What are the architectural considerations when an underwater species builds a city?
I've got a species that lives in the Southern Ocean along the Antarctic coast, and they are basically a sentient crossbreed of Orca whales and elephant seals. They are omnivores, have opposeable thumbs, a level of technology comparable with our own, and have lived in the same place for many centuries, at a depth of a couple hundred meters on the sea floor. They are mammals and breathe air, but sleep for very short periods so I don't think their houses all need to be filled with air, per se. They are definitely not living under domes.
What would their cities look like? I have looked at construction materials from this question, and settled with quarried stone as their primary material.
I initially thought to make the city very tall and multi-levelled, with the highest levels reserved for hydroponic farms, but if you build tall towers then the currents may push them over, so I'm guessing that's not ideal.
What sorts of city lay-out would you get with a species that lives in the water? E.g., would their doors be on the top of their houses?
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Marine mammals can stay underwater for 10 mins to 2 hours tops. This is fantastic compared to humans, but not enough to justify an underwater city. Underwater storage units maybe.
Your species is a cross between elephant seals and orcas. The former holds the underwater record: 2 hours (though the Curvier beaked whale broke the record in 2014 with 2:17). For orcas, it's more like 15 minutes.
Your city would have to be a mixture of above and below water.
I imagine stone walls rising several feet above sea level, completely enclosing a space. Multiple such spaces around the city, each the size of a swimming pool, though some larger or smaller spaces might be useful. Underneath the water are places for storage and private meetings. Fish farms and gardens exist both open to the air or not, depending on the species cultivated.
To enter or exit any given unit, you would go underwater to passageways that take you in and out of the city and/or to other units. This is to minimize intruders. Only good swimmers can make it. Anyone not brought up in the city (or guided by someone) is liable to get lost and drown. It's not possible to jump the walls. While some land animals might be able to climb them, they'd have to get there first.
A couple hundred meters is a very long way and walls that anchor in the bedrock aren't likely at this distance. So the city would need to be in more shallow waters or at least on top of a shelf or other natural structure that makes the water more shallow in one area, even if it is surrounded by deeper waters (easy enough to find if you're close to the coasts, as most marine mammals are).
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