Chapter 25.5, Page 5
The following is a brief excerpt from Architect’s Digest, a quarterly periodical that features detailed coverage on projects and in-depth profiles of influential architects and designers. [Article originally published one year ago.]
Sumter: A Unique Vision
By Eniko Doma
A private high school that caters to the obscenely wealthy, Sumter Private Academy has earned international fame due its eclectic roster of successful alumnae. It has also gained worldwide attention for having been designed and built by the celebrated architect, Kregin Hahn, over a century ago.
The school’s founder, Ira Sumter, hired Hahn after rejecting the original architect’s design plan, deeming it to be “dull, rectangular, and prison-like.” Hahn was quick to win Sumter’s favor with his signature gothic architecture and, more importantly, the ability to adapt to his employer’s many eccentricities. Ira Sumter would frequently demand architectural changes during construction, ordering Hahn to add secret doors and hidden passageways to the rooms, with no known rationale or explanation given. Hahn, notorious for his combative and irritable personality, would uncharacteristically comply, despite it leading to significant delays on the project. Many who knew Hahn claimed that his work on the building’s construction had consumed him, and that he became obsessed with it on a personal level—one that would later have serious repercussions on his health.
At Ira Sumter’s insistence, gargoyles were to be placed on the north, south, and west sides of the building. She later demanded several be added to the east side as well. Hahn, in turn, contracted renowned Delgadan artist Sirio Balíst to design and sculpt the gargoyles. Made of corlite, an extremely expensive and difficult stone to work with, each statue required precision laser cutting and radenite tools to properly sculpt.
Despite their worldwide popularity, mutual respect for one another, and extensive work in gothic architecture, this would prove to be Balíst and Hahn’s only project together—both men died shortly after Sumter Academy’s completion.
Danger Zone One. Story by Midnight. Art by Kuraikabe5211.
Can’t keep out, that which is already inside
Doubly when you build [i]on[/i] the portal, all you are doing is locking out the ones that could help
I like how the girl’s legs are posed in the same way as the gargoyle’s in that bottom panel.
Uhmm… How were the gargoyles sculpted using “precision laser cutting” over a century ago. That technology didn’t exist in the early 1900s. Or does this comic take place a century or more from now?
Ooh, asking a very pertinent question here.
This would have to take place in the equivalent of a late 21st century, early 22nd century then?
Or maybe the secret knowledge was lost?
But radenite tools were commonplace?
And fairly sure it’s already been established to be set in the late 21st century at the earliest
I don’t think the comic’s ever given an exact year for when it takes place, but I remember one of the written lore things hinting at some kind of calendar reset. So it might even be early to mid 22nd century.
Seriously, It kind of makes you wonder if you even want to ATTEND this university DESPITE alll of the hot babes shown here?
It’s a private high school, not a university.
Given the hovercars, androids, cyborgs, mechs, designer drugs, etc. not to mention the often mentioned dystopian setting, I’d assume laser cutters were old tech, possibly even as old as the 20th century !! 🙂
I think Ira Sumter was the evil thing in the school.
“Ira Sumter would frequently demand architectural changes during construction, ordering Hahn to add secret doors and hidden passageways to the rooms, with no known rationale or explanation given.”
Look up the “Murder Castle of Chicago”.