Star Trek and Minimalism

[Dr Helen Noel]

Does anyone else appreciate the minimalist feeling of Star Trek?

Quarters tend to have minimal decor and are quite small in TOS. Kirk’s quarters have only a small number of decorative objects, presumably gifts or souvenirs, and that one set of books facing upwards. This gives his quarters a museum feel. His desk and dressing stand are always clear. Picard’s ready room has a similar feeling. Odo reaches extreme minimalism with only his bucket.

Most characters only wear multiples of the same uniform with little or no casual clothing. Even aliens and colonists tend to have their own uniform that they stick to.

Of course there are maximalists like Quark and Fajo.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Fewer projectiles when the ship comes under attack. Fewer possessions to lose to breakage. A (supposedly) less materialistic society overall.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Even if (as I do) you subscribe to the "paramilitary rather than military" description given in TMOST, even if (again, as I do) you subscribe to the "Coast Guard rather than Navy" description given in a number of novels, this is not a luxury liner. These people are in a uniformed service. Even Hawkeye, BJ, and Col. Potter (or Hawkeye, Trapper John, and Henry, if you prefer), eccentric U.S. Army doctors, traveled fairly light. If you've ever toured a museum warship (I've toured the Hornet, the Iowa, the Missouri, the Pampanito, and the Bowfin), or even a museum Liberty Ship (I've toured the Jeremiah O'Brien), you don't see a lot of luxury items, or a lot of clutter (and indeed, crew quarters, or even junior officer quarters, on a Balao-class submarine like the Pampanito or the Bowfin make the first season quarters of Mariner, Boimler, and co. seem luxurious).

And besides, with replicator technology, there's not a whole lot, other than a few souvenirs of one's travels, or items in constant use, that one would need to keep on hand.

 

[flandry84]

The colonists uniforms are interesting.
Displaying both non-conformism and uniformity in one package.

 

[Shawnster]

Compared to TOS, Pike's quarters in SNW seem quite lavish. OK, not the right word, but extremely comfortable. Much more relaxing and 21st modern homey looking than Kirk's in TOS. Those are much more Spartain in comparison.

TNG Enterprise was always called a luxury liner in space when contrasted with the TOS Enterprise. Carpet everywhere and fabric on the walls. Potted plants and artwork.

Ultimately quarters need be only bedrooms. Maybe a small private sitting area. For all intents and purposes the rest of the ship has plenty of other common areas for off duty activities. Lounges, bars, game rooms, dining facilities, athletic centers.

Of course, quarters on DS9 seemed to be a little more like apartments.

 

[flandry84]

On a five year mission the comfort of one’s quarters would be vital.
No doubt Starfleet would have psychological/ergological consultants to advise on such matters.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

For simple items, a replicated substitute would suffice. If you have a favorite paper book, for instance, leave your copy at home and replicate/buy a cheap copy for travelling.

 

[flandry84]

Or have Majel read it to you.

 

[Dr Helen Noel]

For simple items, a replicated substitute would suffice. If you have a favorite paper book, for instance, leave your copy at home and replicate/buy a cheap copy for travelling.

That’s akin to what some present day minimalists do. They declutter everything down to the current essentials with the knowledge that they can replace something if they need it. It seems wasteful now but quite sensible if you have a replicator at hand.

It makes me wonder if it can really be called minimalism then if you have everything you could need available in your room at the touch of a button. Maybe only minimalist aesthetics? Though I suppose the TOS replicators were limited to only food and drink and needed cards to order.

 

[flandry84]

Can replicated items be recycled?

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Can replicated items be recycled?

Yes!

 

[Citiprime]

I do remember reading that part of Matt Jefferies' design philosophy for the TOS Enterprise was that he didn't think engineers and designers would clutter a ship with exposed pipes and machinery, especially on the exterior of the ship.

That's why the exterior hull of the ship is smooth.

If you look at other ships in science-fiction (e.g., the Nostromo in Alien, the Discovery One in 2001, the Millenium Falcon in Star Wars, etc.), they're very busy on the outside. There's a lot of equipment and detailed conduits and panels on the exterior of the ship, some requiring dudes in space suits to do repairs.

Jefferies thought engineers would make all of the important stuff internal where it would be easier to get to and work on, and it would be organized into dedicated panels on the bridge and the Jefferies tubes in the guts of the ship which would make damage control easier.

 

[kkt]

Also the Enterprise was designed with the possibility that if things went badly you might have to separate the saucer section and crashland it on a planet. Good aerodynamics would be desirable, so they'd put the pipes and conduits on the inside.

Yes, the rooms are mostly very simple. They would usually be having meals in a dining room of some sort with other people, not by themselves. They have to pack up and move all of their stuff and might have to do so making only one trip by themselves. They would naturally regard their quarters on the ship as more like a college dorm room than their permanent home.

I had the pleasure of touring a few ships - USS Constition (heavy frigate), HMS Victory (100-gun ship of the line), HMS Warrior - transitional ship of the 1860s with iron hull and armor and both coal-powered engines and sails. On the sailing ships, crew quarters were just a hammock slung from the ceiling of the deck above. Midshipmen were in a separate room, but no privacy from each other and it had little more space than the enlisted crew. Most officers had their own room, but they were very small, barely big enough for a single bed and a sea chest. The captain's cabin was quite a bit bigger, because it served additional purposes. The officers would meet there as a group, and when the ship had visitors - important civilian or officers from other ships or a visiting admiral - the captain's cabin is where they would be entertained. The captain's cabin would probably also have ship's charts, files for all sorts of things - payroll, purchases made of items for the ship, crew evaluations, log books. A clerk or yeoman would have worked there a lot of the time as well, copying out reports and written orders and maintaining the files.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I do remember reading that part of Matt Jefferies' design philosophy for the TOS Enterprise was that he didn't think engineers and designers would clutter a ship with exposed pipes and machinery, especially on the exterior of the ship.

That's why the exterior hull of the ship is smooth.

If you look at other ships in science-fiction (e.g., the Nostromo in Alien, the Discovery One in 2001, the Millenium Falcon in Star Wars, etc.), they're very busy on the outside. There's a lot of equipment and detailed conduits and panels on the exterior of the ship, some requiring dudes in space suits to do repairs.

Jefferies thought engineers would make all of the important stuff internal where it would be easier to get to and work on, and it would be organized into dedicated panels on the bridge and the Jefferies tubes in the guts of the ship which would make damage control easier.

Matt Jefferies also put ALOT more thought into the Hero Ship's design to make it practical to repair & maintain in the long haul.

Also, making the ship resemble reality & realism as much as possible.

Having to constantly go out in a Space Suit or EV Suit just to do a basic repair is asinine & waste of time / efficiency.

The only things you want to put outside is things that would be hazardous to your crews health or to your equipment.
(e.g. Warp Nacelles & the Radiation it produces).

Or things that have to be outside to work properly
(e.g. Sensor Units, Weapons, equipment that requires clear line of sight to work)

Otherwise, it's superior to have everything on the inside of the vessel where it can be accessed by people or robot/drone helpers.

That's why I think Star Trek "Federation/StarFleet StarShip" design is far superior & practical compared to a Star Wars or many other franchises who just randomly throw greeblies on their designs and don't do what is most logical.

Design a vessel as a proper engineer would, for it's main purpose.

Instead, a lot of vessels are designed based on the "Rule of Cool" first, and everything else after the fact.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

In the SW universe, apparently all but the largest vessels are capable of planetfall for exterior repairs . . . but that opens up the aerodynamic can of worms in ways that ST usually doesn't.

Looking at our own history, Gemini had a lot of stuff outside the pressure vessel because one of the purposes of the program was to figure out how to do EVAs. Apollo had a lot of stuff outside the pressure vessel, in the Service Module, but until the relatively late addition of the SIM bay, which repurposed a whole sector of the SM, it was all stuff that couldn't be worked on in space anyway, and about the only thing that the Apollo 15-17 CMPs did on their transearth coast spacewalks was to retrieve film magazines.

Lunar Modules had very busy exteriors, but that was mainly because (1) they carried stuff that would only be needed on the Lunar surface, and (2) they needed to save all the weight they could (my understanding is that you could have punctured the pressure vessel wall with a pencil).

 

[Dr Helen Noel]

Long article about TOS having a minimalist look: https://brightlightsfilm.com/minimalist-magic-the-star-trek-look/

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

I suppose I appreciate the ''minimalist'' TOS aspects when compared to the spaciously spoiled holodeck generation of TNG. It's all in the beholder's eyes.

 

[Arpy]

Richer inner lives of the mind. They have fewer material trappings and distractions otherwise encumbering their being.

 

[flandry84]

/\Uh oh!
Looking at the clutter around my place I must not have much of a rich inner mind.

 

[Frontis]

Oh yes, I always liked the minimalism in Star Trek.