This idea is stolen from _Age of Empires_, an old PC strategy game. At
least, the name is stolen from there. In _Age of Empires_, players
would build up their societies and at some point attempt to create
"wonders" like the pyramids of Egypt, massive churches, mosques,
mausoleums, military watchtowers, and towers of the we-just-built-this-
to-see-how-big-we-could-make-it sort.
As far as _Age of Empires II_ is concerned, there was also one
observatory for the noble purpose of astronomy... but largely the
wonders were for religious, empirical, or military purposes:
(Age_of_Empires_II)
## Wonders in the Age of The Complete Earth ##
I think this concept has a lot of merit. Obviously, religious buildings
divide a society (as sects themselves divide a society) and military
buildings are just markers of violence. But the idea of building a
Wonder for wholesome, productive, and noble purposes seems worthwhile:
- Observatory for Astronomy
- Mega Library (the original "Palaces for the People")
- Large reforestation projects
- Massive parks
- Large artificial civic water bodies
- "Colosseums" (theatres) for music and performance
- Museums
- Meditation centres, "aranyas", and pagodas
All of these "wonders" serve a practical purpose. Each one is
purposeful in and of itself (parks & trees) or purposeful in the
activity which happens there (libraries & pagodas).
I've attached a couple sketches of this last example because they mean
quite a bit to me. An "aranya" is literally a forest but within the
scope of serious meditation, it refers to the dwelling place of monks
and nuns. The pagoda of a meditation centre or aranya (or both) could
be considered a practical Wonder... and one our current global society
could make immediate use of. :P
An aranya is inherently the home of serious reforestation and forest
expansion projects.
Any given village might have one (or many!) such wonders as it
transitions into a future city but the shape of this landscape within
our lifetime is presented in the sketches, with the village separated
from an existing major city (probably by 100 - 300 kilometres,
depending on that city's projected outward growth).
-steven
Steven Deobald
