Assassin's Creed Mirage - Baghdad Round City Gates - General Artistic Direction

During 9th century, Baghdad was one of the biggest, richest and vastly multi-cultural cities of the world. 
It had it's own unique layout and landmarks - probably one of the most recognizable being the Baghdad's Round City Walls and the four unique Gates, serving as a connection to other major trade routes and cities (Bab al-Kufa "gate of Kufa", Bab al-Sham "gate of Damascus", Bab al-Khorasan "gate of Khorasan", and Bab al-Basra "gate of Basra"). 
It was a great pleasure and privilege, to help define the iconic looks for most of those. 
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity of fleshing out the artistic direction, structure, details and general vision for the Round City Gates via this Concept Art  . Focusing on authenticity and respectful depiction was nonetheless challenging, since the walls and gates from the time period didn't survive to present day. 
Working closely with the teams, we managed to craft a unique experience, look and feel for each of the Gates from Sofia's mandate. 
You can see some of those in the video, or alternatively enjoy the full experience of authentic 9th century Baghdad in our game  : 
https://www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/assassins-creed/mirage 
Cheers!