Mayor's Villa

The mayor's villa is an extremely large mansion patterned after Andrea Palladio's Villa Rotunda.

The original plans called for an identical copy of Palladio's design:

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Villa_Capra.html

However, various political forces intervened to change it:

First of all, the original design was feared to be too fragile to safely weather the strong, underwater currents at the chosen site.  To resolve this, a number of buttressing elements were placed around the perimeter.  Also, part of the site was dug out and the building was constructed to sit lower than the surrounding sea-floor.

More safety concerns were raised about potential terrorist threats.  To deal with this, 4 blue guard domes were added at the four corners of the site.  Together, the guards in these domes can keep watch around the entire building.

A light gray fence was added around the edge of the site to further discourage terrorists.

Next, the mayor felt that Palladio's design was too modest and did not properly reflect the grandeur of his administration.  Therefore, the roof and dome were enlarged and raised significantly.  The entire roof is partially clear to let in as much light as possible.

See below for more pictures...

 

 

The two yellow towers in the front of the building are filtered water intakes.

Used water is expelled from various pipes around the main structure.  These are generally hidden behind buttresses and other architectural features.

 

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