National Identity- A Semse of a Nation as a Cohesive Whole...

National Identity - A sense of a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language1 The architecture of the Twentieth century has been shaped by powerful social, economic and political forces. This has stemmed from influence of war, diverse political regimes, national and international architectural movements and technological development. Along with this architects and ideas has been able to travel around the world more than ever before and from this designs have become apparent that sought to break with the past. Architecture that was once specific and local has now become global. It would seem that the national identity of the past has been sacrificed for the development of modernity. The†¦show more content†¦What is the architects role in cultural production? Is the architect an author or merely a service provider? A new era needs to begin were someone subverts this modern architectural language and brings back the national identity of a country, no matter how subtle it may be. Architectural styles have constantly been challenged and questioned throughout history so why cant this one? A key issue that arises from this is the idea of Preservation vs Modernisation. Preservation is a key aspect in keeping a national identity but this should not hold back the evolution of a country. Sentimentality should not take centre stage and preservation should only be acknowledged if the architecture can fulfil the function of the modern world. There would seem to be a fine line between national identity and modern evolution of a country. To truly understand what national identity means in a contemporary setting we must look back to the past and understand what it meant then and where we started to lose the notion of national identity. It would seem that national identity was lost far before the modern architecture of today. It can be traced back to the Modernist architecture movement, especially post WWII. The loss was through a lifeless environment of huge objects, bumper to bumper. The imperious and mute buildings [fig.1], with their endless rows of sameness, are in fact a shining example of modernist architecture taken at random from the cities of