Spiran Architecture

[Aztec Triogal]

We all know 1,000 years ago, Sin was created by Yu Yevon as one final countermeasure against Bevelle. It was so powerful that it not only beat back Bevelle but also destroyed Zanarkand and cities around the world for the next 1,000 years. Now, in the age of FFX, the majority of the towns in the world are small villages which are never built up because Sin will just knock them down.

However, we know when the troupe cross the Moonflow that cross over the ruins of a large city that was built there millenia ago. Given the location of the Baaj temple, those underwater ruins, and the ruins that are discovered early on with Riku, it's probably safe to assume that there were numerous large cities around the world before Sin destroyed everything.

The thing I find interesting though, is that most of these places either seem to be built on the water or vertically. While we see Luca built on the water, we also know that Zanarkand, Baaj, and the ruins in the moonflow were also cities built on the water. And the ruins all around spira, which seem to be tall towers (like those found even in Besaid) seem to suggest that when cities weren't built on the water, they were built taller instead of wide.

It is also interesting how much unexplored area there is in Spira, if you look at this map. Note the large green area directly Southeast of the Thunder Plains. Also note that in all the places you do travel, the land is pretty barren and would make building a large city there rather difficult... unless that city was built skywards.

Thoughts?

 

[Gert]

I think it's a good point to note how odd the architecture seems. I never really thought about it, but it's interesting to consider that all of the ancient cities were built over water and have sunk down. Perhaps there was once land there, and the good ol' plates have shifted to change where the water flows. Or, maybe it's as Wakka says on the Shoopuf ride, and everyone was just super arrogant and felt like building over water because they could.

The fact that most of the land of the FFX world is uninhabited makes a little bit of sense, given that people didn't really want to build anything new up knowing it would be torn down. However, this begs an interesting question... if Sin travels by water, why on earth wouldn't the people migrate inland, as far from the sea as they could? But then again, Sin was fought in the Calm Lands, which means it must be capable of fighting out of bodies of water.

Anyways, intriguing point you brought up. Sorry for the rambling!

 

[Busta]

Actually take a loo at Kilika as well!

When Sin strikes Kilika, the very first part of Kilika you see is the port there where the huts are built right on the water. Sin comes in and absolutely wrecks everything in the vicinity, and 99% of the area is in ruins. There's only a few moments in the game where you actually see Sin on land, and one of them I can think of is at the Desert Home for the Al-bhed where Tidus makes a remark about knowing Sin is his father.

 

[Donald Trump]

I don't think there was anything odd about Spira's architecture, it's fairly common practise to build cities close to the sea, NY, LA, London etc. Because it's useful to be so close to the sea, as it's the main source of food and trade and travel. Also building tall is fairly normal, we have skyscrapers. It's worth remembering that Spira was at one point very advanced, before sin came and destroyed it.

 

[Busta]

I also think it probably did more benefit than harm up until that point. I mean not only is the sea used for travel, but who know's maybe fishing was big in Spira at that point as well for the under-privileged who used it for their income.

So you look at that situation, and then like Björk said, with those major cities all b uilt near water, really only once in a great while does the disaster happen in in real life like New Orleans in Hurricane Katrina (which is a city built on a levy) and the western part of Japan since it's an Island.