[OneBuckFilms]

I'm not a big fan of the Brewery Engineering, since it was not executed well.

The idea, however, is good, IMHO.

In terms of how it fits with Canon:
- Nothing in TOS states or shows a single Warp Core as in later series and movies.
- TOS did have a fair amount of exposed piping and machinery in corridors and Engineering.

Given this information, it is reasonable to infer that the Enterprise obviously had multiple, smaller Warp Cores during the 2250s and 2260s, and that the precedent for having Engineering appear similar to the movie is there.

So there is no breach of Canon, only a less-than-ideal presentation of the basic idea.

I liked some of the original concept sketches that were done for Engineering in the movie.

[horatio]

Why does everything have to be either gritty and dirty or look like stuff from today in much of contemporary sci-fi? Gee, I am anything but a fan of "hard" sci-fi, but the fluffyfication of present day sci-fi, abhorring demanding stuff, future technologies, etc. is really pathetic.
How about a bit of imagination, thinking ahead, in essence all the stuff which made sci-fi great in the good ol' days?

[kevin]

Except all they are really positing is that even in the future industrial spaces, engineering spaces etc still attract grime and still can be less than immaculate environments to work in.

Same with spacecraft - the shuttles have scrapes etc on them probably because atmosphere entry etc would leave (over time) marks and the like on exteriors.

It's hardly dystopian - especially when it also says that more comfortable areas will be filled with cleaner looks and equipment.

[OneBuckFilms]

Engineering on the Enterprise in the movie actually looked shiny and clean.

As for looking like stuff of today: grounding. Accessability through a degree of familiarity.

A complex piece of machinery should still look like a complex piece of machinery, otherwise the audience is wondering what the hell it is rather than following the story.

[horatio]

In ENT they took NASA designs, extrapolated them a bit and used the result for some of their designs. That is sci-fi. Taking an engine-room which looks like an contemporary engine-room is not.
As you said it yourself, it is just a way of making sci-fi less generic and more accesible to people who wouldn't be interested in sci-fi otherwise. Spreading the butter thin on the bread.

[OneBuckFilms]

Enterprise did a good job design wise with Engineering, but if we know what an Engine Room looks like TODAY, the same general idea could be equally as valid as NASA's take.

[horatio]

Sure, the technology in two centuries could look precisely like the one we have today. But as our technology looks very unlike the one of the early 19th century, I tend to favour a futuristic design approach.

[OneBuckFilms]

Originally Posted by horatio

Sure, the technology in two centuries could look precisely like the one we have today. But as our technology looks very unlike the one of the early 19th century, I tend to favour a futuristic design approach.

As would I, but that does not invalidate theirs.

[horatio]

Of course it doesn't, we are only talking preferences, likes and dislikes, here.