A group of architects and ‘an ambitious team of Tolkien fans’ have launched a crowdfunding campaign via Indiegogo in the hope of raising £1.85 billion in 60 days to replicate the fictional city in the UK.
With their sights set on the south of England, they hope to build a life-size, fully functional city based on Peter Jackson’s depiction in the films (seen fully in the Return of the King).
Started by Jonathan Wilson, he writes on their Indiegogo page:
‘We all share a love of Tolkien's work, and a desire to challenge the common perception of community and architecture. We believe that, in realising Minas Tirith, we can create not only the most remarkable tourist attraction on the planet, but also a wonderfully unique place to live and work.’
If they manage to raise the money within the 60 day limit, Tolkien fans will be able to live in the creation. Hoping to build both residential and commercial properties to allow ‘sustainable growth’ and a high quality of life’, their residential properties will be categorized in terms of quality and size:
‘Tiers vary from 1-5, quality varies from 2-5 stars, with the higher star denoting higher quality, and size varies from 1-4 bedrooms. A "3.4.2 property", for instance, would be located in the 3rd tier of the city, be of a 4 star quality and have 2 bedrooms - perfect for a young family.’
As the leader of the campaign, Jonathan has done the sums and estimates building costs anywhere within the region of £1.85bn. The majority of the money set to cover building costs (£15m for land, £188m for labour and £1.4bn for building materials) and the remainder to cover maintenance and public services until 2053.
He aims to commence work by the end of 2016 and to have completely finished the project by 2023, but this hasn't put any of the pledgers off:
PEOPLE, THIS IS THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD https://t.co/FQAIXTwFlO
— Helen McCreary (@mcHelenmusic) August 13, 2015
The donations are flying in! Thank you all. pic.twitter.com/XsGPWDxLCS
— Realise Minas Tirith (@realiseminas) August 13, 2015
A special shout-out to the "absolute legend" who pledged a whopping £900! Don't believe me? Check it out: https://t.co/hBXifPgot1
— Realise Minas Tirith (@realiseminas) August 12, 2015
However, Jonathan also keen to point out that it is a ‘light-hearted venture’ urging people to only donate within their means and be fully aware that it has ‘virtually no chance of succeeding’, but that doesn't stop them from trying:
‘We're fully aware of the scale of our ambition, but we hope you realise just how special this project could be.
‘If we don't reach our goal of £1.85bn, all pledges will be cancelled and you will not be charged a penny’
Like any good crowdfunding campaign they offer a reward scheme in return for pledges. These range from: £3 for a follow on Twitter, to £25 for your name on a monument, to becoming a Lord or Lady of the city (fully inclusive of a horse-drawn carriage transportation) at the whopping price tag of £100,000.
So if you fancy being the future aristocracy of a fictional city, you better get saving! So far a total of £52,038 has been raised by 1,287 people in 13 days – is this an idealistic fan project or a possible reality? What do you think?