Quick Six: Architecture
This week, Haly shares six architecture-themed worldbuilding and writing prompts designed to inspire your imagination and kick-start your creative thinking!
Quick Six 2/1/2025: Architecture
This week, we took a long look at architecture in worldbuilding and what constructions can say about the values of a people and the environment in which they live. These six creative writing prompts will help you integrate architectural details into your own fictional worlds!
Somewhere in your world describe…
Who:
…an architect known (or remembered) for building on impossible terrain.
Whether or not they were successful is entirely up to you! Did they bridge a particularly wide or deep gorge? Did they build the world’s tallest tower? Perhaps they successfully reshaped a mountain into subterranean living space?
What:
…an architectural details designed to combat the weather.
From sloped roofs designed to shed snow and baked clay gutters to collect rain, to bridges that sway with an earthquake or towers that dance in the wind, architecture not only keeps us safe from the weather, but must often be designed to withstand it.
When:
…a period when architecture changed drastically.
What caused the change, and how was it reflected in the buildings? Did windows and doors suddenly become protected by bars or mesh due to higher crime? Did building materials change or did technology improve and introduce new building techniques?
Where:
…a place known for extreme architecture.
Do people build along the sides of steep mountains or high in the tops of trees? Are there cities constructed on the floor of the ocean, or that float atop the tide? Gravity-defying towers, homes lifted on stilts, cities held aloft by anti-grav engines are all examples of how creative cultures adapt to extreme living conditions.
Why:
…a superstition that inspired an architectural detail.
Is the kitchen the center of the home to encourage family spirit? Does every marketplace have a fountain in the center? Perhaps all homes have a hole to allow the household spirits in and out? “Magical” stained glass whose light is believed to heal illness? What keeps the superstition going?
How:
…a building techniques that people copied from the natural world.
Do they mix wood pulp with saliva like wasps? Do they weave grasses together like some birds weave nests? Perhaps they build mud-and-stick dams like beavers? Consider the animals and insects in the areas where your people live. How do they protect themselves and their young from the elements? How can people copy or adapt those nature-inspired techniques?
Don’t Forget to Share!
Drop a link and share your inspired creations with the community! Or, if you like, share in the community chat and get uplifting and helpful feedback to improve your writing and your world!
And please take a moment to share this newsletter with a friend! After all, the most important things are the things we build together — especially a creative support network!!
