11.3: Community and Government

Clearly, many of the palaces and complexes we have explored included accommodation of community government needs. There were others throughout history that had somewhat more pointed community needs in mind for their creation but were often combined with other purposes as well. From the time of the rise of the earliest civilizations, the needs for government and religious expression often coalesced.

In the Mesopotamian Valley of the ancient Near East, today Iraq and Iran, we see this exemplified in the structure of the Ziggurat of Ur. (Figures 11.3.1 and 11.3.2) With the idea that the deities resided in the heavens, the ziggurat was conceived as a man made mountain that served as a base for the temple, raising it closer to the celestial regions where the deities were. The pathways to the temple at the summit were steep and the approach to the gods was appropriately aggrandized and formalized. At the same time, the basic platform structure was part of a complex that included the provisions for a variety of other community services, record keeping, and commercial and governmental functions. The compact complex was located at the center of the community and in many aspects became the hub of life.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Ziggurat of Ur, Iraq. (CC BY 3.0; by Hardnfast via Wikimedia Commons)

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Digital Rendering of the Ziggurat of Ur. (Public Domain; by wikiwikiyarou via Wikimedia Commons)

The people of the ancient Near East built with mud brick, sometimes baked, that has not proven to be durable, so the remains of these structures, constructed from around 2,400 BCE until the sixth century BCE, are generally not well preserved. Still, there are sufficient clues in the ruins to reconstruct the ways they were built and used.

The Romans generally made provisions for community functions in the forum, an open public space at the center of each city; the cities were often laid out in a grid plan organized with areas dedicated to various types of industrial, commercial, communal, and residential needs like The Master Plan of Verbonia. The number and types of buildings varied, but they often included temples, libraries, markets, public baths (thermae), and judicial structures. The Forum at the heart of Rome was the site of numerous architectural statements and additions for the public good that were created by successive rulers.

One of the most influential of the buildings in the Forum of Trajan in Rome was the Basilica Ulpia, a center for law courts, business, and public gatherings. (Figure 11.3.3) The basilica included a long and broad open center space, a nave, flanked by aisles that fluidly expanded the area. (Figure 11.3.4) This design provided a readily adaptable concept for other purposes, most notably perhaps the congregational space needed for Christian churches that would arise in later centuries as the Christian populace grew.

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Remains of the Basilica Ulpia. (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0; Steven Zucker, via Flickr)

Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Plan of the Forum of Trajan. (CC BY-SA 3.0; by Slånbär via Wikimedia Commons)

Significant community spaces sometimes have as their boundaries adjoining but separate architectural structures. These spaces are nonetheless important gathering places that need to be considered as such and in connection with the surrounding architecture that defines them. The National Mall in Washington, D.C., is one such place. (Figure 11.3.5) We identify it by its location within the capitol city and by its placement among all the government and other public/community buildings that line and define it. One only has to see it as a site for a presidential inauguration celebration or other large public gatherings to realize its significance as a community center.

Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): National Mall, Washington, DC. (CC BY-SA 4.0; by Matti Blume via Wikimedia Commons)

Community needs for ceremony and entertainment have been addressed with specifically purposed architectural works since antiquity as well. Both the Greek and the Romans designed and built theaters, outdoor structures for dramatic performances, and amphitheaters, round or oval buildings with a central space for events, that provided models for such structures to this day. (Figures 11.3.6 and 11.3.7) While the basic concepts were devised by the Greeks to present religious festivals and ritual dramas, the Romans with their great ingenuity in engineering and material development added considerably to the potential for these designs to cater to changing needs and broader applications.

Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\): Theatre of Epidaurus. (CC BY-SA 3.0; by Olecorre via Wikimedia Commons)

Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\): Colosseum in Rome. (CC BY-SA 4.0; by Andreas Tille via Wikimedia Commons)

One of the most important contributions to the history of architecture was the Roman develop- ment of concrete for use as building material. Its greater strength, flexibility, and potential for adaptation made concrete far superior to the cut stone used to that point. These advances enabled the Ro- mans to create new architectural forms by expand-ing the types of vaulting and means of spanning space they had previously used. Both of these important community structures, the theater and the amphitheater, were enlarged and put to new uses because of the Roman architectural contributions.

Pacific Island cultures, as do those of Native Americans, particularly venerate tribal heritage and so celebrate the communal events related to their heritage. Native North Americans of the Kwakiutl Nation created the clan totems, objects or animals that hold significance for a group of people, at the Wawadit’la, also known as the Mungo Martin House in honor of the chief and artist who built it in Victoria, British Columbia. (Figure 11.3.8) The recognition and celebration of their shared culture is expressed, as well, in the Meeting House of the Maori people at Waitangi, New Zealand, with its deep front porch and big open hall for group events. (Figures 11.3.9 and 11.3.10) Additionally, the carved and painted decorations inside and out have specific iconographic and symbolic significance for the individuals who gather together at such communal sites.

Figure \(\PageIndex{8}\): Wawadit'la, also known as Mungo Martin House, a Kwakwaka'wakw "big house", with heraldic pole. (CC BY-SA 2.5; Chief Mungo Martin, by Ryan Bushby via Wikimedia Commons)

Figure \(\PageIndex{9}\): Whare at Waitangi Treaty House site. (CC BY-SA 4.0; by Andy king50 via Wikimedia Commons)

Figure \(\PageIndex{10}\): Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. (CC BY 2.0; by Phil Whitehouse via Wikimedia Commons)