
Something of the massiveness of Luxor and Karnak might work conceptually as well.
 
Okay....so for the throne room of Utumno, we're thinking massive scale (but maybe not well proportioned). We're thinking clean lines (so, not too 'busy' with the decoration). We'd like a clear/translucent floor (like a salt mine), with fires below lighting it up. We'd like obsidian pillars for contrast. Solid thick stone walls - nothing light and airy about this. We'd like a MASSIVE IMPOSING throne, because of course. And a vaulted ceiling to show off Melkor's engineering ingenuity as well as to prefigure his later closed off/cave-like tendencies? OR would we prefer some sort of dome to a barrel vault? Overall impression should be very clean and sterile and empty and alone...but still architecturally impressive, not 'ugly'.

Is this the consensus we are moving towards?
 
MithLuin said:
Okay....so for the throne room of Utumno, we're thinking massive scale (but maybe not well proportioned). We're thinking clean lines (so, not too 'busy' with the decoration). We'd like a clear/translucent floor (like a salt mine), with fires below lighting it up. We'd like obsidian pillars for contrast. Solid thick stone walls - nothing light and airy about this. We'd like a MASSIVE IMPOSING throne, because of course. And a vaulted ceiling to show off Melkor's engineering ingenuity as well as to prefigure his later closed off/cave-like tendencies? OR would we prefer some sort of dome to a barrel vault? Overall impression should be very clean and sterile and empty and alone...but still architecturally impressive, not 'ugly'.

Is this the consensus we are moving towards?
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Yes, I believe so.
The massive throne will look like it is floating in mid air, you know. :)
 
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