Robo's is the architectural vehicle of RoboRik, who had years of experience as a commercial builder before coming to CivClassic[1]. He specialises in styles from the European tradition, often pursueing a lifelike realism. Many of his builds are based on unconventional angles.

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

Delivery times vary with size and complexity, but are usually between two days and a week. Contact RoboRik on Discord for a quote.[2]

A Robo's design is always provided as a schematic (or litematic, per client preference). Robo's does not offer a schematic construction service.

CivClassic (2021)

Urban renewal in Southshire (June - December 2021)

Robo's was founded on the first of June, when Southshire commissioned RoboRik to design its new capital, Samcester. Inspired by the British inflection of the name, he looked to England for inspiration; his finished design reflects the archetypical Victorian architecture of the 19th century, particularly Gothic Revival. Not one plot or street in Samcester is perfectly straight, like the winding alleyways of real English cities. The three buildings on King Peter's Square, the monumental plaza in the city centre, represent the three successive powers from the history of Southshire: first the Commonwealth, then Yoahtl, and finally the independent Triumvirate. The city remains RoboRik's largest project on any Civ-server thus far.

 
King Peter's Square, the central plaza of Samcester. Note the angled walls.

The basic design was ready in early July, 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 pivoted towards smaller-scale redevelopment in Southend. He proposed a reconstruction of the Dark Oak Estates, a neighbourhood that was by then abandoned, and added a new square to the northeast of the city, with a museum and a railway terminal. This time, the architectural vocabulary was rooted in the elegant Georgian style of Bath. Construction began on December 1st. Together with Orinnari, RoboRik cleared the Dark Oak Estates and flattened much of the northern embankment. The project was cut short just one week later, when TealNerd announced the closure of the server.[3] The version of Southend on CivLegacy was taken in the middle of the constructions works; the embankment is marred by a large scar, but the map is old enough to preserve the Estates unmolested .

 
The Dark Oak Estates have a large, 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.
 
A view of Mebiusu no ie at dusk.
 
Chāntli proudfly flies the flag of Yoahtl.

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 a bridge took some architectural trickery. The top floors have no usable interior and hide a hollow passage to let bridge traffic through.

Chāntli (August 2021)

Chāntli (Nahuatl for 'house' or 'dwelling') is a Second Empire villa in Icenia City. The design blends influences from both the American and the French variants of the style. It was commissioned by WackyAki, the reigning Alcuahtl of Yoahtl, to serve as his Icenian residence. The villa is surrounded by a small, landscaped park, with a duck pond and two trees.

The interior of Chāntli is more utilitarian than most RoboRik builds, but still reflects his commitment to realism. The vaulted souterrain would have been the domain of the servant staff, with a kitchen, storage areas, et cetera. The ground floor has minor rooms for the private use of the family - with one great exception: the domed, monumental vestibule. Its grand staircase leads to the first floor, or piano nobile, where lavish guest rooms offer frank displays of 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 more secluded koi pond extends behind the house and offers a bench for quiet contemplation. A large torii on the hillside gives the garden an element of verticality.

References

  1. Commercial builders make money by building in Minecraft. Their clients are usually minigame networks in need of server lobbys, game maps, et cetera. Salaries, though usually around minimum wage, can be upwards of forty euros an hour for established builders. It sounds like a dream job on paper, but the sorts of commissions that are profitable are rarely creatively satisfying.
  2. Ubo™#8945
  3. https://old.reddit.com/r/civclassics/comments/rc370p/through_the_roof_n_underground/