Celegian Construction and Architecture

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Celegian Construction and Architecture

The architecture in the Empire has been deeply influenced by one of the oldest Imperial Edicts, which forbids open fire in any city of the Empire. This is supplemented by a series of Council Rulings that require all buildings to be fireproof. In the cities this means that the most common building material is some kind of stone. The Empire is used to thinking on a very long scale indeed and it is common for buildings thousands of years old to still be in daily use. It is a point of pride to modern craftsmen to build as well as their ancient counterparts, since if they do well their buildings will be admired by their distant descendants.

The architecture is fairly well advanced, with a sophisticated understanding of arches and other gravity loaded building systems, as well as cantilevered beams, post and lintel, and catenary suspended elements. The most prevalent stonemason technique in use in quality construction is a method known as peened stone.

This is a method in which the stones are fitted together as tightly as possible and then separated. The mating surfaces are then hammer peened to remove areas of imperfect fit. The surfaces are fitted even more tightly, peened again, etc. When executed properly, peened stone construction looks like the blocks have been grown in contact with each other, and fit together so tightly that they are airtight! To improve the durability of the buildings and reduce the amount of labor required, the stone blocks used in peened stonework are made as large as is practical, typically two or three feet on a side.

The use of magic is wide spread and allows many unique effects which will be discussed below. Foundations are typically deeply footed and sturdy, as a building will only stand as long as its foundations last. The use of concrete is fairly widespread, usually as the filling in rubble filled fortifications or as foundation linings. Concrete is considered a lesser quality material than virgin stone, and even recycled stone is better for durability, although both virgin and recycled stone are much more labor intensive.

Covillas

The huge covillas in the largest cities are almost always of stone arch and vault construction and can reach as many as ten stories in height. Buildings this tall are usually unpopular because without the use of expensive magic it is a real pain to climb all those stairs. A more usual height is six stories and the wealthier residents live on the top floor, nearest the roof gardens, away from the streets, and simply hire someone to climb stairs and run errands.

The lower floors of a covilla or other large building will usually be of solid stone construction, floors and all. In the higher levels of the building the floors will usually be of large, magically grown and strengthened wooden beams, which are always plastered to comply with the rulings about fire proofing. In the best quality buildings these floor beams will be cut thinner and transmuted into iron. This building technique is expensive and rust is a problem usually encountered unless the iron is also plastered. Interiors typically have an abundance of rugs, furniture, tapestries, etc., which serve to quiet the inside and dampen echoes. In private buildings a sign a wealth is to have walls of exposed wood, usually chosen for beautiful grain, which are fireproofed using various esoteric and expensive treatments.

One interesting Celegian decorating convention which has a solid basis in practicality is the wide usage of bead curtains in most doorways and many windows. In a world as magically active as Celegia, invisible peeping toms and thieves become a real problem. A simple bead curtain can be an effective deterrent to an invisible intruder, especially since many house spirits keep a sharp watch on the beads and will raise an alarm at any untoward disturbance.

In most of the buildings in cities the windows on lower floors tend to be nonexistent or narrow, mainly there to provide ventilation. The majority of inside lighting comes from magical sources which provide illumination at least the equal of daylight. The other main use of windows is to provide a view, and the best views are obtained from the upper floors. Windows are often glazed and glass is surprisingly common. It is also of fairly high quality, being quite clear and only moderately wavy. Most glass is made on marble tables, while the best glass is made by pouring onto a wall of force modified to provide a horizontal surface of absolute smoothness. Most glass is made quite thick, l/4th inch at least, both to make it more durable and to minimize the effects of surface waviness. Tempering is unknown, but in a world with glassteel spells it is hardly needed. The most expensive and impressive glass panes are made of magically poured glass that is then glass-steeled before it shatters during cooling.

In places where glass is too expensive, a common alternative is oiled intestinal membranes tacked into frames. These allow privacy but still allow in a large amount of light. Most windows are shuttered to give privacy and to protect the glass from storms (rare as they are) and the occasional rude passerby.

Roofing materials are not used in the largest buildings as they almost universally have roof gardens. In buildings which do have roofs the most common materials are either slate or tile, with split flagstone also widely used. Roofs are almost always carefully constructed, as a builder's maxim in Celegia is, "A wet building is a dead building."

Magical construction techniques are fairly rare but tend to be spectacular. One of the most common is the so called "floating footing," which takes the place of a pillar in a building and is what gives large buildings those huge airy internal spans. This is a subtle effect but is a popular one nonetheless. Gravity shifts, glowing walls, transparent floors or roofs, magical mists for "mood," etc., are also popular. Some of the most popular effects are invisible doors and phase rooms, which allow an intrepid host to tuck an undetectable secret room into the back of the linen closet.

This is a very brief overview of what is possible, and any fantastic effect you can imagine has probably already been done, especially if you live in Cannium. However, the most common magical building effect is a fairly simple and unspectacular one called caloric phasing. Its only effect is to warm the building when it's cold or cool it when it's hot. Unsurprisingly this is incredibly popular!