Scenographic Speculations

Foreign City (with & for Anisa Sabiri)

Tucked away in the heart of █████, Foreign City is the capital of the █████. What was once a modest market village has grown into a city of over ███ inhabitants. The cityscape presents a mix of █-century ████ architecture and traditional structures, offering a glimpse into the area’s complex history.

Fig. 1
Plan Diagram

Broad, tree-lined boulevards traverse the city, providing welcome shade from the summer heat. The River Eponymous, flowing from north to south, cuts a swathe through the urban landscape. A smaller waterway, the River Nude, descends from the foothills, while a network of canals distributes water to and from the surrounding farmland and supplies the local power station. At the city’s heart lie the Avenue and the City Garden.

The Avenue, lined with key government buildings, serves as the city’s main artery alongside the River Bank and Occidental Highways. The City Garden, adjacent to the government district, provides a verdant space for public enjoyment.

In the northern part of Foreign City, one finds a rather impressive Botanical Garden. It houses a diverse collection of local and exotic plants, serving as both a recreational area and resource for botanical research. A notable feature of the garden is its Conservatory, which provides a controlled environment for more delicate plant specimens.

The ████ of Foreign City offer a vivid sensory experience, a fading echo of ██████ tradition. Here, the aroma of sizzling mutton mingles with the scent of ripe produce. The pungent odour of overripe fruit occasionally wafts through, and some traders’ calls carry a hint of desperation, hinting at the economic struggles that lurk behind the colourful façade.

Venturing to the outskirts, one encounters a markedly different aspect of the city. Blocks of flats stand in stark contrast to the foothills and further snow-capped peaks of the Mountain Range looming in the background. These mountains, apart from their visual appeal, play a significant role in shaping Foreign City’s climate, resulting in rather warm summers and relatively mild winters.

In terms of atmosphere, Foreign City might appear a confined and rather claustrophobic space. It bears a dark feeling akin to limbo or purgatory, where time seems not to exist and events are perhaps destined to repeat indefinitely.

Fig. 2
████’s Flat, interior

███’s flat is situated on the top floor of the block of flats in the north-west part of the city. It overlooks the East foothills and the Botanical Garden, visible through the window with aluminium blinds.

The walls are covered with early 1960s wallpaper, and the chequered floor is clad with ceramic tiles. Books, journals, and footwear are scattered about. Some posters and framed photos adorn the walls. Plants and a tall standing mirror from the early 1900s occupy the corners. The bed is unmade. A piece of white silk is draped over the standing mirror, which reflects the plants.

Fig. 3
████’s Flat, exterior

The exterior of ███’s flat presents a weathered light grey concrete façade marked with stains. The terrace floor is covered in the same chequered pattern as the interior.

On the terrace, a birdcage hangs alongside a washing line with a drying towel. A vine climbs one of the columns. The windows offer glimpses of the flat’s interior—plants and personal items visible through the glass. These interior views are overlaid with reflections of the distant foothills. The foothills dominate the background.

Fig. 4
███ Main Hall, interior

The ███ where ███ works was recently converted from a ████ ████. The renovation transformed the once-translucent structure into a dark, secluded building.

Some original interior elements, such as ornamental ceilings, have been retained. The stage is flanked by the original frescoes depicting two braided ladies, one playing a flute and the other holding a cluster of grapes.

The main hall, formerly the ████’s dining area, now serves as the ███’s central space. It features a stage for bands and dancers. The colourful lighting of the stage seems to be somewhat unsynchronised, never matching the rhythmic pattern of the music.

Fig. 5
███ Hallway, interior

Behind this public area lie private booths frequented by the city’s shadier characters. These booths can be accessed through a dark hallway, with occasional rays of light illuminating the velvet curtains and the remnants of the original decoration on the floors and ceilings. The interior is relatively dark, dominated by deep red hues and occasional golden stripes and cornices. Velvet curtains add to the opulent, shadowy atmosphere, filled with cigar smoke and haze from smoke machines. The original radical modernist layout remains: the building could be perceived as a seemingly levitating slab decorated with concrete latticework.

Enclosed public spaces are on the first floor. The ground floor comprises an outdoor space, covered by the slab of the first floor, and an enclosed service block on one of the sides of the structure facing the street, clad in reflective glass.

Fig. 6
███ Ground Floor, exterior

On the ground floor, under the main volume of the building, supported by round concrete columns, is a somewhat contradictory space with fountains and flower beds. A concrete spiral staircase, enclosed in a glass cylinder, leads to the first-floor foyer. Along with the elements mentioned above, the City Garden can be seen reflected in the glass façade of the service block, with the Monument and an observation wheel in the background.

Fig. 7
███ Street Side, exterior

On the street side, we can see a reflection of the plane trees flanking the street, people passing by, and a chauffeur waiting for his client beside a sleek black luxury saloon. The shift in social structure is becoming more and more evident and disturbing. Withered, browning leaves are falling.

Fig. 8
Conservatory, exterior

The Conservatory is a central structure of the Botanical Garden. It stands amidst the plants and trees like a ziggurat-shaped crystal castle. Shorter walls are cast in concrete, with buttresses protruding into the interior on the entry side, and to the exterior on the far side of the Conservatory.

The glass enclosure of the Conservatory is gradually deteriorating, with metal framing leaking and broken glass falling. Horizontal parts of the glazing are covered with dust, moss and dead leaves, as there is nobody to clean them, whilst the vertical parts still let the light in.

Fig. 9
Conservatory Entry Wall, interior

Exotic trees and plants with wonderful flowers grow inside. ████, who lives in the Conservatory, occupies the spaces between the buttresses of the entry wall. This liminal position reflects both his emotional state and existential stance. Although he lives on the edge of the ‘Garden of Eden’, he cannot fully embrace it.

He can only try to duplicate the garden on the inside of the concrete wall, with ladders and scaffolding installed to reach the farthest parts. It is unclear whether he is trying to cultivate it further, or if he is competing with Nature itself, keen to contest the divine.

On the stained, eternally damp concrete walls, we can see a world map that ████ likes to ponder with his gaze and, on the opposite wall, a reproduction of a famous painting depicting the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Fig. 10
Conservatory Makeshift Kitchen, interior

In the third bay is a concrete sink cast in situ. It was originally used to water smaller plants. After moving in, ████ began using it as a bathtub, despite the lack of hot running water. The tap on the left, like all the watering infrastructure of the garden, is connected to the cold spring water line coming from the mountains.

Fig. 10
Conservatory Makeshift Bathroom, interior

The Power Canal passes the power station up in the foothills and descends further towards Foreign City as it crosses the ravine to the Botanical Garden hill via the aqueduct. Half a century before, the ravine was used as a dumping ground for victims of ████████.

Fig. 11
Botanical Garden Ruin, exterior

Below the hill atop which the Conservatory stands, the Power Canal continues to descend towards the River Eponymous. The sides of the canal are overgrown with reed and grass thickets.

Under a lone native plane tree, far from the cultivated part of the Botanical Garden, stands a deteriorating concrete skeleton. It is presumed to have once housed one of the service divisions of the zoo.

One dark night, ████ found refuge in these ruins, only to wake up the next morning and return to the city.

On the west bank of the River Eponymous, where the highway runs alongside the river, a bridge was once designed to connect it to the east bank. Later, it was decided to build a parallel highway on the east bank, and the idea of building a bridge was abandoned.

Fig. 12
River Bank, exterior

A large retaining concrete wall still curves where the bridge was intended to be. The alluvial sandy bank of the River Eponymous is illuminated by the street lights of the River Bank West Highway, strewn with scattered driftwood and occasional rubbish. In the shadow of the bridge abutment, someone has left a tall standing mirror.

Fig. 13
Monument Square, exterior

On the south-east corner of the City Garden, the Avenue turns slightly to the left. It continues, lined with plane trees, for another two kilometres before it crosses the Airfield Road and terminates in front of the Railway Station, which stands on the Oriental Railway line.

The neoclassical ████████ building on the left and a ████ Telegraph building on the right mark the beginning of the final stretch of the Avenue.

The square, once dominated by a ████’s monument, is no longer as it was. Pieces of the statue, demolished by the uprising people, are scattered about the square.

When the people gathered, the city police ordered the mounted division to the square, first to guard the important buildings adjacent to the square and later to disperse the crowd. Here and there, we can see pieces of fresh horse manure and indistinguishable tatters on the light-grey asphalt.

Four horses, unsaddled and without horsemen, enter the pedestrian central part of the Avenue, walking away from the square, disoriented. The square is empty and silent. There are no people or birds around, and no cars or public transport. Smoke rises from far away behind the Telegraph building.

Oyat Shukurov

Scenographic Speculations

Foreign City (with & for Anisa Sabiri)