ABSTRACT

The first edition of Architecture, Power, and National Identity, published in 1992, has become a classic, winning the prestigious Spiro Kostof award for the best book in architecture and urbanism. Lawrence Vale fully has fully updated the book, which focuses on the relationship between the design of national capitals across the world and the formation of national identity in modernity. Tied to this, it explains the role that architecture and planning play in the forceful assertion of state power. The book is truly international in scope, looking at capital cities in the United States, India, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Bangladesh, and Papua New Guinea.

part I|193 pages

The locus of political power

chapter 1|45 pages

Capital and capitol

An introduction

chapter 2|15 pages

National identity and the capitol complex

chapter 3|58 pages

Early designed capitals

For union, for imperialism, for independence

chapter 4|25 pages

Designed capitals after World War Two

Chandigarh and Brasília

chapter 5|48 pages

Designed capitals since 1960

part II|152 pages

Four postcolonial capitol complexes in search of national identity

chapter 6|29 pages

Papua New Guinea's concrete haus tambaran

chapter 7|22 pages

Sri Lanka's island parliament

chapter 8|31 pages

Precast Arabism for Kuwait

chapter 9|42 pages

The acropolis of Bangladesh

chapter 10|26 pages

Designing power and identity