Tuesday 23 November 2010

X-001

“Magnar Impresso” or “X-001” was founded in 2222 as the part of the great industrialization rush of the Empire. The small industrial city was the first of hundreds and remained insignificant until about 2224.

The rapid development of Magnar Impresso stood at the forefront of the Emperor's Great Industrialization Plans in the 2220s. It was a showpiece of technical and architectural knowledge, as the city was designed and build by the finest engineers of the Empire. Huge reserves of iron and platinum ore in the area made it a prime location to build a modern industrial mining city capable of challenging its planetarian rivals as the planet of Izm and Halvmörk. However, a large proportion of the workforce had almost no industrial experience. This issue was easily solved when several hundred foreign specialists arrived to direct the work, including a team of architects headed by the chief industrial engineer Ernst Magnar.

According to original plans X-001 was to be inspired by the large industrial facilities found at Izm and Halvmörk, at the time the most prominent centers of mining and metal production in the known galaxy. The complex had a linear city design, with rows of similar superblock neighborhoods running parallel to the dozens of large factories. Planners would align living and production spheres so as to minimize necessary travel time: workers would generally live in a sector of the residential band closest to the sector of the industrial band in which they worked.

However, by the time that Magnar completed his plans for this huge project, construction of both factory and housing had already started. The metal processing factory and enormous ovens had left little room available for development, and Magnar, therefore, had to redesign his ideal city to fit the modified site. This modification resulted in a city being more "industrial" than “utopic”. Although the industrial area is concentrated on the left bank of the city, and the most residential complexes are separated and located on its right bank, the city inhabitants are still subjected to noxious fumes and factory smoke.

Years after the foundation of the city, the Emperor brought a significant change in the life of the city, the factories were reorganized and FOMAM was allowed to unite the thousands of miners and metalworkers into trade unions which provided better education and housing for their members.

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