Imperial Architecture

Author(s):  
Edmund Thomas

From ancient Egypt to the present day, the colossal size of buildings has been considered to reflect political power. For Herodotus, architecture was an expression of dominion; the Periclean monuments of Athens seemed visibly to encourage the Athenians to reclaim their Aegeanwide political ascendancy, since, as Isocrates remarked, ‘democracy had so adorned the city with temples and sacred images that even today visitors think it is worthy to rule not only the Greeks, but also all other peoples’. The Circus Maximus, rebuilt by Trajan, was ‘a seat worthy of the nation that conquered the world’. The correspondence between Trajan and the younger Pliny, his appointed legate in Bithynia, reveals the ideological purpose of provincial architecture. Pliny pointed out such meanings, although Trajan himself modestly affected to address only practicalities. For instance, Pliny remarks that a proposed canal near Nicomedia was ‘worthy of your greatness and your concern’. Architecture was as important in constructing imperial ideology as an emperor’s portraits or the legends and images on his coins; it legitimated his regime by promoting a particular ideal that commanded respect. It is generally agreed that buildings continued to play this role under Hadrian. The preceding discussion of Antonine buildings in the province of Asia now provides grounds to modify the view that, during the middle of the century, festivals or shows replaced public buildings as the major indicator of imperial ideology. One should, of course, be wary of using modern labels like ‘message’, ‘persuasion’, ‘propaganda’, or ‘ideology’ to describe the purpose of ancient forms. But in the present context the term ‘ideology’ seems particularly appropriate. As J. B. Thompson defines the concept, it highlights: . . . the ways in which meaning is mobilized in the service of individuals and groups, that is, the ways in which the meaning constructed and conveyed by symbolic forms serves, in particular circumstances, to establish and sustain structured social relations from which some individuals and groups benefit more than others, and which some individuals and groups have an interest in preserving while others may seek to contest. . . .

Author(s):  
Mustofa Umar

The existence of civilization cannot be separated from the existence of human beings. Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt were the centers of the oldest civilization in the world. Both Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt had typical characteristics. Mesopotamian civilization was more non-physical compared to Egypt. Sciences were emphasized more in Mesopotamia, while Egypt emphasized religious aspects. Political systems in both areas were almost the same, that is, absolutism and considered the king as god. Mesopotamia was more humanist than Egypt. The effectiveness of both civilizations was determined much by political power and economy.


Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1(58)) ◽  
pp. 361-376
Author(s):  
Marta Kubiszyn

"One Would Rarely Venture behind the Krakowska Gate…": Imaginary Boundaries of the Jewish District in Lublin in Memories of Pre‑war Inhabitants Up until the World War II, Jews played an important role in the history of Lublin. At least since the 16th century, Jews had lived in the segregated district of Podzamcze, called the “Jewish Town”. Although they started to inhabit the Old Town in 1862 and eventually lived in all parts of Lublin by the interwar period, the former boundaries between the “Jewish” and “Christian” parts of the city remained strongly imprinted in social memory, affecting everyday existence. This article analyses the imaginary boundaries that delineated the “Jewish” district of Lublin in the pre‑World War II period. Drawing on oral testimonies of Christian residents of the city recorded in years 1998‑2005 and archival materials such as articles from local papers, documents of communal institutions, and photos from the 1920s and 1930s, the opposing categories of “ours” and “theirs” have been used to describe social relations in urban space. The author of the article argues that the persistence of segregation in shared memory is expressed not only in visual forms, but it also has sound, smell and taste dimensions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Nuraini A Manan

The existence of civilization cannot be separated from the existence of human  beings. Mesopotamia  and Ancient  Egypt were the centers of the oldest civilization in the world. Both Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt had typical characteristics. Mesopotamian  civilization was more non-physical compared to Egypt. Sciences were emphasized  more in Mesopotamia, while Egypt emphasized  religious aspects. Political systems in both areas were almost the same, that is, absolutism and considered the king as god. Mesopotamia  was more humanist  than Egypt. The effectiveness of both civilizations was determined much by political power and economy.


Prospects ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 373-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Halle

For Every period except the modern, we look at art as it was displayed, and as it was seen by the contemporary viewer. Who would think, for example, of medieval art without thinking also of the cathedral and church in which the spectator saw the works? Who would consider the art of ancient Egypt and China apart from the funeral tombs of the aristocracy, for whose use and delight in the afterworld much of it was destined? Who would study Roman art without looking as well at the public monuments that celebrated and demonstrated political power to the populace of the city? In all of these cases we consider art in the context in which it was viewed at the time, and we link its meaning to the material environment in which it was located.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 8-26
Author(s):  
Vladimir A. Davydenko ◽  
Elena V. Andrianova ◽  
Tatyana M. Filippova

The first part of the work is devoted to the analysis of socio-territorial transforming one of the desolate rural lands from the perspective of an approach to phenomenological sociology. The goal is, from a theoretical point of view, to deepen the social construction scientific approach of locality, based on the study of the topological perspective between the city and the village according to such space properties as orientability, compactness and connectivity, when they remain invariant during construction changes in the working site of the territory. The methodology of structural and genetic operationalization of social space is used in terms of P. Bourdieu, rethinking the production of space by A. Lefebvre’s paradigm, its verification in terms of the phenomenology of A. Appadurai, the production of place as a center of meaning created by experience from interpretations of humanistic geography. The used combination of several paradigms provides a theoretically powerful basis for understanding how interlocal social relations, lifeworlds, and the found out identities of the territory inhabitants between the city and the village are interconnected. The theoretical object of research is local communities in rural and suburban areas. General hypothesis of the research: at present, a new modification of the concept of “rural” has emerged, especially to the extent that it is typical for any country in the world, while global trends in the suburbanization (isolation) of individual rural areas as various forms of peripheral urban development acquire a special (priority) value, challenging A. Lefebvre’s “urban revolution” paradigm in the sense that the space of the modern world is becoming totally urbanized. This article confirms the hypothesis about the spread of the global suburbanization of Roger Cale’s theory, which is becoming more widespread and more significant phenomenon in different countries and regions of the world. This is also evidenced by the ever-expanding geography of suburban research in post-socialist countries, as well as criticism of the derived meaning concept of suburbs in relation to urban centers. The empirical evidence of this article confirms the growing importance of peripheral urban development in various forms and, in a more general context, leads to an understanding of the need to revise urban social theory in the spread context of global suburbanization. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the author’s rethinking of the reproduction concept of space both at the symbolic level of local subjectivity and in specific ties to the life worlds of the new territories inhabitants of spatial development, with the author’s empirical confirmation of the proposed approaches, conclusions and presented databases.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Avelino Barbosa

The fast urbanization in many regions of the world has generated a high competition between cities. In the race for investments and for international presence, some cities have increasingly resorting to the territorial marketing techniques like city branding. One of the strategies of recent years has been to use of creativity and / or labeling of creative city for the promotion of its destination. This phenomenon raises a question whether the city branding programs have worked in accordance with the cultural industries of the territory or if such labels influence the thought of tourists and locals. This paper begins by placing a consideration of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) and the strategies of the Territorial Marketing Program of the city of Lyon in France, Only Lyon. It also raises the question the perception of the target public to each of the current actions through semi-structured interviews which were applied between May and August 2015. Finally, I will try to open a discussion the brand positioning adopted by the city of Lyon


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 386-389
Author(s):  
Eduardo Oliveira

Evinç Doğan (2016). Image of Istanbul, Impact of ECoC 2010 on The City Image. London: Transnational Press London. [222 pp, RRP: £18.75, ISBN: 978-1-910781-22-7]The idea of discovering or creating a form of uniqueness to differentiate a place from others is clearly attractive. In this regard, and in line with Ashworth (2009), three urban planning instruments are widely used throughout the world as a means of boosting a city’s image: (i) personality association - where places associate themselves with a named individual from history, literature, the arts, politics, entertainment, sport or even mythology; (ii) the visual qualities of buildings and urban design, which include flagship building, signature urban design and even signature districts and (iii) event hallmarking - where places organize events, usually cultural (e.g., European Capital of Culture, henceforth referred to as ECoC) or sporting (e.g., the Olympic Games), in order to obtain worldwide recognition. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-143
Author(s):  
Ocean Howell

American urban historians have begun to understand that digital mapping provides a potentially powerful tool to describe political power. There are now important projects that map change in the American city along a number of dimensions, including zoning, suburbanization, commercial development, transportation infrastructure, and especially segregation. Most projects use their visual sources to illustrate the material consequences of the policies of powerful agencies and dominant planning ‘regimes.’ As useful as these projects are, they often inadvertently imbue their visualizations with an aura of inevitability, and thereby present political power as a kind of static substance–possess this and you can remake the city to serve your interests. A new project called ‘Imagined San Francisco’ is motivated by a desire to expand upon this approach, treating visual material not only to illustrate outcomes, but also to interrogate historical processes, and using maps, plans, drawings, and photographs not only to show what did happen, but also what might have happened. By enabling users to layer a series of historical urban plans–with a special emphasis on unrealized plans–‘Imagined San Francisco’ presents the city not only as a series of material changes, but also as a contingent process and a battleground for political power.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-35
Author(s):  
Julian Wolfreys

Writers of the early nineteenth century sought to find new ways of writing about the urban landscape when first confronted with the phenomena of London. The very nature of London's rapid growth, its unprecedented scale, and its mere difference from any other urban centre throughout the world marked it out as demanding a different register in prose and poetry. The condition of writing the city, of inventing a new writing for a new experience is explored by familiar texts of urban representation such as by Thomas De Quincey and William Wordsworth, as well as through less widely read authors such as Sarah Green, Pierce Egan, and Robert Southey, particularly his fictional Letters from England.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony G Picciano ◽  
Robert V. Steiner

Every child has a right to an education. In the United States, the issue is not necessarily about access to a school but access to a quality education. With strict compulsory education laws, more than 50 million students enrolled in primary and secondary schools, and billions of dollars spent annually on public and private education, American children surely have access to buildings and classrooms. However, because of a complex and competitive system of shared policymaking among national, state, and local governments, not all schools are created equal nor are equal education opportunities available for the poor, minorities, and underprivileged. One manifestation of this inequity is the lack of qualified teachers in many urban and rural schools to teach certain subjects such as science, mathematics, and technology. The purpose of this article is to describe a partnership model between two major institutions (The American Museum of Natural History and The City University of New York) and the program designed to improve the way teachers are trained and children are taught and introduced to the world of science. These two institutions have partnered on various projects over the years to expand educational opportunity especially in the teaching of science. One of the more successful projects is Seminars on Science (SoS), an online teacher education and professional development program, that connects teachers across the United States and around the world to cutting-edge research and provides them with powerful classroom resources. This article provides the institutional perspectives, the challenges and the strategies that fostered this partnership.


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