The project originated as a diploma thesis created between 2016 and 2017 during a master’s program in film scenography. Its aim was the artistic design of several set pieces for a science fiction film based on the novel Inhabited Island by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
The story takes place in the year 2157. A young Earthling and pilot of a reconnaissance spaceship is forced to make an emergency landing on the planet Saraksh after his ship is damaged in the planet’s atmosphere. He comes into contact with a civilization whose level of development roughly corresponds to the second half of the 20th century on Earth: the planet has been devastated by a recent war, natural resources are nearing exhaustion, and the population lives under a totalitarian regime.
Planet Surface
Due to the unusual physical properties of the atmosphere (an important motif in the book), the surface of the planet appears curved. As a result, the inhabitants of Saraksh believe that they live on the inner surface of a sphere.
Interior of the Gaal Family Apartment
To make it easier for the viewer to identify with an unfamiliar world, I aimed to design interiors without major differences from those on Earth. I only made design adjustments to basic elements of an ordinary household; for example, I significantly altered the way food is prepared.
The house where the apartment is located. In the background: The City and the inverted horizon.
Original sketches for the apartment interior
Television Center
A television center from which the planet’s population is secretly controlled through ideological broadcasts, using small red pyramid-shaped transmitters. This is the location where the novel’s protagonist is interrogated at the beginning of the book.
Room in the Television center
To amplify the signal and enhance the effect of the broadcasts from the Television Center, yellow buses are also used, disguised as mobile television units.
The Moment of Transmission. A scene where the population experiences a wave of forced patriotism during the broadcast.
City Streets
The hero’s first walk through the unknown city. Streets, shops, a marketplace, and various hidden corners. Visually, I aimed to create the impression that the city is a blend of various local cultures that may loosely resemble those on Earth.
Original sketches for the Television center and City.
Cafe
A hidden little square with two cafés facing each other. The protagonist chooses the more secluded one, located in a basement space. On this planet, dining establishments are typically marked by three large hemispheres on their facades.
An interior of a run-down café or restaurant where the protagonist meets the novel’s key female character. In the world of the book, it is a cheap and dirty establishment. In my design, I aimed to evoke the sense that it might once (perhaps before the war) have been a pleasant, cozy, and popular place.
Original Sketches and Floor Plan of the Café Design.
Palace of Justice
For this location, I designed a building that differs from the book's description. In my concept, the structure stands on three massive pillars, each supporting a giant stone fist. The number of pillars corresponds to the ruling triumvirate, a symbolic representation of the iron grip these rulers maintain over the state.
Office of the Chief Prosecutor
This character is immune to the ideological broadcasts and therefore knows the truth—yet, bound by his position, he remains powerless to act. His existence mirrors the metaphor of "living in a gilded cage", a concept that directly inspired my design.
Sketches for the palace of Justice building and its interior spaces.
Research University
A contrast between the old buildings surrounding the square and the modern (post-war) university structure in the distance.
As this institute is concerned with attempts to restore the planet’s natural environment, I designed the university building, unlike in the book, as a single monstrous enclosed ecosystem. In the novel, the inhabitants of the city only speculate about what takes place inside the building, and no one is certain what its exact purpose is.
To achieve this, I employed a visual style that enhances the aura of mystery and enigma surrounding the building.
The entire perimeter of the building is lined with laboratories. As a central visual motif, I designed a dominant whirlpool-shaped water conduit that purifies and distributes water, along with essential nutrients, to all plant life inside. This process is entirely cyclical.
I supposed that local scientists used this system to experiment with the most effective methods for environmental restoration, attempting to re-grow vanished plant species and revive the planet’s dying ecosystems.
