the mine

Now that we have decided what environment our mine will be set in we should now decide what form our mine should take. There were various thoughts that were suggested, so I shall post images of your ideas.

Old Western Style Village

This was one of my personal ideas. Although these buildings consist of wood I imagined that the mine may have a small mining settlement nearby. Instead of wood I was thinking that perhaps the settlement could almost be a futuristic slum version of this image and perhaps the dwellings would be built from scavenged metal sheets to form rudimentary shacks.

Cranes (Loading & Construction)

The crane suggestion in my opinion was a good idea as it has a very aesthetic quality with the long girders and triangular pattern emphasizing construction and industry.

Oil Rig

I love the oil rig idea too. The oil rig also incoorporates the crane idea. The oil rig is such an unusual lump of random levels and platforms. Again this concept portrays the very essence of the activities of mining.

Oil Pump (Nodding Donkey) Farm

The idea of oil pump farms was also an intriguing idea. I find the shape of these pumps very interesting and certainly have an industrial mining feel about them.

Underground Mine / Tunnels

This idea has loads of potential in as far as lighting. This idea could work really well.

Quarries, Strip Mines & Tiered Surface Mines

This is a cool idea too. This idea could emphasize the shear scale of the mining excavation.

Cave

The idea of the mine being carved out of a natural cave is another interesting idea. Again there is potential for really effective lighting.

Sinkhole / Geofront

The idea of the convict miners living and working underground within huge sinkholes is another interesting idea. Again there is potential for lighting and effective atmosphere. Scale could be experimented with here too.

Slum

The slum were the convicts live. It was an idea I found interesting however it detaches from the mine itself. Unless we were somehow to incorporate the mine and the slum closely together. Perhaps a slum underground within a sinkhole could work. We should pay particular attention to the mine itself and make sure we focus on that aspect, however we do not want our environment to be too bare and uninteresting. Finding the balance is key.