Two architectural/terraform suggestions.

For Neualtenburg Phase Two, I have two seemingly unrelated, but actually very related, suggestions.

Can we modify the walls in the following way? The walls now are modeled after the medieval fashion of a strong defensive perimeter. If there were any openings at the top, they would be tiny, for shooting arrows thru. Only the insides of the walls, at the top, opened out, to a view of the city inside. Can we devise a design modification such that the tops of the walls can become promenades? With views in all directions?

Our new Neualtenburg is a stunning visual place, an island in the sea, seemingly suspended above the sea. And the ramparts of the city are the peaks of the place.

In many Mediterranean cities the wide ways along the harbour are the social gathering place for conversation and all kinds of social interaction. In my experience this never detracts from the successful commerce going on in the marketplace behind. I simply cannot imagine a more dramatic and appealing experience than a walk along the ramparts of Neualtenburg; sun setting into the sea ....

My other suggestion is more minor, but related. Currently there is a pathway below the main walls overlooking the slopes below. I suggest that we remove it and terraform the area for more access for plots. In other words, steepen the land more closely to the walls, removing the path. I feel no one would use it anyway. And with a grand promenade at the top of the walls, the overview is even better!

I have been busy shaping the pathways and lots below the walls to be somewhat in the model of Ulrika's design. The removal of that one path would be my only significant alteration, although many little variations from the sketch have proved necessary.

I'd welcome any and all feedback about what you see there. And, any Neualtenburger who would like to help, please post to that effect. I'll add you to the Neualtenburg Raumnutzung group, so that you can.

Sudane

Great Idea Sudane . Also maybe the towers by the walls, can be opened up as viewpoints for the wall walk.

I have some ideas:

1. There should be a walking tour map of Neualtenburg. The walking tour should highlight the most interesting areas of Neualtenburg, each stop of the walking tour will have a notecard, explaining it's significance, history, etc.

2. Renovation of the Spital: Frankly the Spital does not look like a very welcoming entrance. I think the Spital area should be renovated. The spital could be made into community park/plaza etc.

Absolutely. In fact it might make sense to have several styles of walls.

For instance, the city of Rothenburg, from which the inspiration for our city came, has surprisingly low walls on the very steep side of the hill on which it's built. For us, this would be our south wall. I've always wanted to significantly lower the wall on the south side (eliminating the walkway altogether), to allow those below to see the row of fachwerks just on the other side. As for open promenades, it's easy enough to put them together and see how they look. Would we still want to keep the roof?


Let's be very careful with terraforming. When we originally started this project, the goal was to build our city to be a close analogy to a RL medieval Bavarian city (with postmodern elements). We wanted to try to make an organic city that looks as if it were built with simple tools on the ground as that ground exists. This is a contrast to the typical method of building in SL , where one paves an area flat, drops a box on the surface, and orients everything to a grid. If we start radically terraforming to flatten the ground to make things easier to build or to sell, we lose the subtle design elements which make our city unique.

For instance, I've had someone comment on the crossroads to the NE of the museum space. We have roads coming together from odd angles up and down over several hills converging in a cross. There's just no road like it in SL anywhere. Had I terraformed the land to make the junction easy, the crossroads would have lost its character.

Additionally, I want to make sure that we aren't doing the standard SL suburb -- building disconnected structures which all sit in the middle of a field. When I zoned the land, I made sure that every single plot has an road which touched it. In the covenant I would like to require that homes be oriented to face and interface with the street to connect them to the greater city (like organs connect to form the body). If that road is removed, an entire strip of land loses its connection to the city, becoming the dreaded box in a field that covers all of SL.

Perhaps we could thin the road down, as it is quite wide, but still keep it. What do you think?

*Whew* So much architectural philosophy for one little city.

~Ulrika~

The Spital is definitely prime real estate.

I left that whole section of the map as public property, as I'm not sure what Kendra would like to do with it. She recently sent me an email, asking how she could help. I'll reply and see if she has plans to keep the land or if she wants to help transform it to other uses. Personally, I think some of the best builds in the city are in that zone and I want to make sure they're preserved.

~Ulrika~

I am in complete agreement with your post. Preserving the unique quality of a natural landscape is of the highest concern to me. And the idea of roads and paths providing meaningfulness to the layout of plots makes for an organic connection between elements, despite the fact that few people will walk those roads. I am among those who believe that a higher quality of design makes for a higher quality of life. Beauty on the outside contributes to beauty on the inside. etc etc..

That said, in SL we often have to make what is "natural" more "natural". When I first got land in Winnipeg/Moraine, although it was by the water, it was ugly mishappen lumps contoured with a regular step like effect resembling an Aztec pyramid. By huge amounts of terraforming and tree-planting, I have made a very "natural" landscape I am very proud of. I invite everyone to see it.

People often say that once the trees are removed, it's extremely difficult to put them back in a natural-looking way. I disagree, but you've got to have the knowledge and sensitivity to know how and where trees grow. Although its a lot of work, trees can be replanted in a way much superior to the way that the random Linden "tree planter" put them. (Sorry to toot my own horn here. I really do invite folks to come take a look Winnipeg 80,216).

Terraforming can be the same way. If we now look at the Anzere landscape the way it originally came out the the Linden's sim-making process, I'm amazed. It is very much superior to most of their new sims. But, for example. The site of the former telehub was certainly not originally a flattened square. Since I am very much in agreement with Ulrika's principles on this, I feel that it must be "re-naturalized". Then, the issue of the roads and paths. I have marked out the roads in the lower section approximately the way Ulrika has sketched. They in fact do follow roughly the contours of the land. But that is rocky land. A pathway in medieval Bavaria would be smoothed and somewhat leveled from the many years is was traveled upon.

I've begun the process of doing just that. But I'm doing it in a way sensitive to the innate beauty of the whole landscape, in a way that hopefully simply adds that indication that civilization is here, that people do live here on the various plots.

My proposal about the path below the walls was very much in keeping with this same philosophy. The sketch logically indicates some kind of path snaking down the west side of the sim to reach the plots below. I've altered the exact route of that to fit more naturally into the existing contours. But, terraforming must be done to make that a reality. I have started to shape the land for that snakey path; I wonder if anyone would even notice the changes. I doing so, and studying the sketch continuously, it seemed to me that causing the cliffs to fall from the walls could both be very natural but also make sense from a land use point of view.

Sorry for being so long-winded! I guess that trees, rocks and landscape just get my juices flowing. Neualtenburg is a stunningly beautiful sim. With the controls in place that Ulrika is proposing, we have the opportunity to keep it so, while at the same time having a thriving place. I appreciate the chance to be involved with such a great experience.

Sudane

Yes. I agree. We have to give the landscape a good smoothing to get rid of the Linden terraform steps.

Yes.

Excellent. It sounds like you are the natural terraformer of the group. Everything you've said sounds smashing.

~Ulrika~