From Jakarta to Leiden, from Buenos Aires to New York, architecture provides much more than shelter—it provides considerable cultural, political, and philosophical meaning as well. With Cities Full of Symbols,Peter J. M. Nas brings together internationally renowned sociologists, social geographers, and historians to debate the role of architectural symbols in the urban landscape. Looking specifically at 9/11 memorial designs, the design of the city of Cape Town as a remnant of Dutch colonialism, and the image of the ship washed ashore by a tsunami in Banda Aceh, this volume will be of interest to scholars of architecture, urban design, and policymaking.
[...]... 2_Layout 2 21-10-11 12:11 Pagina 23 departure and compares the symbolism of the Javanese cities of Kudus and Blitar These respectively are a sacral and a profane pilgrimage city, i.e the city of one of the Islamic saints or wali sanga, Jafar Shodiq, also called Sunan Kudus, and the burial place of the late President Sukarno Both iconic cities are quite complete with respect to material and behavioral... as a method for data collection In addition, the chapters in this volume shed light on other related phenomena such as urban history, urbanization and urbanism; wounded and resilient cities; urban identity and image; city branding, promotion and marketing; and urban development and planning We conclude that the study of urban symbolism is a necessary and in- triguing complement to classic physical and. .. ful of Symbols Boek 2_Layout 2 21-10-11 12:10 Pagina 21 vailing linear religious spatial configuration much more complex by addition and splitting up of the axis This material and spiritual linear aspect is complemented by a circular behavioral and spiritual aspect Yogyakarta is characterized by an abundance of rituals and ceremonies as behavioral symbol bearers When they mark the limits around the palace... ‘Ritual Action and City History: Haarlem, Amsterdam and Hasselt.’ In: Heidi de Mare and Anna Vos (eds.), Urban Rituals in Italy and The Netherlands, pp 93-106 Assen: Van Gorcum Jezernik, Bozidar (ed.) (1999) Urban Symbolism and Rituals: Proceedings of the International Symposium Organised by the IUAES Commission on Urban Anthropology, Ljubljana, June 23-25, 1997 Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology:... declined amorphous rituals and symbolism, the yearly festivities of Leiden’s Relief on 3 October are more homogenous and concentrated, and can be seen as a ‘total ritual event’ This, according to Nas and Roymans (1998), is the extraordinary creation of time, space and social area that allows the reconstitution of the urban individual and the community It is a celebration involving various settings, such as... symbolical handling of the 9/11 trauma As noted earlier, Peter J.M Nas and Pierpaolo De Giosa will round up this volume in Chapter 14 They set the task to develop a codification of urban symbolism research and en- deavor to formulate a new theoretical approach elaborating the aspect of urban social cohesion All chapters in this volume contribute in their own way to the study of urban space and symbolism... yet by its inhabitants Cities ful of Symbols Boek 2_Layout 2 21-10-11 12:11 Pagina 22 Banda Aceh is the capital of Aceh Province on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia It was hit hard by the tsunami and Rob van Leeuwen (Chapter 7) has analyzed the symbolism of the place before and after this tragedy Initially, by means of mental maps, the changes in symbolism appear to be quite limited as the new symbolic... provision of basic services to their inhabitants Besides discussing other cities in Asia, he also focuses on Jakarta and even its rapid urbanization phase after Independence is considered ‘urbanization without ur- banism’ In this framework Evers explains the layers of material symbolism – as discussed earlier in this introduction – as a means of covering this lack of urbanism It is analyzed as virtual urbanism... multiple part of urban life as well as the foundation for the attraction of the city In this introduction, four types of symbol bearers are distinguished: material, discursive, iconic and behavioral symbol bearers Architecture plays an important role as one of the significant symbol carriers, but urban symbolism is something much larger The nature in Jakarta and Cape Town and the websites of Tournai and. .. social urban research, putting urban development and change in a more comprising and evocative framework The urban symbolism 1 Introduction – Variety of Symbols approach may enrich urban studies tremendously and should be an essential part of all studies on individual cities As such this volume is relevant for urban officials as well as for scholars in different fields of study, such as sociology, anthropology, . namely Urban Symbolism (Nas, 1993), a special issue of the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research with the title Urban Rituals and Symbols (Nas, 1998), Urban Symbolism and Rituals. identified as the judicial capital of the world, as the Peace Palace and affiliated institutions are located there. One mental map in Luo (2009) indicates the dichotomy of day and night and of water and. space and social area that allows the reconstitution of the urban individual and the community. It is a celebration involving various settings, such as a parade, a fun fair, the handing-out of