ABSTRACT
Very few arenas reect the dreams, aspirations, interests and self-images of leadership better than their built form in architecture. Meant to endure and to inspire the population and future generations alike, architecture uniquely expresses aspects of power and authority (see Kane and Patapan 2012: 151). In the world of politics, these aspirations are highly concentrated – and consequential – in capital cities:
Capitals became the symbols of human greatness and political behavior. Paris, London, Vienna, and Prague all have an attitude toward life that is admired and, in a remarkable manner, beloved. Their appearance is not merely an outward one. It reflects an essence that cannot be denominated because relationships and intellectual currents have entered into it on a number of different levels. Only a part of it could be planned; a somewhat larger part may be inferred from the appearance of the city.
