Sky of Dust
Concept art for a fantastic world in the Setting of Oriental Future Tourism. In the middle of a desert surrounded by sand mountains, megapolis has been placed, representing a vertical structure of many tiers. Its base is always hidden by a dense layer of industrial smog. The boundary between the contaminated and the clean atmosphere is visible to the naked eye.
The air is poisonous, without a respirator or a special mask, you can’t survive here.
The Government claims that storms and the burning sun are raging in the surrounding mega-cities of the desert, so that exit from the city is prohibited and borders are strictly guarded. Behind the appearance of care lies the true cause of the ban: there is a huge generator in the desert that lifts up the sand, dust, and dirt mixed with a poisonous smog.
The desert along the city’s borders is marked by dust storms, and the exit from megacities is heavily guarded.
Smog is a control mechanism. It provides cheap labour to factories and power plants at lower levels, while creating a constant demand for cybernetic implants and medical services, with huge profits for corporations.
The city is full of contrasts, and old, half — destroyed tents live on the same street as shiny skyscrapers.
In the lower areas of the city, only a few can afford personal transportation:
The main purpose of the quadricycle is to move quickly and manoeuvring along narrow, crumbled streets and, for the benefit of a particular kind of population, through the hard-to-reach velvets of the desert.
The lower tiers of the city are unsafe, and cold weapons are necessary for self-defence.
Qatar is a traditional type of civilian weapon for megapolis that is carried in special legs and is often used in pairs.
Firearms are much less common, and they also retain traditional handicraft roots:
Far from the narrow, unsafe areas of the lower city, at the very centre, is the headquarters of the Government. The building is a giant office complex built around an equally monumental ancient temple.
The temple is almost completely integrated into the architecture of the complex, its dome and walls are adjacent to the facades of skyscrapers, and the entrances are hidden behind the service crossings.
It’s a vertical world where it can serve as a control tool, creating an eternal demand for a sip of clean air.
