Robo's

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Robo's
General
HeadquartersSamcester, Southshire
Key PeopleRoboRik
Business
Servicesarchitectural design
Historical Data
Established inMay 2021

Robo's is the design firm of RoboRik. Before he joined the Civ community in 2019, he spent years as a commercial builder.[1] During this time, he developed an oblique, highly technical style, which often diverges from the cardinal directions.

For a quote, contact RoboRik on Discord.[2] Delivery times vary with size and complexity, but usually range between two days and a week. Finished designs are always provided as a schematic file (or litematic, per client preference); Robo's does not offer a construction service.

Selected projects on CivClassic (2021)

Urban renewal in Southshire (June - December 2021)

Robo's was founded on June 1st, when the leader of Southshire, StrPlatinum, commissioned RoboRik to design a new capital. The city would soon be christened Samcester. Inspired by the British inflection of the name, RoboRik looked to England for inspiration. His finished design reflects the archetypical Victorian architecture of the 19th century, particularly Gothic Revival. Like the winding alleyways of England, not one street or plot is perfectly straight. The three buildings on King Peter's Square represent the succession of powers that ruled Southshire: first the Commonwealth, then Yoahtl, and finally the independent Triumvirate. Samcester remains RoboRik's largest ever project on Civ.

King Peter's Square, the never-built central plaza of Samcester. Note the angled walls.

The basic design was finished in early August, but CivClassic was winding down by 2021, and Southshire could not provide the labour force to actually realise such an ambitious project. Only the foundations of Samcester Parliament were ever completed. By November, RoboRik was pivoting towards smaller-scale redevelopment in the existing capital, Southend. He proposed a reconstruction of the abandoned Dark Oak Estates, and planned a new square in the north-east of the city, with a museum and a railway terminal. The architectural vocabulary was once again rooted in England, this time borrowing the elegant Georgian style of Bath. Construction began on December 1st after a month of preparation. Togeter with Orinnari, RoboRik flattened the northern embankment and cleared most of the Estates - but the enterprise was cut short just one week later, when TealNerd unexpectedly announced the closure of the server.[3] The map of CivLegacy seems to have been taken half-way through the works: while the levee is scarred, the Estates themselves are largely unmolested.

If rebuilt, the Dark Oak Estates would have featured an imposing, neoclassical gate.

Yoahtl Gallery (July 2021)

Yoahtl Gallery is a small exhibition space in New Yoahtl City. Conceived by Jyn and commissioned by the Yoahtl government, it displays and sells a rotating collection of map art. The gallery is intended to mimic the fashionable art shops of American urban centres.

Yoahtl Gallery was designed with the surrounding urban context in mind.
Chāntli proudfly flies the flag of Yoahtl.
A view of Mebiusu no ie at dusk.

The plot is small and situated under a bridge crossing, demanding careful planning. RoboRik settled on a narrow, vertically-oriented Dutch gable as the visual centrepiece, The other walls were kept in muted colours, so that they would not look out of place in the interior. The entrance is designed in a contrasting modernist style and is intended to look like a later addition. There are two small apartments above the gallery space. Fitting a tall gable over the bridge took some architectural trickery; the top floors have no interior, and conceal a hollow passage.

Chāntli (August 2021)

Chāntli (Nahuatl for 'house' or 'dwelling') is a large Second Empire town house, commissioned by WackyAki as his Icenian residence. The design blends influences from both the American and the French variants of the style. Surrounding the mansion is a small park, with a duck pond and hand-sculpted trees.

The interior of Chāntli is more utilitarian than usual, but still reflects a commitment to realism. The vaulted souterrain is the domain of the servant staff, with a kitchen, storage areas, and a spartan dormitory. The ground floor is largely minor rooms for the private use of the family - with the exception of the monumental, domed vestibule. Its grand staircase leads to the first floor, or piano nobile, where lavish guest rooms flaunt the family wealth.

Mebiusu no ie (September 2021)

Mebiusu no ie, commissioned by smallfry834618, is a small, rustic rustic villa on the outskirts of Okato. Like the rest of the city, it borrows heavily from the architecture of Tokugawa-era Japan. The name is Japanese for 'House of Möbius', playing off smallfry's Discord-tag.

The focal point of Mebiusu no ie is not the house itself, but the intricately landscaped gardens. The front end of the park, a Japanese rock garden, is surrounded by walls and entered through a small gate. A secluded koi pond extends behind the house and offers a bench for quiet contemplation. Finally, the large torii on the hillside gives the garden an element of verticality.

References

  1. Exactly what it says on the tin. We are usually commissioned for lobbies, minigame maps, et cetera. Salaries can be upwards of forty euros an hour for established names. Commercial building sounds attractive on paper, but the sorts of commissions that are profitable rarely offer creative satisfaction.
  2. Ubo™#8945
  3. https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/rc370p/through_the_roof_n_underground/