Symbolism and Place

Humans have always used symbols, and archeo-logical evidence suggests that in nearly all societies, including prehistoric ones, particular places have held symbolic significance. Symbols are stand-ins for something, whether material (as in the case of places) or not (as in the case of the dove of peace or the Nazi swastika). Indeed, places are intrinsically symbolic, since places are, by their very nature, a part of space with meaning.

Geographers have long been interested in symbolic places and how symbols represent places. The Parthenon represented the birthplace of democracy in ancient Greece as, among U.S. citizens, the Liberty Bell may stand for independence from England. Paris and France may be symbolized by the Eiffel Tower, and St. Louis, Missouri, may be symbolized by its Arch. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, when New York City lost one of its significant symbols, an element in the debate about what would replace it involved the issue of whether to combine the symbolism of New York's dominance with memorialization of the victims of the terrorist attack.

Humans have imbued features of the natural as well as the built environment with symbolism. Ayers Rock in Australia, the San Francisco Peaks of Arizona, and Shaman's Rock in Baikal all have symbolic value to indigenous peoples, sometimes representing the domain of the gods or sacred space. The built environment of most cultures is replete with such sacred symbols—the medieval cathedral, the mosque, pilgrimage sites, and graveyards. Many countries are also imbued with symbols of the state, whether the mega blocks of Soviet communism or the Greco-Roman town hall of many small towns in the United States. Perhaps most pervasive in the newer built environments worldwide are symbols of the power of Mammon. As others have shown, the rich are more able to imprint their symbolism in places than are the poor.

The purposeful construction of buildings intended to be symbols has accelerated since the late 20th century; indeed, the millennium itself was intended to be symbolized in Britain by the eponymous Millennium Dome, a project characterized by cost overruns, delays, and rapid obsolescence. The Renaissance Center was built to symbolize Detroit's emergence from a dark age of urban distress. The world's tallest buildings, including Malaysia's Petronas Towers, Taipei's 101, the Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Shanghai's World Financial Center, and Seoul's International Business Center, symbolize [Page 2768]a never-ending race for superlative height and associated global status. The transformation of Bilbao from working industrial port to leisure destination is symbolized in Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, while each symbol of Dubai's conspicuous consumption outdoes its predecessors—from the Burj Arab to the Palm and World Islands. Sydney's Opera House arguably remains the only globally iconic symbol in Australia's built environment. Beijing's “bird's nest” stadium reflected the aspiration that the 2008 Olympics would be a coming-out party for China as a global superpower. The list of recently built and future projects intended to “put a city on the world map” expands with each mega event and burst of capitalistic optimism.

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