Mermaid architecture
In most representations of mermaid cities, they either live in implausible magical palaces, or in some more or less elaborate cave systems.
Assuming the only difference with our world is the presence of the mermaids (so no magic), and that those follow the typical image of lower part fish, upper part humanoids. That they have brains and intelligence similar to the homo sapiens sapiens.
We can imagine that much in the same way that we spread over the lands, they did over the oceans, from the tropics to the arctic, etc.
I am curious, assuming that the main steps of their technological development is somewhat parallel to ours, how their city would realistically look at the dawn of the 20th Century?
They face some challenges different than ours, namely that digging is harder and they have stronger currents.
I would be interested to know about the different architectures for different geographical areas, but I am primarily interested in the moderate waters of the North-Atlantic Ocean (roughly between the USA and Europe).
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/30749. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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I will derive my solution by comparing to real-world precedents, and analyzing how these might be adapted by merfolk. (TL;DR: Rock domes.)
Why do humans have houses?
- Shelter from the elements. As mentioned in another answer, houses provide protection from storms and from extremes in heat and cold. This may be less important to merfolk, but not entirely absent.
- Shelter from predators. As much as we once feared the dire-wolf and smilodon, merfolk likely had the same issue with sharks and orcas.
- Privacy. Humans feel the need to perform acts of ablution, elimination, and procreation away from the eyes of other humans. Let us assume merfolk have the same sense of modesty, so this is a factor.
- Security. Humans like to accumulate stuff. They attach value to it, and want to keep other humans from readily taking it away. Again, let's assume merfolk have also developed this sense of ownership.
What do humans make houses from?
- Wood. We can eliminate this as not available to merfolk. Even if they salvaged wood from sunken ships and fallen trees which washed down flooded rivers, it would be in poor condition for use in construction.
- Mud/ Adobe. Another thing we can eliminate. When baked on land, it is rain proof, but against total immersion it would break down and drift away quickly.
- Woven Vegetation (thatch). This is plausible, I'm imagining kelp. In fact, sea otters wrap themselves in kelp when sleeping. Primitive merfolk might have copied this and expanded on it.
- Animal Hides. I don't have any way to back this up, but my gut tells me it is not possible to tan leather when surrounded by salt water. As fun as it is to think of a merman making shark leather, we must eliminate this one too.
- Bones. Generally not sufficient to make an entire house, but like humans, merfolk probably put bone to good use in tools, decorations, and so on. Bone is better preserved in the ocean than on land, also.
- Metals. Deteriorates in salt water, so nope.
- Glass. I'm not sure about merfolk's ability to make glass, so I'm just going to punt this one away.
- Rock. This is my pick, especially coral rock. Collect it, stack it, and soon you have yourself a nice structure. Mortar is not an option (see adobe above), but it could be reinforced with the kelp-thatch the ancestors used.
What shape are human houses?
- Tepee/ Yurt. The central timbers lean together to support each other and the surrounding skins. Since we have eliminated these materials, we also eliminate these shapes.
- Cube-Like. Some human ancestors seemed to heavily favor straight lines and things that were perfectly horizontal and vertical and met at exact right angles. I won't rule this out for merfolk, but I like the next option better, given that merfolk live in a three dimensions and need no concept of "floor."
- Domes/ Igloos: The weight of the bricks (whether rock or snow) is mutually and evenly distributed, resulting in a sturdy structure. Domes also use space very efficiently. There just must be a Buckminster Fuller amongst the merfolk.
How do we put all of this together?
Most merfolk dwellings consist of overlapping dome-shaped modules. Each module is built from pieces of coral and other rock. Where needed, the coral is held together with by mats of woven seaweed, particularly kelp. They have doors with locks. They don't have what a human would call a "window," since any opening is just another door. The doors might be made of single flat rocks, or perhaps bone. Each door also has curtains, to retain privacy even when left open to let fresh water circulate through. Depending on the fashion sense of the owner, the curtain could just be a simple collection of plant leaves, or strings of shells and small bones.
It isn't clear whether they need any variant of HVAC. As mentioned above, fresh water will circulate if you just leave a few doors open when the current is just right. Whether they have furnaces and how they work could be the subject of a whole other question here.
Larger buildings like office complexes or shopping malls are just larger domes with larger numbers of inter-locking modules. They locate their cities in the places that offer the best conditions, just like humans. That means mild climate, access to resources, and plenty of open build-able spaces. I suspect areas adjacent to- but not directly on- large reefs would be attractive to them.
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/30763. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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