The Death Star is large enough to have its own gravitational field. One would expect that the preferred "down" direction points toward its center, instead of running from pole to pole. However, the pictures of the incomplete station show a structure that favors two perpendicular directions. How come?
Answer
A radial structure would give the floors and ceilings a noticable curvature, which would get more pronounced closer to the interior. Flat objects, like regular furniture, wouldn't be flush with the ground: all of their weight would be carried by their centre, with the edges sticking out above the floor (or, more accurately, the floor would stick out under the edges).
Not only would this require expensive custom furniture and equipment, but the curvature on inner levels would be greater than the outer levels, so equipment would only sit properly within a particular range of levels.
"Local flatness", eg. per room, wouldn't work either:
- Items nearer the walls would roll towards the centre, which is technically "down hill"
- The layout of rooms on each level would have to depend on those above and below it, to avoid floors and ceilings "pinching" together.
- Alternatively, some extra space could be allocated to allow for pinching (eg. with adjustable floor/ceiling tiles on pistons), but this reduces the number of levels that can fit in the structure.
- Floor plans couldn't be revised by simply moving walls around: the floors would need to be altered and walls from one place might not fit in another.
- There would be abrupt changes between the sections, eg. at doors and along corridors.
- Large spaces like hangars would need to be split into several areas with different floor orientations.
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