The Basaltic Herd: A transformed bay at Accentaury.

The field of houses leading up to the Paper Tower Court in the distance.

FILM
I recently made a film about the city center discussed in this post. To watch, please click here.


GLUE

     The land rumbled. Buildings and trees shook. All around, living beings held their breaths, was it an earthquake?

     A fault line has skimmed the ancient Paper Tower area of ACC Alpha since a mishap in Second Life years ago, which returned many residents’ mega prims. The base and ceiling of the arena was one of the victims. Fearing future disasters, the scientists have been squeezing high quality glue into the cracks of the faults. Skeptics challenge its efficacy. Two days ago, an architectural glue was applied: a web of houses now expands over the bay like a binding blanket. The idea of the overlapping, similarly sized houses, comes from a natural formation in Iceland, where one finds basaltic hexagons covering a large area of land. They look like human constructions, but are in fact wholly sculpted by Nature. In the case at Accentaury, the square and rectangular floor plans take precedence over the hexagons for a particular reason; their geometry is easier to read as they overlap one another. And overlapping is key, for this giant bib spanning the bay is indeed a bridge. If the visitor is careful, they may avoid falling through open spaces to the bottom of the bay. For those who do sink to the seafloor, there is plenty to see under the waves.

Looking onto the Basaltic Herd with Medusa Locks in the center and right background.

AND IF YOU FALL BETWEEN THE FLOATING HOUSES... 

IF YOU SINK 

TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, 

WHAT MIGHT YOU FIND?

Looking up, underneath the Basaltic Herd from the seabed.
Most of the so called paper buildings at Accentaury have translucent interiors,
please step inside for some unusual visual views of the city.

Entrance to the remodeled space under the Paper Tower Court. This part of
the museum is under the sea. Its name is "The Dead Mariner's Treasury".

The Dead Mariner's Treasury plans to rotate exhibits every three months. Installed now,
through March 2017 is the portrait work of Paradox Messmer.

WHAT IS BEHIND THE NEW RETAINING WALLS?

"Venice Under Glass"

Lilia visiting the new installation of what used to be the ancient aquarium.
The enormous colonnade called the 'Golden Corridor' dates to 2010.
It is one of the oldest structures on the sim.

Tour the art in Venice Under Glass with the hydrobicycles. Just click to RIDE.
Artworks are generally installed on the outsides of buildings. 

Riding through the canals, this cycling avatar notices the visitor standing
above through the glass ceiling. The standing man is on the Paper Tower Court.

     With the application of the ‘housing glue’, the Paper Tower Court is now more solidly supported. The circular colonnade which forms the lower level has become enclosed to such an extent, as one might call it a cave. The new walls do not shut out the light, to the contrary, the glass bottom floor of the Court allows the sun to illuminate a new scene where the giant aquarium used to be (the ancient sharks now live under the sea). Venice Under Glass is a gallery of canals, as this building which houses it has always been part of the museum. There is a hydro bike which visitors may ride for a slow tour along the canals of the gallery space. If you step off the bike in mid water, you will find yourself sink into yet another gallery beneath the sea. Of course, the city of Accentaury tends to favor layers, so the whole is rather like a labyrinth.

THE HERD

     Crossing over the basaltic inspired housing, flocks of animals cross the bay in large number. 

This first herd of centaurs, a couple deer, and many hares cross the bay carrying
their ship high above the water to prevent it from getting wet. 

They are quick, but sure footed.

XXX