Steampunk Village

So here's a thought. What would it be like to build a real village or town in full Steampunk style and authenticity?

I've had this idea swimming around in my head for a while now and thought it'd be nice to get other's opinions. I am a student of Architecture working on my Masters degree right now and am actually studying in Europe for another month. Only fairly recently (last couple years) have I been getting more into Steampunk but I truly believe this is the genre that was meant for me. When in Paris, I saw a lot of examples of the art nouveau style and it struck me that this style and Steampunk have very similar features and characteristics. I'm also very keen on design in general, experimentation and building things - hence the focus on architecture.

But back to the original prompt: a Steampunk town. I'm from Wisconsin and there is a Renaissance Faire that is quite large along the WI/IL border. Its set in a literal village with complete buildings and structures. I don't know what its used for in the off season, but it makes for a fantastic experience. So what if the same thing was constructed for a Steampunk venue? Does such a thing already exist and I don't know about it? I'm sure that's very possible, if so, someone please let me know where it is.

Keeping my home state in mind, I'm sure there's plenty of empty land out in the countryside where we could plop a little village. Who knows, maybe it isn't just a summer fairground with cool buildings maybe people actually live there year round and are part of the fair during season. What about a railroad that connects the village to a major city? Authentic airship rides?

I'm a big dreamer, in case you didn't notice, and a writer so I'll stop this post soon before it gets too out of hand.

Better yet...let's just buy an island and turn the whole island into a steampunk paradise!!

Tags: architecture, crazy, design, island, town, village

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Permalink Reply by J XD on December 30, 2014 at 8:07am

pony up? potentially, but location would be key. I shall be very interested to follow your progress, should you decide to proceed.

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Permalink Reply by Captain on December 28, 2014 at 10:28pm

http://steampunkfestivalcoldwater.webs.com/

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Permalink Reply by G.A. Jack Hammerquist on January 2, 2015 at 10:24pm

Greetings sir, my cousin and I are also big dreamers. We both hit on nearly the same idea at the same time several years ago with the twist of he wants to build a old west themed town and I wish to do a steampunked or more practically a Victorian styled city with strong steampunk influences. He even went so far as to look for land for such an endeavor. Since he lives in Arkansas and I live in Texas I preferred his choices. The property he found was 1700 acres in the northern area of AK complete with a fair sized mountain top, (being from north TX where it is more flat than not a good sized hill would be a mountain to me) anyway... It has a large cave, waterfall and lots of trees. What we came up with is putting his western town on one side of the property my steampunk town on the other and have a train to make the loop between the two. I also wanted to add a airship dock near the mountain peak with a sky tram or trolley going to and from the aerodrome. Oh the land would only set us back about 7 million, then there was the narrow gauge train itself which would cost nearly a million with all the cars and support equipment. Then add the track...Oh boy that will be another several million with all the required work of clearing the land and laying the track. Then there is the adding of cobble stone roads for my side.... and the list goes on, And that is before the first buildings are built. Maybe if I won a mega lottery I would consider this. Or maybe I should start a crowd funding campaign.

He and I have put a lot of thought into this idea/dream and I would like nothing more than to escape this world and live in a town where maybe... just maybe it could be a more civilized time.... no Jedi jokes please.

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Mungojerry Grindlebone on March 5, 2015 at 3:23pm

....the steam is strong with this one...

sorry, had to be done :)

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Permalink Reply by Miss E. J. Fynne on January 4, 2015 at 5:29pm

I've had lots of design ideas for similar towns, would anyone like to see me draw them out?

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Permalink Reply by Lucifer Divinitas on January 6, 2015 at 10:10am

If you started with a liveable steampunk complex, like an apartment complex and expanded from there it might work over time.

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Permalink Reply by Dick Voorheis on February 16, 2015 at 2:37pm

I have been to the Bristol Rennaisance Faire, and it is indeed an impressive event. A Steampunked themed version could be quite astounding as well.

Currently the Rennaissance Faire organization features a weekend each summer for Steampunk costuming, but their heart is in the Rennaissance and that is where their focus should likely remain.

Never-the-less, I agree that a SteamPunk venue/island would be quite well received.

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Permalink Reply by Steamtown 18717 on February 28, 2015 at 1:36pm

It's not a real village, but I am attempting to build a steam powered village in my driveway for Halloween. Its almost full scale. There is a "boiler", mercantile and stream powered clocktower. Not the real thing but it is fun to see peoples reactions. So I think a real village would blow peoples minds! Hoping to make it more "Steampunk" this year with gears, more steam and more facades.

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