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Terok Nor/DS9 & Empok Nor: ugly space stations. Or is it just me?

A

Aquehonga

Fleet Captain
Something “frustrating” about these station's external appearance. They're so damn ugly.

Something seems “off” about DS9's exterior look. Can't put my finger on what it is exactly.

Sometimes I think STPTB who designed DS9 were trying to imitate H.R. Giger & his iconic, signature style when drawing DS9's exterior & botching it bigtime.

SF's mushroom cap space stations/ship garages aren't bad looking at all. Raving beauties worthy of Victoria's Secret & Playboy compared to that bugly Cardie station design.

Is it just me thinking this:confused:

YOUR thoughts>
 
Oh, I completely disagree. The oddness of DS9, both inside and out, really added a lot to the show. It's supposed to have been built by Cardassians, and dang, that's exactly what it looks like. So I think the design is brilliant.

And really cool looking. So baroque-meets-Gothic.

But cool looking or not, making it look purty isn't nearly as important as making sure it looks a lot different than the usual Trek stuff. Somebody else (can't remember who) has said that the station almost acted as a character in the show, and I agree. That wouldn't have happened if it looked too Starfleety.
 
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Well I think the Cardassian aesthetic combined with the functional requirements of it having been an ore-processing facility work to make DS9 look the way it does. Personally, I have always liked the "look" of the DSN series locations above those of most of the other ST series/movies. I think the production designers really managed to give the show a frsh an unique look while still keeping it rooted in the ST universe.
 
I have always found Cardassian architecture--indeed, their overall aesthetic--to be flat-out beautiful, far beyond anything the Federation has ever designed. Heck, I've got a schematic of DS9 as my desktop right now just because it's so fascinating and beautiful to look at. :)

To me, Cardassian architecture recalls the best of the Art Deco movement, though with a darker aspect to it at times. Look at something like the Chrysler or Empire State Buildings and you'll see the same aesthetic at work.

(I should add that aside from the awful mis-step in "The Wounded," I am generally a fan of Cardassian clothing as well. Again very streamlined and elegant looking!)

I know, I have a strange sense of beauty. I'm not the sort to like looking at a forest or a "pretty" sand beach or whatever. Give me the high desert of New Mexico or the rocky, stormy seacoasts of Rhode Island where if you even LOOK at the waves wrong, they'll smash you into the rocks.
 
^ "Deco" - what an excellent description. So with the dark elements, instead of baroque-meets-Gothic, it's more like Deco Goes Goth.

And I like it, too. Even if I didn't, though, I think it's really important that they did something far different from Starfleet, and they most certainly did that.
 
There's something “frustrating" to me about DS9's exterior.
Something seems "off". But I'm stumped as to what "it" is that's "off".

Maybe it has to do with the way ships dock with DS9? Especially if there's a bunch of ships docked at once. The way ships powerlink with DS9's attachment ports on those pylons looks "sloppy" for some reason:confused: The more ships ported to DS9, the uglier the whole spectacle looks:eek:

It is an unusual, weird, original design. Especially for Trek. Maybe ugly is the wrong term. Frustrating? Yes.

Seems to echo an H.P. Lovecraft/H.R. Giger influence, but I.M.O., could've been done better, weirder. DS9's exterior is like a chocolate chip cookie with no chocolate chips:wtf:

Edible but subpar.

I love Giger's ALIEN artwork, as well as his other bizartistry.

Maybe STPTB&B should've hired Giger to design DS9?

Ugly as a space station, but would make an eye-catching Christmas Tree ornament:hugegrin:
 
keep in mind the ship docking areas (ports and pylons) were intended to dock Cardassian ships, not much of any thing else...it is the federation and Bajorn governments that took over the station so they has to possibly do slight modifications to the way the pylons and ports worked to allow for there ships to dock...
 
I find it a bit ugly- interesting and gothic, but also a bit ugly. I guess the pylons must be high for various types of ships... and its supposed to be really different from Federation starbases, and they kinda look like shots we've seen of Cardassia...

But in some respects, I also find them odd... a bit impractical- a militaristic society with all those places to hide, you can't scan the conduits... and it's spidery... tho I like spiders.
 
Humm...

I always liked the look of Empok Nor/Terok Nor.

I thought they were cool looking.
 
It's just you. Terok & Empok are the most badass looking space stations ever made.

If this thread was called "Federation Space Stations: ugly space stations.", then yeah, those are some extremely ugly eye-hurting mofos. Even moreso after having seen how beautiful Terok & Empok are. Looking at Fed stations after seeing Terok & Empok is exactly as painful as looking at the external (un-updated) shots of the TOS Enterprise after having seen modern Trek.
 
It's true - they are just so cool. I've sometimes wondered if Trek has tried so hard not to look like 1950s scifi (which I rather like, but that's because I like a bit of cheese with my scifi) that when it comes to Starfleet, it just went too much in the direction of bland. Whatever one thinks of Cardassian architecture - and as I mentioned before, I really like it - it sure the heck ain't bland. Comparing Starfleet architecture to Cardassian is like...like comparing a 1970s suburban ranch home to a gothic mansion. I wish they'd thought to put, say, at least a stained glass window and a cupola (or their spaceship equivalents) on some of the Federation architecture we get to see.
 
Voyager said:
keep in mind the ship docking areas (ports and pylons) were intended to dock Cardassian ships, not much of any thing else...it is the federation and Bajorn governments that took over the station so they has to possibly do slight modifications to the way the pylons and ports worked to allow for there ships to dock...
Click to expand...

At least in the old novel Betrayal (DS9 #6)...that's EXACTLY the case. In that novel, the Galor-class ship not only gets a very snug fit in the docking areas, but there's an emergency airlock that hardly any other ships can use. Berat--the Cardassian protagonist--takes advantage of this fact to escape a very bad situation...

And you're right about Federation starbases. UGH. What an eyesore--especially compared to a beauty like DS9.
 
I'm gonna join the chorus with regards to the essential beauty of Cardassian architecture. The Nor Class deep space stations have an elegance to them that you simply do not find elsewhere in the Trekverse, I can (and have) spend many a long minute staring at the majestic image of Terok Nor set against the Stars.
I would also state that Cardassian ship design is also a unique work of art, give me a Galor over a Bird of Prey any day.:bolian:
 
Yep I'm another who's going to have to say DS9 looks beautiful, great and unusual design that works perfectly in my opinion.
 
I've always thought that the design for DS9 was a major plus. I remember seeing it when the pilot aired and being incredibly impressed. It's Cardassian...and I love it. lol. And while I fast forward the credits to Next Generation I always watch the opening of DS9. I think it's lovely.
 
Maybe the external look isn't all that "pretty" but the interior design had the most fascinating sets of any Trek show. It has a definite alien feel to it. That's why I have written many times before that the look of the show won't seem to age and be viewed as dated as quickly as other Trek shows. Heck, just look at TNG. Its sets started to look cheesy a couple of years after the show ended. VOY and ENT will look better in the end because they stole from DS9's lighting scheme of the Defiant. In other words they made the corridors, the bridge and all the other locations "darker" by toning down the amount of lights.
 
I've always liked it actually. It gave DS9 a unique identity. When I was 8 when the show premiered, it took me a minute to understand that the reason it looked different was cultural rather than just technological.
 
Nice little side tidbit to add to this thread: apparently non-Trekkies see the Art Deco influence in Cardassian designs as well.

I went to an SFF con wearing a pin with the symbol of the Union, and this lady who was a costume designer told me she'd been fascinated by the pin for a couple days because of what she immediately called out as a Deco influence. So apparently it's not just me. ;)
 
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