A number of architects and structural engineers have come together and launched a campaign on IndieGoGo to make our dreams come true. That's right, I'm talking about the dreams you have (whether you knew about them or not) of Minas Tirith from J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings being a real place. What other dreams did you think I was talking about?
If the IndieGoGo campaign holders reach their goal, Minas Tirith won't be located in New Zealand where the movies were filmed, but in the South of England. The estimated cost of the entire build breaks down in£15 million for land, £188 million for labour and £1.4 billion for materials.
Ultimately, the architects are looking for a grand total of around £1,850,000,000, the money that remains after the building part is complete will be channeled into maintenance and public services.
Their creation will not be some attraction like Disney World or Jurassic Park – there are enough monsters in the Lord of the Rings that it would be terrifying. Minas Tirith in England will be a mix of residential and commercial properties. That's right, you could live there! The residential properties will be categorized by tier, quality and size.
It's pretty organized, the tiers vary from 1-5 (the levels in the city itself), the quality varies from 2-5 stars (the higher star the higher quality), and the size varies from 1-4 bedrooms. For example, a "3.4.2 property" would be located in the 3rd tier of the city, be of a 4 star quality and have 2 bedrooms.
If funded, the work on building Minas Tirith will begin in 2016, complete in 2023.
