Hanging Gardens - Second Tier done, Third Tier WIP

The second tier is complete and we are well underway on the third tier.  This means that we are approaching what we can call a third of the way done.  There are three phases to the project:  Exterior construction, Interior Construction, and Beautification.  Exterior Construction is nearing completion.  I don't expect the latter two phases to take as long, so we may be well past 30% of the way even now.

 The new towers look pretty at night.  We will be adding more torches and some glowstone during the beautification phase, but the lighting is already very atmospheric.

 The layout is really coming together nicely.  A central tower will add needed balance to the design.  This shot also shows that most of the surrounding mountains have been cleared.

A view of the third tier from the second, showing off the new walls and waterfall patforms.  Stairs lead upwards past the wall to the immediate right of the view.

 The new towers are directly above these platforms.  We have not decided whether to close off the interior of this area or to have entrances to the main structure further inside.

 A view from the third tier after just climbing the central stairs.  We plan to add a central tower to balance the layout and section off the garden interior.

 The tower platform.  The water spills off onto the second tier forming the waterfalls that drop into niches in the first tier.

 The tower interior.  Ladders in the corners lead to the top and a skylight keeps the area well-lit.  The ladders lead to a small ledge that makes a second floor before opening onto the roof.

 From the new towers you can see most of the third tier layout.  Large plazas crest the central stairs while smaller walkways join the towers.  There will be growing space on both sides of the walkway.

View from the roof of a tower, looking out over the lower tiers.  The new second and third tiers allow plenty of space for growing the plants which will give the Gardens their name.

Hanging Gardens - new tier 2!

So... the second tier has been almost entirely rebuilt. When we started planning for the third tier, we discovered that the original tier 2 layout wasn't as good as we wanted and didn't segue into tier 3 well. Thanks to huhwhozat for coming up with both the original and redesigned tier 2 layouts


New walkways, walls, and waterfalls from the beginnings of tier 3


Tier 3 overhangs on the corners, allowing waterfalls to fall into the existing waterfall pools on tier 2


It's starting to fill out and look even better. We've also cleared *most* of the mountains that were crowding around the walls in some spots.

Hanging Gardens - Waterfalls!

After much deliberating, trying, doing, looking, redoing, and starting over, we have a new look for the waterfall alcove.  We love it.  The added leaf blocks really helped to accentuate and contrast the construction.  We're not on the vegetation stage yet but adding a little now help to give us some vision of what it will look like eventually.  It looks beautiful.  I may have said that in previous posts but it just keeps getting better.  The proof is in the pics:

The new approach to the waterfall.  Note that the water is further recessed than before.









The shrubs help to accent the features of the pool... and hide the glowstone that lights it at night.








The top of the waterfall is a small pool.  The pillars on each side will support part of the third level and water will also spill into this pool from above.







At night glowstone lights the pool, hidden beneath the bushes.








The waterfall is lit from the alcoves in the wall at night.  Also note the addition of some greens along the main wall.

Hanging Gardens - Second Tier nearly done

The second tier is nearly structurally complete.  Stairs and walkways are done.  Most of what remains are the eight waterfall alcoves.  We also need to add detailing to the pillars that run the length of the second tier wall.  The detail will eventually be done in lapis lazuli block, but until we find enough of this scarce resource, green wool is the best-looking substitute.

Second Tier work in progress.  It has gone a lot quicker than I thought.  DixieWolf did the walls and I did the walkways in basically two days.  We have to make several more quarry trips.  Those are a LOT of sandstone slabs.  It took one or two stacks just to do the walkway between the stairs and the first pillar on the second level.

Birds eye view of first two tiers.  You can see the zigzag path of the second level.  The third tier will overhang a portion of this path, being supported by large pillars.

Waterfall alcove from first tier. Green wool will be replaced by lapis lazuli blocks when we accumulate enough.  So go find lapis, people.  We'll give you cookies.






Side stairs opening onto waterfall alcove.  There will only be four stair to the second tier from the outside of the structure.  We're putting water where the others would have been because water is pretty.  Deal with it.

Wide view of north wall. Waterfall alcove are yet to be completed.  The Gardens are already looking very pretty and they sit in a beautiful spot.  At least the pigs seem to think so.

Newly completed stairway to second tier.  The main stairs from the first tier open onto a few short steps then this platform with steeper step to the second level.  The stairs to the third tier will lead off of these.

Hanging Gardens - Climbing Upwards

The Hanging Gardens need to have some vertical height to them; sure, a large, flat structure that takes up 134x134 is kind of cool, but a tall multi-tiered structure that is 134x134x30 is way more impressive. So, we've begun work on the walls to the second tier. This tier is taller than the first and will have some medium width walkways, and maybe some grass strips for greenery and waterways.

An aerial view of the northwest corner of the structure. The 2nd tier wall stands taller than the lower section, and is differentiated by ribs, flush against the wall, rather than freestanding pillars. We're hoping to cap the ribs with Lapis Lazuli or Diamond blocks at some point

A view of the gardens at night. It is starting to look good, and it will look even better once we get trees and rivers/waterfalls tied in

Waterfall Basilica Update

The facade is mostly finished, except for the actual water. Note the yellow and blue banners on the second tier.

The building is hollowed out,

and I've been working on a few interior fixtures, such as niches in the walls, and a staircase.

I'm debating how to integrate the internal waterfalls, and what to do in the central area of the Basilica. I'm also wondering how the roof will look, and hoping it doesn't look too plain against the rest of the building.