Unofficial art challenge for DS9! (SPOILERS FOR TP: RAISE THE DAWN!)

[sojourner]

ok, I decided to do a couple very rough sketches. I disregarded the description from the novel - it just didn't work for me. My idea uses a bit of the old Capitol Records building for inspiration of the central core with a classic ring. The large ring and central hub would be largely civilian/commercial, while the lower ring would be the Navy docks. The upper regions of the central core would be housing, administration and command at the top. You can see my USS Boundless docked at one of the VIP docking ports on the administration level. For scale, the Boundless is larger than an Excelsior but small than an Ambassador class.

[Vektor]

Okay, I finally got some time to do a very rough take on my idea for the new station. Obviously this doesn't quite fit with the description from the book, but oh well...



Let's see who can be first to guess the significance of the shape.

[sojourner]

Bajoran symbol. Nice.

[bullethead]

Yeah, it's fairly obvious that it's the Bajoran symbol at first glance. The asymmetry is interesting, but I'm wondering if there's a connection between the station core and the bit of the ring behind the core in this pic.

[TheSeeker]

I really like the design, but it seems a little lacking in docking capability for a busy space station.

[Vektor]

Granted, it only has two docking pylons, but they're considerably bigger than the ones on DS9 and have multiple docking ports along their length instead of just one at the end. I figure this station can handle at least three large ships per pylon, plus six more along the outer ring and dozens of smaller ships at various other locations.

[Blip]

It's awesome, and almost exactly what I'd been thinking myself. After all, it's still Bajoran space, Fed member or not -- and I'm sure they'd jump at the chance to overcome a stark reminder of the occupation by building something so clearly Bajoran in design.

[TheSeeker]

Vektor wrote:

---

Granted, it only has two docking pylons, but they're considerably bigger than the ones on DS9 and have multiple docking ports along their length instead of just one at the end. I figure this station can handle at least three large ships per pylon, plus six more along the outer ring and dozens of smaller ships at various other locations.

Ah, okay. I guess I didn't examine it closely enough. I hope you keep working on it!

[Venardhi]

I really like the design, but there is an unmistakable sense of motion to the asymmetry and it seems more like a ship than a station. I'm also not entirely sure the "docking ring" section matches with the shapes in the central hub.

[B.J.]

I *really* like your concept, Vektor, but the architecture seems more Cardassian than Federation to me. Of course, since you said you're straying from the book description, I don't know if that was on purpose or not.

[Vektor]

Okay, this post will contain SPOILERS about the DS9 relaunch series, so if you gotten this far in the thread without realizing that and don't want to know, stop reading now.

I haven't read the DS9 relaunch books so I really developed this design entirely in a "vacuum." When I read that DS9 had been destroyed and was being replaced, my first assumption was that the Bajorans would want to build it or would at least have a heavy hand in its design. It is, essentially, the gateway to the Temple of the Prophets, after all, kind of a big deal to them. At the same time, I wanted to pay some degree of homage to the original DS9, hence the lingering Cardassian elements.

I agree that the asymmetry does give a ship-like sense of motion. What I was really going for, though, was sense of direction, with the station literally aimed at the mouth of the wormhole, something you can't do as easily with a symmetrical design.

Anyway, I've probably done as much as I'm going to with this. It was a purely speculative exercise based on an idea that popped into my head before the book description was posted and I needed to let it out. Take it for what it's worth.

[TheSeeker]

Too bad. I was looking forward to seeing it fleshed out a little more.

[Vektor]

Well, you never know. I go back to stuff like this once in a while when I'm bored or I need to get away from some other all-consuming project for a while. You might not have seen the last of it.

[TheSeeker]

Alright. If I don't see anything more on this in six months I'll start harassing you.

[Vektor]

Six months!!?? Remember who you're talking to. Get back to me in six years.