My Modern Gaming Architecture: The Black Citadel

During last week’s retrospective on my influences from gaming as a child, I made reference to a piece of design that encapsulates my interests in the industrial aesthetic and engineered feel in the Form of the Black Citadel.  Today I want to try and describe what I think makes this special to me but first, a little context to its existence…

The Black Citadel is the main city for a bestial race called the Charr within the Guild Wars series.  The site in question originally played host to a large Human nation called Ascalon, which protected itself against the Charr through the construction of a large wall amongst other things.  It was an ongoing battle, but the Charr used a great power to cause great amounts of devastation to the land which became known as the Searing.  Over time, the Charr moved into the lands and construction of the Black Citadel started over the ruined remains of Rin, becoming the main post for the Iron Legion (one of 4 recognised Legion with the others being Ash, Blood and the opposing Fire).  In Guild Wars 2, players get to visit the Black Citadel as one of 5 racial cities and one neutral city where all are available to explore its contents. 

To come at the Citadel from a broad point, it’s mass of being this vast piece of connected metal and ongoing mechanical sound perfectly encapsulates the Iron Legion’s ethos of engineering, weaponry and pragmatic thinking while having a certain sense of beauty in the finer details.  It is my belief that pure function construction finds ways to create art through it just working; a little bit like Victorian age railway archways or similarly-aged greenhouses showcasing an aspiration to let people know it can be done.  You could imagine the Charr being proud of this structure, but due to their nature it may be to it being a continual reminder of victory over a previous enemy. 

Here are some words on specific parts of the Citadel that I find great. 

The Core

The Black Citadel and its main core looking from the Lion's Arch Portal.  Screenshot taken 30/03/2015

 As I looked to get setup to take these screenshots, I had to take my character from Lion’s Arch (the neutral city) to the Citadel via a portal.  This meant that my entrance to the Citadel was not via the conventional front gates that sit lower down on the ground but a higher side-entrance that roughly sits in the middle in terms of height.  Regardless of view, it presents you with a massive core that combines many sheets of metal to create a sphere that dominates the landscape.  Its exterior which creates this look is a suspended form that comes from a mass of supports that are dimly illuminated by the afternoon sunlight and torch-poles, giving it an almost golden look in the reflection.  This very much reminds me of visit the Eiffel Tower in Paris during my first year university trip, where during the late evening I stood underneath the tower looking up through the structure.  Due to lighting, the tower appeared orange in colour giving it an odd glow that I thought was brilliant. 

The exposed structure that keeps the shell of the core in place.  Screenshot taken 30/03/2015

 Going back to the core itself, the look of it makes me think of two particular things.  Firstly (and more relevant to my thoughts) it makes me think of and jet engine or similar rotary device that has been put into an explode view while it’s been stopped in time.  The Citadel features quite a few fans, propellers and doors that rotate in a similar fashion so it all fits into the aesthetic of an industrial feel.  The other image I get from this structure is that of astronomy as the orange pod-like blips in this context could represent planets revolving around a central being like a sun.  Although I do see this, I personally don’t feel much connection with the general aesthetic. 

Beneath the Eiffel Tower at night presents a similar feeling to the framework in the Black Citadel.  Photo taken 02/2009

The Bane / Ruins

The ruins being overlooked by the ever present Charr stronghold.  Screenshot taken 30/03/2015

To the rear of the Citadel the player is able to interact with areas that look to transition the space between the older Human ruins and ever-present Charr settlement.  The more obvious place for this are the ruins of Rin that around the west / south-west reaches of the Black Citadel on the much lower ground level.  A player interacting with this space will most likely come for the couple vistas and Points-of-Interest for map completion, but in their haste they may end up missing the vast contrast that the ruins sit in.  The small collection of upright sections of tower and crumbling walls are all but overwhelmed by the ever-present core and smog that looks to surround it like some kind of aura.  This example encapsulates the contrast between the ‘old’ and ‘new’, but where I feel it’s done even better is with the gladiatorial arena called the Bane. 

The Bane arena built without concern to the present ruins of their previous enemy.  Screenshot taken 30/03/2015

The Bane sits at the bottom of the main core of the Citadel in which fights between Charr (primarily Gladiums) are fought in an arena beneath an audience.  What makes this great is that the arena’s circle is interrupted by a ruined structure which was incorporated into the design rather than demolishing it.  It reinforces that feeling of victory as mentioned previous, but in this context could also refer a reminder of an ongoing battle with the Ascalonian ghost that continue to siege the land. 

The Forge

A melting pot of scrap and ingenuity that defines this place.  Screenshot taken 30/03/2015 

I wanted to end on this piece because the sheer scale of it continues to present the Citadel as this mass of industrial achievement.  The southern section of the Citadel is primarily a massive metal forge in which the player looks down from a high up viewing point and fly-over vista when activated.  This forge is not designed as much as formed together; with a vast amount of scrap metal littering the ground being instructed by a colossal metal crane that forms the material anew into the ever-increasing armour of the Citadel.  It’s an organised mess that keeps the cogs turning and machinery turning so that it remains the most prominent feature on the map to anyone who may gaze upon it. 

Last week I was able to see potentially how much my time with video games had influence my interests as an adult in terms of architecture.  Today, I wanted to see where my current gaming time fitted into this and whether my thoughts had changed in any specific way.  Naturally, I would say that I’m more aware of it these days and as such may be reading more into the subject than I would of normally.  That being said, I feel that what makes the Black Citadel a great piece of architecture in my eyes is that industrial, mechanical feel that features heavily in my younger days of gaming and its much lower textured brethren.  What I feel sets this piece part is the factor of context; with its ability to incorporate many years of lore so that its narrative comes alive amongst its aesthetics to create more than just a place in the Guild Wars 2 world.  As mentioned last week, a field is a field but the story creates architecture.  


*If you would like to know more about the Lore surrounding the history I briefly mentioned, please watch this Lore video by Wooden Potatoes: Guild Wars 2 Lore: The Fall of Ascalon