Architecture, Power and National Identity

Looking through the lenses of culture and politics, this updated second edition reveals the intersecting relationship between the design of international capitals and the prominent roles they play in the assertion of national identity.

"This new, expanded edition of Architecture, Power, and National Identity examines how architecture and urban design have been manipulated in the service of politics. Focusing on the design of parliamentary complexes in capital cities across the world, it shows how these places reveal the struggles for power and identity in multicultural nation-states. Building on the prize-winning first edition, Yale updates the text and illustrations to account for recent sociopolitical changes, includes discussion of several newly built places, and assesses the enhanced concerns for security that have preoccupied regimes in politically volatile countries. The book is truly global in scope, looking at capital cities in North America and Europe, as well as in India, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Ultimately, Yale presents an engaging, incisive combination of history, politics, and architecture to chart the evolution of state power and national identity, updatedfor the twenty-first century. Lawrence Vale is the Head of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT"--BOOK JACKET.