Speronavi: Research Center

Artist Statement

This project sought to explore world-building in Illium's Universe with the culture of Illurens that inhabit the sun Speronavi. I narrowed it down to building a "third place" concept perpetuating their culture. The third place was a concept established by Ray Oldenburg in his book The Great Good Place. Oldenburg refers to this space as a social surrounding separate from the home and workplace. If this was their culture's overall goal, it was important to establish a valued practice.

The Illuren are light-based beings that power the sun they inhabit. I imagined their goals would be research in the solar system. So, much of their places and equipment would reflect that.

Xunz'ventors

The Xunz'ventors are ships meant to help Illuren carry samples. However, they are light-based and can fly. They can't travel great distances and rely on these ships to prolong flight. I was inspired to create a ship reflecting aquatic sea life such as Javan Cucumber, Stingrays, and Jellyfish.

Below are linears of how the ship operates with the Illuren. It can connect with other ships and drop research pods for closer analysis.

Research Center: Atrium

The research center was an environment interior I thought would be a good place to learn from the knowledge they gathered. This atrium area was designed to be a central area of the research center that redirected to other areas of the building.

I was inspired by different kinds of fungi, plant life, and Ars Nouveau architecture details. The Illuren utilize portals to transport to different areas. Though I'd imagine this building specifically would be used by other inhabitants by the solar system as well. So, there are stairs and a more traditional seating setup across the lobby.

Building an Environment from the Ground Up

There were many early iterations of imagining a third-place location. These weren't initially for Speronavi but I played around with different styles and inspirations.

When I narrowed it down to the research center I used a 3d model in Blender to give a better idea of how things were arranged. After the initial linear I restructured for the final to fully shape the atrium.

Overall it was a great project to work on and perhaps I will expand on it further into Illium's Universe. Currently, Illium's Universe production is at work on Travelling Transition an introduction book to the rest of the universe. A segment will briefly cover the Speronavi Solar System.

See you then.