Democracy and Space in The Architecture of UK - Essay Example

 Democracy and Space In any second or third world country, buildings hold a significant place among the people and the entire society. Similarly, the symbolism of the buildings acts as both landmarks and centers of proving services to the electorate. Therefore, in order for these buildings to attract the local and foreign tourists and still play their roles for the benefits of its voters, they must possess some special components. On that note, this discussion is going to dwell on understanding three key buildings in United Kingdom namely the Scottish Parliament Building, Greater London Authority (GLA) and Great Hall of the People (Barnett, 2004). In this case, the paper attempts to explain their architectural design, history, the reasons for establishment and the authorities it serves. Furthermore, the essay analyzes the significance of the buildings to both the people and the society. For example, the discussion attempts to understand why the legislature of the Scottish Parliament is critical to the masses of Scotland and how it influences their regular lives. Alternatively, in understanding the effects, the essay also investigates the different modes of communication used by these buildings in reaching their subjects. These include the media such web-casting and live coverage among other forms of media to communicate effectively to the citizens (Books, 2010). Finally, in terms of symbolism and significance, the discussion expounds on the theme of democracy. This analysis looks at the reasons why the buildings are interconnected with the political doctrine of democracy and how they the influence the masses in terms of policy implementation. The Scottish Parliament Building involves several components that this paper shall attempt to explore. For example, the Scottish Parliament Building is situated at Holyrood and is the home of Scottish Parliament in a land of about 1.6 ha and 480m perimeter. This magnificent building stands near UNESCO World Heritage Site in the middle of Edinburgh and its foundation begun in the month of June in 1999. Similarly, the first debate session by Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) commenced on 7th September in 2004 with official launch of the building by Queen Elizabeth occurring on 9th October 2004. In addition, the modern Scottish Parliament Building is comprised of a parliamentary complex with one purpose of accommodating 129 MSPs and staff and civil servants exceeding 1000 (Bowie, 2009). Additionally, the architectural design of the Parliament was purposed to make a representation and presentation of the national identity of the people of Scotland. This was depicted by its bold and controversial pillar designs that had been made by Miralles. Apart from rooms that can accommodate MSPs and civil servants; there are also spacious rooms for researchers and other parliamentary staff. Alternatively, the Scottish Parliament Building was designed in accordance with the culture of Scotland in terms of the elevation of buildings (Rutherford, 2004). The building is welcome to visitors every year with weekends, non-sitting days such as Mondays and Fridays visitors being permitted to view the public galleries that house the debating chamber and key committee rooms. Furthermore, when parliament has gone on recess visitors can come into the floor chamber and other places under the guidance of parliamentary guide. On the other hand, Greater London Authority (GLA) is the main administrative body covering the areas of Greater London in England. On that note, it comprises of an executive Mayor who is directly elected together with another 25-member London Assembly bestowed with scrutiny powers. Similarly, it is significant to note that the Authority came into being in 2000 after a local referendum with the Greater London Authority Act 1999 and that 2007 granting it most of its powers. Alternatively, the (GLA) as a regional authority with different strategies has authority over sector such as policing, transport economic development, fire and emergency among other areas (Barnett, 2004). On that perspective, it is critical to mention the four bodies of the (GLA) that function for the benefit of the people of London. They include Transport for London, London Development Agency, Metropolitan Police Authority and the London Fire Emergency Planning Authority who have the mandate for providing services in their respective areas of roles. In addition, the financing of the Greater London Authority comes from grant that is direct from the government and other funds coming from Council tax. Similarly, it can be added that in terms of elections, structure and choice of powers in the local government organization of the British then the (GLA) is unique. Additionally, the foundation of the authority had the purpose of substituting other joint boards with the intention to grant a tier in the local government after elections in London. This came after the eradication of the Greater London Council in around the year 1986. Furthermore, GLA is mandated with tactical administration of the whole Greater London with its powers interconnected with those of the 32 councils of London boroughs including the City of London Corporation (Bowie, 2009). Furthermore, it plays the role of enhancing the harmonization involving the powers in Greater London. On that aspect, the Mayor of London oversees most of the GLA’s policies in terms of budget, executive appointments that govern the capital that include Transport for London and others. Furthermore, the proposed budget by the Mayor can be accepted or amended on a yearly basis to serve its intended purpose. When it comes, to the Great Hall of the People, there are also other critical issues involved that warrants this discussion. On that note, the explanation will start by noting that Great Hall entails the central room that permits meeting of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). In addition, it also allows the meeting of National People’s Congress (NPC) after very half a decade. Great Hall of the People just like Scottish Parliament Building or GLA is authorized to citizens during recess periods when the meetings are not taking place. In addition, here both local and foreign and local tourists are shown specific places inside led by an experienced guide. The enormity of the building gives the advantage of hosting other non-political entities such as the American Country Music when they went for performance in the January 2009. (Wilmot, 2006). In addition, a distinctive great hall comprised of a room of rectangular shape that measured one and a half with an approximated length three times greater than the width. The meaning of the spacious design is show the transparency that the Communist Party has for its people. When entering, one used the screens passage at one side with one of the long sides having long windows. On that note, it architectural designs entail a building occupying a space of about 171,800 square meters with a length of about 365 meters and 206.5 meters in terms of width. On that aspect, during those periods, a great hall was meant for welcoming guests and a room for dining as a family together with the other delegate members. The building that came to being in 1958 after 10 months toil by volunteers has a main gate at its eaves that welcomes visitors with the national emblem hung portraying the People’s Republic of China (Bowie, 2009). Similarly, the Great Hall of the People is made up of three sections that include the central section mentioned earlier called the Great Auditorium followed by the Main Auditorium and the Congress Halls. It is the latter where Standing Committee convenes their meetings. In terms architectural design of its measurement, the Great Auditorium has a volume of about 90,000 cubic meters with 3,603 seats found in the lower auditorium and balcony having 3,515 and about 300 in the public gallery. On that perspective, after describing the three symbolic buildings, it is imperative comparisons in terms of symbolism, history, architecture, significance and function among others. Therefore, in terms of history, the Scottish Parliament Building emerged as a result of pressure to establish an independent parliament after the creation of the Scottish National Party. Furthermore, because of the amalgamation of the parliament of Scotland and that England after the passing of the Act of Union in 1707 this caused a lack of legislature for the Scots. This therefore, necessitated a referendum by the voters of Scotland that took place on September 11th in 1997. On that perspective, after a site selection and the selection of designer, the Scottish Parliament Building finally came to be on September 7th, 2004. In contrast, the Great London Authority (GLA) came as result of elimination of the Greater London Council by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government (Rodwin & Gusmano, 2006). In both cases, between the establishment of the Scottish Parliament Building and the GLA, there was discontent as witnessed in the case of GLA. In this scenario, abolition of GLC was caused by the suspicion that Labor Party under the leadership of Livingstone was misusing funds in maintaining the Greater London Council. Furthermore, other supporters of the abolition cited the pressure from the councils of outer London Boroughs who felt they had the ability to execute the roles of the GLC. In addition, Labor Party came with a policy of implementing another body that could oversee the former functions of the GLC brought to function again. Similarly, a referendum was conducted the same as that of the establishment of the Scottish Parliament Building which gave birth to GLA in 1998, May. However, the Greater London Authority Act came to being in 1999 with assent of the Royalty occurring October 1999 with official establishment of the GLA occurring on July, 2000. On the other hand, for the Great Hall of the People, its history stems to from around the late 1950s (Rodwin & Gusmano, 2006). However, the rebirth of modern Great Hall of the People also emerged after many decades of civilization where it assists in making and amending laws that directly influence the People’s Republic of China. However, in terms of architecture, the Scottish Parliament Building depicts and artistic vision in terms of its Macintosh design. In addition, its architectural design is keen to little details with the application of non-indigenous materials such granite and slab that came from China and not Scotland. In addition, the fusion of arts and crafts can only be compared to the architecture of the British. On the flip side, the Greater London Authority building had the architecture involving materials such as red sandstone with four big blocks almost getting to the river but a large portion to the open yard (Wood & Valler, 2004). The similarity of architecture is that both designs resemble foreign architecture such as the GLA that designed in the manner of Russian architecture. Additionally, the GLA building is made up of traditional materials such as yellow render, stone and glass among others. However, this is contrast with the materials used in the architecture of Scottish Building Parliament came from foreign nation instead of the native country. Alternatively, the architecture of the Great Hall of China comprised of large auditoriums divided into sections composed of seats that are meant to accommodate more than 10,000 delegates (Rodwin & Gusmano, 2006). Furthermore, a galaxy of lights decorates the ceiling of the Great Hall complimented with pattern of water waves. These architectural techniques both represent the society including its values and traditions. Otherwise, the similarity between the three symbolic buildings in that they both copied foreign architectural designs to establish magnificent buildings. Additionally, the decorations of Great Hall of the People exuded beauty especially the huge window frames which signified the importance of such a building as compared to the other two that played equally critical roles. In terms of communication between each other, there are varied ways in which Scottish Parliament Building, Great London Authority and Great Hall of the People make their communications to one another. For instance, the Scottish Parliament Building has made tremendous achievements in terms owning a broadcasting office that facilitates its media coverage (Egan, 2007). On that note, several independent media channels that are cover the ongoing debates in the Scottish Parliament Building. In addition, whenever committee sessions occur outside Edinburgh, there is web-casting to increase viewership by the citizenship. There is also the corridor labeled black and white that which is found outside the chambers and it’s similar to Westminster lobby of the Great Hall where broadcasters can speak and film. On the other hand, in the Greater London Authority, under section of 357 of the Act, there is an instituted body called Cultural Strategy Group for London (CSGL) that is mandated to counsel the Mayor of London on execution of culture strategy. Therefore, the CSGL has the role of planning and presenting to the Mayor a rough strategy detailing the recommended policies pertaining to culture, media and communication among others. Furthermore, the policies touch on broadcasting and film production of daily events happening at the various departments of GLA (Parker, 2001). Similarly, when it comes to Great Hall of the People, the scenario is almost related to that of the Scottish Parliament Building. Additionally, the Great Hall involves live coverage of events by permitting TV crews and other radio in its sections of its auditoriums. On that perspective, we can observe that in both cases, there is willingness by both Houses to communicate with the citizens. Similarly, when it comes to their significance to both the people and the society, there are numerous examples that we can give. For instance, both society and the people believe the Scottish Parliament Building stands for liberal reformism meaning it is there reclaim the lost liberal democracy. Furthermore, the building symbolizes defiance against the Union, the civil society, which the low-class Scots believe, have refused to remove Scotland out of the Union. Alternatively, these low-status Scots see the Scottish Parliament Building as a body that can confront the social order of capitalism that only favors the upper-class in the country. This is depicted by the slanting marble floors that show the struggle of the Scotts (Taylor, 2002). On the other hand, Greater London Authority plays a crucial role through the local councils that are supervised by the Mayor of London. On that account, the GLA under the Mayor in ensuring efficiency of transport for the public through funding and other related transport strategies The society also benefits through fast and efficient transport system where the passengers take the shortest time at bus and railway stations. In contrast, the Great Hall of China is representation of ceremonial activities for People’s Republic of China and legislative issues of the Communist Party just like the Scottish Parliament Building (Sharma, 2004). Apart from overseeing legislative cases, the Great Hall of China also handles the influx of tourists especially those from foreign nations as far as America and Europe in order to generate revenue through foreign exchange. Similarly, the Great Hall of China symbolizes a pride among the People’s Republic of China due its magnificence in terms of its architectural design and accommodation facilities. In terms of depiction of democracy, both buildings have a certain representation that governs its people and society. For example, the Scottish Parliament Building ability to reserve a lobby for the press for fair and transparent coverage of proceedings is an act of democracy. On that note, this helps the nation of Scots to view and comprehend the policies and laws being passed in their legislature and how they can participate (Allan, 2003). Furthermore, the establishment of the Scottish Parliament Building portrayed advancement in giving space that is more democratic that never in Scotland. Therefore, because of the erection of the building, the citizens have a platform to articulate their wishes, which demonstrates democracy. However, when it comes to Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London represents democracy in terms of the passing of various policies in different stages before ratification. In addition, the residents who are the beneficiaries of the services under the GLA have the democratic responsibility to petition the GLA on poor services in terms of basic amenities. Similarly, when it comes to the transport sector that is under the jurisdiction of GLA, the Mayor has to consult members of the public in identifying what suits and does not suit the public. On the other hand, the democracy of the Great Hall of China is depicted in terms of its implantation of policies and laws affecting the citizens of China (Bekkers, 2007). Alternatively, with powers of legislation, it means its legislators have to debate a motion before it is assented as law. In view of democracy, this means Great Hall of China works in accordance with the wishes of the electorate through making and amending laws that influence their daily lives. On that aspect, it can be observed that both powers bestowed upon the buildings are purposed to serve their people and restore democracy. In summary, the discussion can observe a number of critical matters that are paramount in comprehending the three buildings. For example, Scottish Parliament Building, Greater London Authority (GLA) and Great Hall had both rich histories, which facilitated their establishment. On that note, advanced architectural design was put in place to ensure they stood out as magnificent buildings with the purpose of serving the citizens. Similarly, due to their significance in making key decisions affecting the masses, a lot of funds have been invested in ensuring only the best buildings are erected. In addition, buildings such as Scottish Parliament Building and Great Hall of China play both symbolic and functional role in their capacities. For example, in terms of symbolism, both buildings attract mostly foreign tourists who generate foreign exchange for country and create employment for guides (Mazanec & Wober, 2009). On the other hand, when it comes to functionality, the Scottish Parliament Building is responsible for making and amending laws that determine the welfare of its citizens. In addition, the Greater London Authority (GLA) through the Mayor of London ensures that the local authorities transform the transport sector to satisfy the masses. Similarly, when it comes to Great Hall of China it is mandated to be a meeting point of several delegates and satisfy the curiosity of its citizens through the majestic architectural designs. Another crucial summary worth noting is that the buildings also act as symbols of democracy in terms allowing the media to cover it live debates affecting the citizens (Estlund, 2009). Finally, the buildings are established to last a long time for the prosperity of other generations in making and mending their laws and exercising their democratic rights. References Allan, J. (2003). Inclusion, participation, and democracy: what is the purpose? 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