Alien : HR Giger's Egg silo exterior

leading from

Alien: The Egg silo

a) Giger's Painting 

 

a.i)  In the original script, the eggs were found in a silo-like pryamid, with hieroglyphics on the wall. But they found that it was too close in concept to Earth's own Egyptian culture and not unearthly enough. So they designed another silo

 

a.ii) In Giger's painting, in the rock formations, suggestions of perhaps long fossilized life forms. Perhaps the  rock sticking out of the lower ground to the left of the building is a half formed impression of Cthulhu type entity with its tentacled face and thick claw. Giger had brought his designs at the time over to Shepperton for approval on March 30th of 1978. Although they were met with general approval, he is told that his egg silo would be too expensive to build.

Quote source

1. HR Giger: The designs I brought with me meet general approval. The eggsilo (plate 378) can't be built because it would be too expensive. Pity! (March 30th of 1978, Giger's Alien, p14)
2. HR Giger: Oh. yes. In the original script the eggs were found in a silo-like pyramid, with hieroglyphics on the walls. But we found that it was too close in concept to our own Egyptian culture and not unearthly enough. So we designed another silo. But then the budget wasn't big enough to include this structure so we combined the eggs and the derelict. (Warren Presents Alien Magazine, p34)
3. Giger's final version of the egg chamber featured curved sides like a small breast (Book of Alien by Scanlon and Gross )
   

a.ii) Egg Silo exterior (work 378) (1978) by  HR Giger (uploaded by me, taken from Giger's Alien) 

 

b) Where Ridley had been going
Ridley Scott had been experimenting with the idea of an egg silo inspired by the Castle Harkonnen,

b.i) See: Early Ridleygram for the derelict exterior

 

 

b.ii) See: Moebius' derelict ship exterior

 

 

 

b.iii) Then Ridley had been exploring the idea of a giant rocket capsule shaped derelict ship with Moebius before he left.

(see: Ridley Scotts Early Egg Silo Exterior )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

c) Egg silo in Ridley's earlier storyboards

Ridleygram of structures on the planetoid (image from weyland-yutaniarchives)

 

 

d) What Giger drew
 

d.i) HR Giger designed a breast shaped building called the Egg Silo, a hundred and fifty metres tall and two hundred metres in diameter.  Perhaps he borrowed the shape from Ridley's early idea for a derelict ship that he work on with Moebius. The silo also included ideas from Giger's painting Dune I which showed an entrance to the Castle Harkonnen.

Egg Silo exterior (uploaded by me, taken from Giger's Alien)

d.ii) Egg Silo exterior (uploaded by me, taken from Giger's Alien) 

 

 

d.iii) Egg Silo exterior (uploaded by me, taken from Giger's Alien)

Giger's Dune I (Entrance to Castle Harkonnen), 1976

 

 

d.iv) Ridleygram of explorer climbing up the side of the egg silo  

 

e) Also see Candidate for a Giger Cthulhu

 

curious detail from 378: Egg Silo exterior

f) See: References R'lyeh via Wyndham Lewis' "A Battery shelled" (1919)?

g) See: References The Nativity by Guido da Siena (1270)?

 

h) See: References thatched domed roofs of Gaulish village huts from Asterix the Gaul stories?

 

 

i) See: References photo of Barbie's tent ( as seen in the 1978 Barbie catalogue) by Mattel?

 

 

 

 

j) See: References 'Executioner argues with the King about cutting off the Cheshire Cat’s head' Alice in Wonderland illustrations (published 1865) by John Tenniel?

 

 

j)  Kenner Alien Logo

The design of this structure would be used in the logo for the Kenner Alien toys that would soon be sold.