What are those huge buildings?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

You know, the gigantic structures that we can see as Kirk is riding his motorcycle through the Iowa countryside. Any idea as to what those things are?

 

[Gepard]

"Arcologies," according to the discussions that were had here a long, long time ago. IIRC, the futurists working with Abrams on the film suggested them. (Note also that there's a citation in the article for Trek XI.)

 

[scottydog]

Some possibilities are that these buildings are storage space for:

1. Kirk mole-removal equipment.
2. Giant lens-flare equipment.
3. Gloves and mittens for Kirk's enlarged hands.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Makes sense, given the massive quarries. Or... shall we say- foundations? Don't Arcologies need craploads of underground space as well - roots, as it were?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Makes sense, given the massive quarries. Or... shall we say- foundations? Don't Arcologies need craploads of underground space as well - roots, as it were?

I know what an arcology is, I didn't expect them to actually be needed...I mean, it's not like they're hurting for space in the huge fields of Iowa.

 

[EJD1984]

I thought they were part of the "Weather Modification Net"

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I thought they were part of the "Weather Modification Net"

Actually, they just might be. Iowa is smack dab in the middle of tornado-land, after all (as is Nebraska, where I live).

 

[THE CHEBB]

You know, the gigantic structures that we can see as Kirk is riding his motorcycle through the Iowa countryside. Any idea as to what those things are?

It's those tall ass buildings in San Francisco! O.K. maybe not...

 

[roguephoenix]

lol i thought it was downtown >_<

 

[pookha]

i like the idea of using the arcologies concept in building the support facilities for the space yard. not only is it a place for workers ect i suspect some of the cadets and other starfleet people are housed there part of the time.
cadets may have to go on a rotation to the ship yard to learn about the ships as they are being built.
they may also have some type of special study program based there.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I had the random thought they were ginormous grain silos. By the 23rd C, Iowa agriculture should be far more efficient than ever. Perhaps Earth exports grain to alien worlds, requiring such massive storage facilities.

 

[Captain Fine]

Some possibilities are that these buildings are storage space for:

1. Kirk mole-removal equipment.
2. Giant lens-flare equipment.
3. Gloves and mittens for Kirk's enlarged hands.

4. Paint for leading zeros (Starfleet has to renumber every old ship to include the leading zero, don't ya know)

 

[Mereope]

Iowa- the grain capital of the Federation.

See our Chamber of Commerce brochure on the many uses of Terran grain and wheat products! Check out our multi-species fermentation samples!

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

So that's what Longface was there for!

 

[tauntme]

Actually, it's not that they're hurting for space, it's that they don't want to destroy the environment any more than they need to, thus they built arcologies.

 

[Roshi]

2. Giant lens-flare equipment.

They're subspace lens-flare emitters, actually. Their effect can be seen through vast distance but they have a cool down period in the early morning when they do not work...