Nationalism and urban design: the parliament houses of Canberra and Bangkok. Issue 4 (4th July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sintusingha, Sidh; King, Ross
• Is Part Of: Journal of urban design. Volume 26:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 496
• Page End: 513
• Publication Date: 2021-07-04
• Subjects: City planning -- Periodicals; 711.4
• DOI: 10.1080/13574809.2021.1874239
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1357-4809

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Both Canberra and Bangkok have in recent times invoked design competitions to initiate new Parliament buildings. The Canberra case was in a tradition of open international competition, that of Bangkok limited to Thai architects, with both bringing 'the nation' into deliberation. In each, the design needed to negotiate an established urban landscape: in Canberra an urban design of axial set-pieces, formal and geometric, of largely US derivation; in Bangkok, a less ordered urban landscape, organically evolved over centuries. The resulting urban design complexes raise questions of how the idea of the nation is to be represented in urban space.