design
Explanation
The comic shows two people looking at what appears to be architectural plans or a building. One says: "It's a beautiful building design, but why is it topped with Zeus and Odin having sex while wearing sombreros, with the caption 'Built in 1753 by Neil Armstrong'?" The other person responds: "We are a new design philosophy. We do things differently."
Below the panels, a caption defines this fictional movement: "Enigmatecture: A school of design oriented around confusing future archaeologists."
The humor comes from the absurd concept of an architectural movement whose entire purpose is to leave behind structures that will baffle future scholars trying to understand our civilization. The specific details chosen -- Greek and Norse gods engaged in a sexual act, wearing Mexican sombreros, attributed to a 20th-century astronaut, and dated to the 18th century -- are perfectly calibrated to create maximum confusion. Every element contradicts every other element in terms of culture, timeline, and context. The joke taps into the way we currently struggle to interpret ancient structures and artifacts, and imagines a group of modern architects who deliberately make future interpretation impossible. It is also a sly parody of pretentious avant-garde design philosophies that justify any bizarre choice with vague appeals to "doing things differently." The word "Enigmatecture" -- a portmanteau of "enigma" and "architecture" -- is the cherry on top, giving this absurd concept the veneer of a legitimate academic discipline.