And does every single flat have a false door of its own? And what do you imagine the inside architecture to be like?
What is the architecture of romulan apartment buildings like and how do they include false doors?
- Thread starter Unimatrix Q
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It's a Picard season one reference, particularly to some Romulan background Michael Chabon posted on Instagram. It also mentioned Romulans marrying in threes, which was seemingly ignored by season 2.
Yep. It would be nice to make up some theories here, about the inside architecture of romulan apartments, how the floors and flats are structured and how many false doors average multi- family-buildings and skyscrapers on Romulus have.
As well as other potential differences to our buildings on earth or other species from Trek.
As well as other potential differences to our buildings on earth or other species from Trek.
I thought it was going to be a reference to "Unification", when Spock hides them in the holowalls.
"Finngle Bells, post: 14352564, member: 5636"]What Romulan apartments? Something about those Romulans on The Artifact in Picard season one?
That quarters Troi was in was pretty much dark and probably a redress of one of the TNG quarters sets.[/QUOTE]
No, homes and buildings on Romulus.
That quarters Troi was in was pretty much dark and probably a redress of one of the TNG quarters sets.[/QUOTE]
No, homes and buildings on Romulus.
So with Romulans and Cardassians I got the impression that all their stuff was really controlled by the state, so I imagined all their lodgings were really boring with like the bare minimum, maybe something a bit like 1984-esque. Every time you see those guys they're all drinking the kool-aid of how awesome they're Empires are but I have a hard time believing that's anything but propaganda or brainwashing.
I don't recall a Romulan home being shown in Trek. Can you share a link to pictures, cite an episode/movie or post a picture.
We rarely saw Romulus out of all the shows and the movies. We didn't even see that much of Romulus in Nemesis, and only saw caves, an street scene and an office in Unification.
The sets I can think of, seemed generic and probably looked the same as other alien alleyways, etc we've seen in trek and other shows/movies.
What we know:
-- It's called a "Shaipouin" which literally means "false door" in Romulan Standard.
-- It's a feature of "traditional Romulan houses" and may therefore not be included in more modern designs.
-- It's purely decorative and non-functional, and guests are expected to come in through the true entrance which is located in the back of the house. Also meaning apartment blocks and high rises that don't always have a "back" might not have them.
-- Some of them look like this:
Which is a very Romanesque design, in-keeping with the Romulan / Roman-theme. So other traditional examples may look like these:
Ancient Roman Style Doors
-- They were the central feature of one of the centuries old triangular Romulan Pixmit cards, which are multi-functional and can be used like Tarot Cards for fortune telling, for passing on ancient Romulan mythology, to create a mandala, or for just playing card games. So it's likely the false door may still have or had in the past a spiritual or mythological significance to some Romulans.
Speculation:
-- It's an ancient tradition with a spiritual component, like God commanding Moses to tell the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb and smear the lamb's blood on the door so the angel of death would know to "Passover" the homes of the Israelites. Perhaps Romulans have an ancient tradition predating the diaspora where you put up a false door to keep wayward "living spirits" or katras from entering your home.
-- It's a small bit of symbolic defiance against the ever tightening grip of the Romulan government and security services. Even though it won't fool anyone any more it's a way of saying we're putting up a false door to give us an extra moment to escape our captors out the back
-- Maybe it's a gesture of politeness when unexpectantly visiting someone's home. You knock on / ring the doorbell on the false door and the occupant has time to get a look at you and if they agree to let you in, some time to clean things up or put away any contraband before inviting you in through the true door in back.
-- Romulans appreciate duplicity, and this tradition plays into that.
As far as architectural and interior changes are concerned, it's sounds like they are never actually used as a door and are completely non-functional in that capacity, so I imagine there would just be a smooth wall behind it, with the exception being perhaps a peephole or viewscreen/callbox to see who is on the other side and talk to them.
It may also contain a mail slot, package delivery door, pet door, etc. Just not a Romulan-sized fully-functional door.
I mean I take that whole bit of Chabon's world building with the Romulans (and ST as a whole) with a grain of salt, since much of it wasn't ever established on-screen and a lot of the Romulan stuff sounded incredibly silly, on par with TNG's version of the Ferengi.
But with the false doors I can imagine that it is mostly a thing for wealthy families, maybe especially those with old houses with "antique" architecture, or also middle class and rural folks that live in old architecture.
But with the false doors I can imagine that it is mostly a thing for wealthy families, maybe especially those with old houses with "antique" architecture, or also middle class and rural folks that live in old architecture.
I have absolutely no idea what's going on here.
Welcome to the club.
My post was just a dumb riff on Westworld.
It's probably a bit like a certain very confusing mansion in San Jose, California.
That's one of the tarot cards used by the crazy Romulan ex-B Zhat Vash agent from the first season of Picard.
ironically i'm currently living in a house that follows this romulan tradition, unintentionally. as did my grandparents.
(my house is on a hill, and our "front" door, while functional, opens out to a porch that require you to come round the entire house to reach, while our back door opens onto a porch that is right next to our driveway and parking area. as a result, our front door is largely ornamental, and everyone comes in via the back door. (which does require them to pass through our laundry area.)
my grandparents built their place with an intentional decorative front door.. they live out in the country, and they built the front of the house to look good from the road, but the main door is far enough away from the parking area in front of the garage that nearly everyone comes round to the back door, reached by the back porch which also opens directly to the parking area.
(my house is on a hill, and our "front" door, while functional, opens out to a porch that require you to come round the entire house to reach, while our back door opens onto a porch that is right next to our driveway and parking area. as a result, our front door is largely ornamental, and everyone comes in via the back door. (which does require them to pass through our laundry area.)
my grandparents built their place with an intentional decorative front door.. they live out in the country, and they built the front of the house to look good from the road, but the main door is far enough away from the parking area in front of the garage that nearly everyone comes round to the back door, reached by the back porch which also opens directly to the parking area.
According to Last Best Hope from @Una McCormack, the tradition was even still alive on romulan colonies during the late 24th century, as seen on the estate of the romulan governor Picard visits at the end of the novel.
So i could imagine that it may have been even still common on Romulus before the destruction of the planet and probably even a feature of newer buildings, perhaps even the skyscrapers and bigger buildings, where the commoners live.
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