VELORA

Velora is a layered city structured through bridges, platforms, and vertical transitions, where energy accumulates within the architecture over time. This energy does not belong to individuals; it emerges from repeated movement, structural load, and continuous circulation across the city. As energy gathers unevenly, especially along bridges and elevated connections, the city becomes fragile and requires constant regulation. Shifty is the regulating creature that maintains this system. The city is organized around four main energy intake points. Shifty begins its daily cycle at the first intake point, where it collects the basic energy necessary to sustain itself. After this initial intake, Shifty moves through the remaining energetic regions of the city to fill the memory spheres. These spheres do not contain memories; they store energy. This stored energy later enables the formation of memories for newly born Shifties. The city also contains concentration zones, which are not energy intake spaces. Instead, these areas allow Shifty to physically adapt to increasing energy density and prepare for the next layer. At balance points, Shifty releases part of the accumulated energy back into the structure, preventing collapse and stabilizing bridges and platforms. At the upper layers of Velora, three main zones are dedicated to newborn Shifties. These new creatures require energy in order to begin forming their own memories. Shifty delivers the energy-filled memory spheres to these zones, initiating the process of memory formation and ensuring the continuity of its kind. At the end of the cycle, Shifty slides down through a vertical slide, releasing the remaining energy back into the city. It then returns to its starting point, completing the loop. Through this continuous process of accumulation, adaptation, transfer, and release, Velora sustains itself as a living spatial system.