Main entry:

Vale, Lawrence J., 1959-

Title & Author:

Architecture, power, and national identity / Lawrence J. Vale.

Publication:

London : Yale University Press, ©1992.

Description:

x, 338 pages : illustrations, maps ; 27 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 317-330) and index.
Part One. The locus of political power : 1. Capital and capitol : an introduction -- 2. National identity and the capitol complex -- 3. Early designed capitals : for union, for imperialism, for independence -- 4. Designed capitals after World War Two : Chandigarh and Brasília -- 5. Designed capitals since 1960 -- Part Two. Four postcolonial capitol complexes in search of national identity : 6. Papua New Guinea's concrete Haus Tambaran -- 7. Sri Lanka's island parliament -- 8. Precast Arabism for Kuwait -- 9. The Acropolis of Bangladesh -- 10. Designing power and identity.
Dust jacket.

Summary:

"Throughout history, architecture and urban design have been manipulated in the service of politics. Because government buildings serve as symbols of the state, we can learn much about a political regime by observing closely what it builds. In this book, Lawrence J. Vale explores parliamentary complexes in capital cities on six continents, showing how the buildings housing national government institutions are products of the political and cultural balance of power within pluralist societies. By viewing architecture and urban design in the light of political history and cultural production, Vale expands the scope and cogency of design criticism and demonstrates that the manipulation of environmental meaning is an important force in urban development. Vale begins by tracing the evolution of the modern designed capital--from Washington, D.C., Canberra, New Delhi, and Ankara, to the post-World War II capitals of Chandigarh and Brasilia, to Abuja, Nigeria, and Dodoma, Tanzania, planned in the 1970s and still largely unrealized. He then provides close readings of the architecture, urban design, and political history of four smaller parliamentary complexes completed in the 1980s, in Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, and Bangladesh. These essays situate the parliamentary designs in the wider context of postcolonial struggles to build the symbols and institutions of democratic government during periods of rapid political and economic change. In the final chapter of the book, Vale addresses the dilemmas facing designers who undertake to deliver national identity as part of their design commission."--Cover.

Resources:
Table of contents

ISBN:

0300049587 (alk. paper)
9780300049589 (alk. paper)

Subject:

Capitols.
Public buildings.
Capitoles.
Édifices parlementaires.
Bâtiments publics.
public buildings (governmental buildings)
administration buildings.
Politische Identität
Parlamentsgebäude
Hauptstadt
Städtebau
Regeringsgebouwen.
Hoofdsteden.
Bouwkunst.
Architecture Political aspects.
Architecture and society.
Architecture et État Pays en voie de développement.
Architecture et politique.
Capitales.
capitale capitole.
architecture pouvoir politique.
Cities Structure planning

Form/genre:

Books.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 72120
Call No.: NA4195 .V35 (ID:92-B107)
Status: Available