(urth) Faterh Inire Theor cont.

[DAVID STOCKHOFF]

I'm trying to convey a very basic point. 
Versailles is an unparalleled example of the use of landscaping---yes, LANDSCAPING---to project power. Landscaping performed according to principles derived from fortress design, and vice versa. Landscaping that takes into account sweeping fields of fire so that all approaches are covered and conversely the Palace looms in all directions.
The House has landscaping, and perhaps if hiddenness is power then it projects power by hiding the House if everyone knows it's there. But otherwise not. It's just a pleasure park where drunk people drift in paddleboats with their lovers. The Autarch himself is never seen as such: no parades, no speeches, nothing. He is an absence; so is the House except to those allowed within.

--- On Wed, 12/15/10, Son of Witz <Sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org> wrote:

From: Son of Witz <Sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org>
Subject: Re: (urth) Faterh Inire Theor cont.
To: "The Urth Mailing List" <urth at lists.urth.net>
Date: Wednesday, December 15, 2010, 4:15 PM



On Dec 15, 2010, at 12:43 PM, DAVID STOCKHOFF <dstockhoff at verizon.net> wrote:

> There's a contradiction here. Since no one can see the House Absolute, it cannot serve as an ornament to the regime. It is useless in that regard as well, though nobles could visit.
> 
> Versailles was certainly an ornament. The House is partly a parody of Versailles because it is underground. However, Versailles as a whole is so huge, with its great vistas of lawn and fountain, that no one could see it who was not invited or who worked there. So it was in a way invisible too.
> 
> At any rate, I have to say again: it is the aristocrats who are shown as useless. Not the House itself.

I'm not sure about that. Plenty of exultants, armigers, cacogens, and entertainers seem to find their way to the grounds of the House Absolute.
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