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    Identity by spatial design: Topos, a principle derived fromhistoric and vernacular cultures

    Renate Bornberg*

    Institut fur Entwerfen und Stadtebau, Leibniz Universitat Hannover, Herrenhauser Strae 8,Hanover 30419, Germany

    The aim of this paper is to advocate the adoption of categorising public open space by introducing one suchcategory, termed Topos. This category dealing with place-bound identity, creating collective memory and asense of belonging to, was chosen because it turned out to be very robust, that is, it was found in almost all

    investigated cultures around the world. Building on historic examples as well as vernacular settlements, thispaper investigates the role of Topos and its design components. Characteristic elements that emerged duringthe broader research will be highlighted, as well as how they can ameliorate contemporary urban design.URBAN DESIGN International (2008) 13, 182200. doi:10.1057/udi.2008.25

    Keywords: urban design; place-bound identity; categories of public open space; comparative studies; anthropology

    Introduction

    The subject of urban design has been hotlydebated in all European countries for the lastdecades. Good urban design is seen to be anappropriate vehicle to meet the demands forsustainable, liveable and secure urban environ-ments as well as to foster economic development(Florida, 2005). It is believed that good quality ofurban design will create a sense of belonging toand increase well-being of its users. Scholarswidely agree that good quality of urban designcan and will meet these demands. In the processof creating good-quality urban design, the sup-port of face-to-face human interaction seems to bemost relevant for the goal to receive well-acceptedand well-used public open spaces (Jacobs, 1961;

    Newman, 1973; Gehl, 1987; Whyte, 1995; Tibbalds,2001). Wherever good-quality public spaces areavailable, people enjoy using the amenities thatare provided, such as outdoor cafes, facilities forsitting and watching others, window shoppingand so on (Whyte, 1995); particularly in Europe, a

    boom in the use of public open space can be

    observed, even in regions where the inconve-niences of weather seem detrimental (Gehl andGemzoe, 2001). A thorough understanding ofthis phenomenon is given by many scholars(eg Sennett, 1976, 1994; Crowhurst-Lennard and

    Lennard, 1995; Tibbalds, 2001; Haussermann andSiebel, 2004; Siebel, 2004). The results of observa-tions of human behaviour in public open space(Newman, 1973; Gehl, 1987; Whyte, 1995) guidedurban designers in creating well-accepted andwell-used public open spaces. A balanced mix ofuses of buildings, moderate traffic flow, staggeredopening times of cafes, offices and shops, outdoorrestaurants, coupled with all sots of sitting spacesand natural elements are the core elements inestablishing well-accepted places in cities andtowns (Figure 1).

    A mix of use of the adjacent buildings, seatings,outdoor cafes, fresh markets or nicely designedpavements led to very successful public openspaces, when success is measured in terms of thegrade of use. However, such approaches are stillfar from being generally applicable. To bring asimple example, there are public open spaces thatare not designed according to such suggestions,however are widely believed to be most beautifuland are often role models for the design of new

    *Correspondence: Tel: 49-511-762-2127, Fax: 49-511-762-2135, E-mails: [email protected], [email protected]

    URBAN DESIGN International (2008) 13, 182200r 2008 Palgrave Macmillan. 1357-5317/08

    www.palgrave-journals.com/udi

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    city spaces. The Meidan el Shah in Isfahan(Figure 2), the Red Square in Moscow, TianamenSquare in Beijing, Plaza Luna of ancient Teoti-huacan (Figure 3) or St. Peters Square in Rome(Figure 4), to just name a few, are not only mostsplendid in outlook, but are also believed to be

    masterpieces of public open space design, manyof them being world heritage. This suggests thattheir design follows a different set of underlyingrules than the ones described above. With a closerlook to many historic cities, villages and evenvernacular compounds, it turns out that public

    Figure 1. Manchesters new city centre on a warm and sunny day where all come out and enjoy the urban

    environment.

    Figure 2. Meidan el Shah, Isfahan.

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    open space had and often still has variousfunctions and each space is designed accordingto its main assigned function. The functions ofpublic open space are manifold and, according tothe needs of a society, may be place for religiouspurpose, for mourning, worshipping gods orancestors, they may be meeting points with spirit

    beings from forests, sea or the underworld. Publicopen spaces are used to demonstrate a system ofpower, for example, a dictatorship or show thedemocratic approach of its inhabitants. Otherfunctions of public open space may facilitatesocial interaction, such as leisure places, meetingpoints with clan members, and others are created

    Figure 3. Plaza Luna, Teotihuacan.

    Figure 4. St. Peters Square, Rome.

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    for the interaction between inhabitants and out-siders. The main function of a space can havetechnical purpose, such as marketplaces, work-spaces for all sorts of work that have to be donecommonly (eg processing harvest, distributinggame among hunting groups, collecting waterfrom wells) or more contemporary to organisetraffic.

    The observation of historic examples taken frommany different regions of the world, fromdifferent cultural and social backgrounds as wellas stage of economic development, shows thatpublic space was almost everywhere categorisedand used according to its main function. Eachcategory was treated differently by design to bestfacilitate its main function (Bornberg, 2003). Thevarious functions were designed and used ac-

    cording to the main purpose of the space.Furthermore, it seems that solely in contemporaryWestern town planning, such a categorisation waslost or at least not used. In contemporaryEuropean urban design, public open space iswidely treated as if it was a monofunctional areawith consistent demands throughout the city ortown. However, the look at examples taken fromother regions proposes that the concept ofcategorising public open space is very successfuldue to the long and worldwide practice as longas we look outside European urban designtraditions. These observations of the study sug-

    gest that categorising public open space is notonly a concept developed and used back in thepast, but should have a fundamental meaning inour towns and cities if one attempts to improvepublic open spaces in terms of their main function.

    The objective of this paper is to empirically testthe concept of categories in public open space bydiscussing one selected category, termed hereTopos. Topos, as will be shown below, is the spacethat creates space-bound identity and civic pride.Throughout the broader study (Bornberg, 2003),this category turned out to be very robust, that is,its existence could be observed in almost allinvestigated cultures, no matter of cultural back-ground, tradition or economic system. Therefore,it serves as a perfect example to demonstrate howcategories in public open space work and whichfactors are relevant for its successful creation.Thus, the paper starts with an introduction of alimited set of Topos examples aiming to demon-strate a wide range of varieties of these spaces.Nevertheless, it is possible to delineate genotypic

    design principles underlying the space concept,which will be discussed afterwards.

    Topos, the meaningful place and creator of place-bound identity, is a very special category indeed

    since it is the space being used for socialinteraction. Thus, a short overview of work fromsocial sciences dealing with place and identitywill follow. Finally, the paper ends with anoutlook of how to implement the idea of Toposand how other categories could be (re-)intro-duced.

    Identity by space design Topos

    Topos, as it is defined here, is a particular spacewithin a city, village or compound, that can and

    shall create place-bound identity and a sense ofbelonging to. It, too, is the space that ties a groupof inhabitants together. The term Topos waschosen, because it is the Greek word for mean-ingful place.1 Since it shall create place-boundidentity, Topos is the space that stands out of allother public open areas by its splendid design,often coupled with a vastness of space and liesmore or less in the centre of the town, village orcompound. Furthermore, Topos is mostly de-signed around a particular event, rite or celebra-tion, aiming to and demonstrating the unificationof the inhabitants of a town or village.

    In the following paragraphs, some Topos exam-ples will be introduced in order to demonstratehow Topos spaces work.2 Although only fiveTopos spaces will be discussed below, theyrepresent a large variety of cultural and social

    backgrounds, economic development as well asenvironmental conditions. Not only cities in theEuropean notion (Weber, 1958) were chosen, butalso cities which appear differently, such as theInca town Huanuco Pampa or the Hindu templetown Shrirangam. Finally, vernacular compounds,

    such as the Yanoama Indians of Venezuela or thevernacular Nias settlements of Indonesia willbe discussed to highlight that Topos seems tobe deeply rooted in human interaction andorganisation of a community. However, Topos

    1This term has been agreed upon with a native Greek-speaking linguist and a native Greek town planner and urbandesigner.

    2The examples were chosen from a larger set that wereobserved and analysed in a broader study (Bornberg, 2003).

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    was not always found in its pure form. Itsometimes appeared blurred and overlappedwith other functions. But to highlight the spatialfeatures more properly in a limited contribution,the here discussed Topos examples are the onesthat are pure in their form and in their socialmeaning.

    The first case is taken from Munster, Germany, amember of the former Hanseatic League. Thecentre of the medieval town was in first place theDomimmunitat, the bishops seat with the dome,his palace and related buildings. The Domimmu-nitat had its set of laws, differing from those ofthe Burgerstadt, the settlement of the burghers,the commoners, merchants and artisan gilds(Figure 5). In late medieval times, citizens gainedpower over the bishop and got the right to build

    their own church, a town hall and their ownmarket (Weber, 1958). By building these struc-tures, Munsters citizens, like many others at thattime, demonstrated their independence from thelandlord, their power and affluence (Gruber,1983). Munsters citizens demonstrated their civicpride by building their own Topos, todaysPrinzipalmarkt. This widened street is locateddirectly outside the area of the Domimmunitatand symbolises Munsters inhabitants with the

    town hall, their church St. Lamberti and thesplendid townhouses of the ruling and mostimportant families. Although the Prinzipalmarktis a very impressive space by design, it wouldhardly function as a Topos if there were not atleast one celebration taking place here. Accord-ingly, until today many celebrations are held onPrinzipalmarkt, one of the oldest and still vital isKarneval. Karneval celebrations in the Rheintradition date back to the times when Prinzipal-markt was formed: the time of the independenceof superior landlords. Although Karneval seasonstarts on 11th of November, the most importantdays are the week before Ash Wednesday. Thisweek starts with the ceremony of passing over thekey of the town hall to the Karnevals prince (or

    jester prince) and his cabinet of jesters, while theLord Major and his counsellors are banished from

    the town hall. For the following week, jesters rulethe city and parades and street parties withpeople in fancy disguises dominate the streets.Highlight of the Karneval is the Rosenmontags-Umzug, a parade on Monday before Ash Wednes-day. Carts with gigantic caricature figures, dan-cers and jesters with banners, parade through thecity cheered up by the spectating crowd. Focalpoint of the celebration is the Prinzipalmarktwhere the passing parade is received by the

    Figure 5. Domplatz, Munster, Germany.

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    Karneval prince and his Cabinet of Eleven(Figure 6).

    The Karneval parade ties Munsters citizenstogether. Until today, many citizens are busy

    creating carts, banners and disguises alreadymonths before the actual parade. Being part ofthe parade and even more, being the electedKarnevals prince or princess is very honourable.Although Karneval is not the only event takingplace on Prinzipalmarkt, it is probably the mostimportant one. Until today, the Karneval celebra-tions coupled with the layout of Prinzipalmarkt,namely the enclosing buildings of the main noblefamilies with their splendid facades, the town halland the church St. Lamberti are creating place-

    bound identity and this Topos is, until today, avery effective creator of civic pride (Figure 7).

    Celebrations or street parades on Topos werecommon in many other European cities, too.Examples are the Florentine game of football,the Bridge game in Pisa or the bullfights in manySpanish cities (Cecchini, 1958). Some of thesecelebrations are until today important and vitalfestivals and have the same motivation as in thetimes they once were set up. All of them were andare taking place on the main square, although the

    narrow winding streets of many medieval townsdo not suit perfectly this purpose. The nextexample is taken from the widely known andoften discussed Piazza del Campo di Siena.Sienas most important celebration is the Palio, a

    horse race. The dense urban fabric, the ricketytown generally and finally the limited space onthe Piazza del Campo are not the perfect place fora horserace. However, until today the Palio is avery vital celebration. Great is the honour of thewinning team and therefore the Contradas withthe colourful flagpole- and standard bearers,musicians, jockeys and horses are chosen withgreat care and already several weeks before theactual race all Sienesans are busy with thepreparation. As in the previous example, theemergence of the Palio dates back to medievaltimes and a closer look at this time, its role for thesociety and the city reveals why this event had totake place on a comparatively small plaza in thecity centre, the Piazza del Campo.

    In the 13th century, Siena was a flourishing andwealthy city and became a regional power. Largeparts of the Tuscany were subjected and in 1260even Florence was under the dominion of Siena,however, just for a very limited period of time

    because in the 14th century Sienas importance

    Figure 6. Prinzipalmark, Munster, Germany.

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    and power faded. For the few decades of itsheydays, Sienese inhabitants wanted to demon-strate importance, power and civic pride. Afterunifying Siena with three adjacent smaller towns,

    a new city plaza was needed that could representthe newly formed city and create civic pride(Waley, 1991) (Figure 8). To symbolise inhabitantsof all former parts equally, the piazza had to lie on

    Figure 7. Karnevalsumzug in Munster on the Prinzipalmarkt, Munster, Germany.

    Figure 8. Piazza del Campo, Siena.

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    former greenland. The new piazza was also seento be the counterpart of the existing and widelyknown Piazza del Duomo, which was naturallyassociated with the bishop and his power. Thepiazza was designed in the form of a semi-circle.On the blunt and lowest end of it, the PalazzoPublico, the town hall and its magnificent clocktower, the Torre del Magnia, were built, both

    being the biggest and tallest on the piazza toexpress the democratic approach of the youngcity. All other sides were edged by the privatepalazzi of the nine noble ruling families and onlya few narrow paths lead to the piazza, whichsometimes appear just as small gaps between the

    buildings (Coubier, 1985). Ground floors are onstreet level and nowadays host outdoor cafes andrestaurants. The centre of the Piazza is a free openspace with only the Fonte Gaia, a fountain

    perched on it. Pollards divide an outer circularroad from the inner heart of the piazza.

    The Piazza del Campo is actually not an exampleof a place which has been built solely for its

    beauty and which is used for everyday life oreven more, it is actually far from being a rolemodel for a highly used plaza: the piazza issloping down more than 5%, which is, forexample, in German building regulations nearlythe maximum descend for ramps and definitelynot comfortable for standing on the Piazza orsitting in one of the outdoor areas of the cafes and

    restaurants. However, considering the mainevent, the Palio, the design and layout becomesquite meaningful: the limited space and land-scape conditions, the will to build a new spacelying close to the centre of the newly unified cityand the need to stage the Palio, the Piazza delCampo can be said to be a master piece of spacedesign and worth to be looked at. The pollardsdivide the inner area where spectators couldwatch the Palio and an outer ring path for theracing horses. The colourful Contradas of thefamilies enter the piazza and then the horses racearound the Piazza del Campo, cheered up by themasses that swamp into the inner space to watchthe winning team (Cecchini, 1958). In front of thePalazzo Publico, a temporary stand for thewinning ceremony is attached, and big is thefame of the winning family. It is obviouslyimportant that the Palio is not held somewherein the city, but in the very centre, even when thespace provided is relatively small and slopingdown. In conclusion, we can speculate that thecombination of a festival combined with a layout

    of the main square or area can symbolise andrepresent a society in a very sustainable way suchthat until today the Palio is a vital ceremony thatunifies Sienese inhabitants and creates civic pride.

    So far, the discussed examples were taken fromcentral European towns with both, a space designas well as a celebration dating back to the MiddleAges. To demonstrate that Topos is not solely aphenomenon emerging in Medieval Europe and

    being in use more or less accidentally, celebratedby people who are longing for glorious pastichetimes, the next examples will be taken from otherparts of the world with differing social, cultural,economical and environmental backgrounds.

    First, the Topos of a Hindu temple town in TamilNadu, South India will be discussed: Shrirangam

    (Figure 9). Like most traditional Hindu cities aswell as villages, Shrirangam was designed inaccordance to religious beliefs that, too, shapedthe town and set up rules for the layout of them.Central element of a town had to be a shrine witha holy enclosure. In very old days, villages wereset up around a tree, marking the axis aroundwhich people imagined that Universe and itsCelestial realms rotate and its branches markingthe many worlds. To contrive cosmic harmony inall worlds, it was necessary to circumvent the tree(Bharne, 2004), which made it the most importantelement in the village or town. In later times, the

    tree was symbolised by a larger complex, namelya holy enclosure and a shrine, the umbilicus, theaxis of universe connecting all worlds.

    The second town planning principle was based onthe belief that paths, defined in holy Mandalas,are important since they are symbols of cosmicorder. Humans are considered to once have lostcosmic order and harmony, but by followingcertain trails, their inner harmony can be restored.Such ritual paths are very popular and ubiquitouson the Indian sub-continent and used for per-forming a wide range of religious acts. Sureenough, Mandalas also played an important rolefor town planning. Paths along and through citieswere embedded in the layout of cities and towns.Consequently, the ideal city is set up in a squareform in analogy to Mandalas that are rectangularas well. The corners or main axis of the cityshould mark cardinal points of the Celestial realmor refer to the direction of the sunrise of importantdays such as the day of the consecration of thecity (Bier, 1990).

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    Being a Hindu temple town, Shrirangam wasdesigned according to above-described townplanning principles. Shrirangams temple onceranked with the most important Vishnu sanctu-aries on the Indian sub-continent. Most of it was

    built between 13th and 17th centuries (Gunju,1991). In analogy to a huge Mandala, the townitself has a square shape, enclosed by city walls.Shrirangams residential areas are set up inseveral concentric rings, each enclosed by a wall.

    The holy temple district comprising the shrine,the hall of thousand columns, a temple lake andthe shrine of Vishnus companion mark the centreof Shrirangam (Gunju, 1991), coupled with theRatha Mandapa, the hall of the temple cart as wellas residents of the monks. The temple district isseparated from the city by walls and connectedonly by four gates. The area outside of thisenclosure is reserved for the quarters of thecitizens. According to clans or castes, each familyhas its consecrated spot in one of the quarters: themore prominent castes in the inner ring, the lowercasts in more distances. A wall from the adjacentareas separates each sector; only gates in all foursides of the walls connect the several parts. Pathslead from gate to gate and connect the city incruciform. These roads connect the outside of thecity with the various sectors of the castes, endingat the temple enclosure. Besides, paths runparallel to the city walls to enter individual houseplots, but also to host the processions that movealong all ring roads as well as the central roads ina predetermined way (Bier, 1990).

    Shrirangams holy temple district can be seen asTopos. As in the previous examples, the morpho-logical structure alone would not be sufficient totransport civic pride; therefore, it is again com-

    bined with a major event, the temple festivals andthe related processions. In this case, Topos isformed according to religious beliefs, which aredifferent from the European examples discussedabove. In the latter, Topos is defined by traditionsand religion. However, the pictographic scheme

    of the Mandala underlying the town layout, theprocessions that are held on this Mandala in cityshape, as well as the central shrine that symbo-lises the axis of universe, is a perfect method todeepen a sense of belonging to, to keep order in asociety, and to strengthen civic pride.

    The case of Topos in Shrirangam highlights thatTopos must not be a solely democratic approach.As in Shrirangam, it can, too, be used to establisha certain social system, where all members of acommunity play a particular role to which theyare bound. Particularly in systems, where not all

    benefit of the social model, Topos places areheavily used to establish and legitimise thesuperior regime, which is more effectively de-monstrated in the next example, taken fromTahuantinsuyu, or the land of the four quarters,as the Inca called their empire.

    Although widely known as the Inca Empire, it isimportant to note that the term Inca only refers tothe small ruling class that formed the biggest

    Figure 9. Axonometric view of Shrirangam, Tamil Nadu, India.

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    empire ever south of the equator, but its real namewas Tahuantinsuyu, the land of the four quarters.Cuzco was seen to be the umbilicus of universeand was the capital of Tahuantinsuyu comprisingsome 80 political provinces with nearly anuncountable number of small ethic groups withcultural, linguistic and even more importantly,environmental differences. Integrating these hos-tile groups into one empire was only possible by asophisticated system of control and one signifi-cant part played their system of spatial order.Control over the provinces was strengthened by avast all-weather highway system of up to40 000 km (Moseley, 2001) and the formation ofadministrative towns along these highways.However, Tahuantinsuyu would most probablynot have arisen around 1000 AD if there had not

    been a long period of drought and accordingly

    Inca nobles had not set up a very efficient systemof warehouses and a distribution system in timesof dearth. To assure people that the state couldmanage disaster, rows of warehouses, the qollqa,were placed on lofty hillsides such that they could

    be seen anytime from far and wide.

    The here discussed example of Topos is takenfrom one of the Inca administrative centres,Huanuco Pampa. Since it is one of the bestpreserved administrative centres, it reveals lotsof Inca town planning principles and the conceptof spatial order and control. The city has no town

    walls, fortress-like buildings or any other sort ofmilitary structures, and it can be assumed thatcontrol of the empire was not based on militarydomination, but on a bureaucratic apparatus(Gasparini and Margolies, 1980) (Figure 10). Mostimpressive is the vast open plaza in the citycentre, measuring 540 370 m. Such a plazawould be enormous anywhere, but compared tothe outlines of the city it must have beenimpressive by its dimensions and was surelylinked to the town planning principles of theIncas. Centrepiece of the plaza is the usnu, acubical structure that was used as a throne andaltar. Standing on a platform, the usnu towers 4 mup and hosts some stone seats that most probablywere used as a throne for the Inca or hisrepresentative when they were in town. The50 30 m dais could be entered by a monumentalstairway providing access to the upper level of it.From notes of the Conquistatores, we have anidea, how the usnu once was used. An informantof Inigo Ortiz de Zuniga described it as follows:Tucuyrico had authority over all caciques. He

    gathered all the caciques and principal men ofthat land and many other Indians in the plaza andin the presence of all told them that they mightsee how that justice was done (Gasparini andMargolies, 1980, p. 269). Therefore, it can beassumed that the usnu was used for ceremonies,prayers, parades, as well as execute justice. Fromthe throne as well as from every point in theplaza, the qollqa stores in the case of HuanucoPampa 497 (Moseley, 2001) were well viewableunderpinning the claim to power of the Inca.

    Although not much is known about the celebra-tions and rites taking place in the central plaza ofHuanuco Pampa, by just looking at the carefullychosen layout of the square in the very centre ofthe town, its vast dimensions, the massive usnu inits centre, as well as the visual contact to the

    qollqa and finally the Inca highway cutting theplaza diagonally, it can be assumed that rites,prayers, immolations and execute justice have

    been very spectacular and impressive. It musthave been so impressive that the Inca only dealtwith a comparably small military apparatus thatwas mostly stationed in far away Cuzco and stillcontrolling such a big empire with so manydifferent ethnic groups. This case reveals thatTopos is not only a phenomenon of democracy

    but was often used in oppressive systems, too.However, in the case of Huanuco Pampa, we onlyhave a vague notion of the effectiveness of Topos

    and much could be speculation. The next dis-cussed case shows a similar attitude of Topos, butis less speculative since it is taken from a societythat still adheres to old traditions.

    Nias is a small island off the western coast ofSumatra, Indonesia. For a better understanding ofthis distinct culture, it is important to note thatNias Island was created by innumerable earth-quakes and finally arose from under the water.Since then, earthquakes are frequent, indicatedalready by the many different names Nias had inits long history: Hulo Solaya-laya, the dancingisland or Hulo zee, the island of the weepingpeople or Uli Dano Hae, the island being a cradleconstantly rocked. The last destructive earthquakeoccurred on 28 March 2005 with 8.7 RS whenthousands left the islands in fear that the wholeisland would sink below sea level (Dawson andGillow, 1994). To understand this distinct culture,it is important to note that people lived in fear andshock by its natural environment, but also by themany tropical diseases. Besides, the custom of

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    headhunting added to the uncertainty of everyday life in traditional Nias (Hammerle, 2007).Although nowadays people in Nias live isolatedand encapsulated, in previous times they werefamous for their trading ability with other islandsand even mainland Asia. The most importantexport product were captured people sold asslaves overseas. This tactic was particularlyprofitable for chiefs and upper ruling class peoplewho in the turn showed off their wealth in thevillages (Figures 11 and 12). A rigorous hierarchy,which divided people in three casts and anoppressive system of the ruling class, shaped thespatial layout of the villages.

    The traditional villages are laid out either in along and wide path or in a cruciform. The chiefshouse has a special spot in the centre of the villagefrom where the whole village can be overlooked.Although head hunting and intertribal warfare nolonger exist, villages still have a defensivecharacter. They are built on high areas and areonly reachable by steep stairways guarded by asentry. Besides, stonewalls surround the villagesto avoid enemies entering the village unseen.Particularly in the South, houses are built in longterraces along the road. Massive ironwood pilesrest on stone slabs to enhance the house on top forthe frequent earthquakes. This zone is only used

    Figure 10. Huanuco Pampa, Chile. The big plaza in the centre focuses on the stone platform, the usnu.

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    for storage and only a narrow wooden stairwayleads to the interior of the house. Interconnectingdoors link the houses and provide an upper floorpath in full length of the terraces, which was usedin times of attack. The street, ewali, in front ofthe houses is divided into a central paved area, oriri newali, being the public realm, followed by asemi-private zone which is used for drying corpsor washing and other duties that are done outsidethe house. A wall of megaliths screens off theprivate path under the lattice windows, and astairway leads to the trapped entrance of thehouses (Viaro, 2007). These megaliths are on theone hand ritual stones and statues symbolisingancestors and on the other hand show off thewealth of the family living in the house behind(Lehner, 2007).

    In front of the chiefs hut, which is both, a templeof ancestors and meeting house as well as theprivate home of the chief, lies a central plaza orwidened street which is the ceremonial groundand the space where ancestors sit on the mega-liths and stones to watch the remarkably largevariety of celebrations, dances and other festivals(Viaro, 2007), such as war dances, or stone

    jumping, a manhood ritual where young menjump over the ritual often 2-m-high megaliths toFigure 11. Nias, Indonesia. Scheme of an ideal village.

    Figure 12. Nias, Indonesia. The megaliths and other ritual artefacts displayed in front of the chiefs hut.

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    the music played by the women. Megaliths are anintegral part of social memory. Each stone isrelated to his founder, such as important personsor feast holders, and helps establishing personalas well as collective memory. Particularly, themegaliths in front of the chiefs house are provinghis social status and his claim to rule the villagesince the stone of the village founder stands hereconnecting the common ceremonial ground andthe chiefs house as his private retreat. Themegaliths statue together with the other dis-played stones is a social marker of the high statusof the chief as well as the focus of the identity ofthe villagers as such (Bonatz, 2007).

    The central ceremonial place is a distinct symbolof Nias society. However, the megaliths aloneseem not to be sufficient in the process of place-

    bound identity for the inhabitants and thereforemany feasts and dances are performed as well associal integration ceremonies in the presence ofthe megaliths that symbolise important ancestors.This Topos layout is important to keep the socialsystem of three casts alive to show each family itsspot in this system and finally to underpin thechiefs claim to rule the village. Maybe not asoppressive as in the previous example, Topos isused to support the hierarchy in Nias society.

    Similar to the previous examples of Shrirangamand Huanuco Pampa, Topos in Nias was used to

    particularly underpin the claim to rule of minor-ity of clans. Topos represents their power andnobility. Topos is a very successful feature for thisdemand. Chiefs and nobles do very well under-stand how the interplay of spatial layout com-

    bined with rites helps to strengthen collectivememory and shows each member its assignedspot in the society as a whole. However, it seemsthat ruling clans just used a very fundamentalspatial pattern that was used already for a longtime, before chiefdom and ruling clans didemerge: it is often argued that human tribes infirst place were equal members and chiefdom assuch did appear much later (Service, 1971).Therefore, it is helpful to close the deliberationsabout Topos with an example of a semi-nomadicculture, namely the Yanoama.

    The Yanoama lived traditionally in Amazonia/Venezuela on the upper course of the Orinoco. Inthe last century, their territories began to shrinkand today solely lie in the jungle and along thesidearms of the Orinoco. Besides, recently upcom-

    ing tourism weakens their traditions and today itis not quite clear how many groups still live theirtraditional way of life (Guidoni, 1975). However,the few remaining groups still live in largelyunchanged traditions dating back at least to the18th century, as was evidenced by notes frommissionaries (Smole, 1976). Therefore, it can beobserved how Topos is created in a primitive, thatis, primary living society, since our complex socialand spatial behaviour descends from such a wayof life.

    Yanoama are foraging horticultural tribes. For510 years, the various groups live in permanentsettlements, the shabonos scattered in the region. Ashabono will be normally built in the territory of akinship, who are in the turn the settlers andowners of such a compound. The search for the

    right place is vital for the community sincedrinking water must be easily accessible through-out the year, appropriate land for garden plotsmust ideally lie adjacent to the compound as wellas sufficient natural resources such as game, wildplants and others to ensure the surviving of thecommunity (Smole, 1976).

    Once a new spot is found, a large space will becleared from all plants to erect the new shabono.This shabono has a vast inner open spaceenclosed by roofs, rising to heights of 78 m.These weather sheds sometimes appear as single

    huts, in other regions as large lean-tos, or appearas ridged roofs, particularly in lower regions.These sometimes enormous constructions are theprivate retreats and each nuclear family has anassigned spot under these roofs. Especially in thelower regions, members of a shabono lack privacysince no walls, screens or other sort of dividers arefound. Focus of each household is an openfireplace which is required for cooking but alsoprotects from beasts or insects and, in the belief ofthe Yanoama, even from spirit beings especially atnight time (Zerries and Schuster, 1974). The fewpersonal possessions are stored either hangingfrom the thatch or they are stuck into it.Hammocks for sleeping are hanging from thethatch as well and if a household has more thanthree members they are hanging in tiers. Fire-wood is stored under the eaves of the ridgedroofs, piled in a way that it almost appears as awall to screen off the outside world. Each shabonois surrounded by log palisades, which are some-times fallen into disrepair when no attacks arefeared, but quickly repaired in times of aggres-

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    sions. A cleared belt runs outside the palisade,

    another defensive element, since enemies cannotpenetrate the strip silently and unseen. Beyondthis strip, some narrow paths lead to the gardenplots of the villagers (Smole, 1976) (Figure 13).

    For this contribution, the central place of theshabono is of importance: it is a vast open groundsloping down on the sides to allow waters todrain off quickly after the heavy rain falls whichare quite common in this region. The area in thecentre is significantly large and provides some33 m2 for each member, compared to just 16 m2 ofindividual space in his or her private homes.

    The space appears to be quite impressive just byits enormous dimensions. Although no artefactsor any other ceremonial structures are put uphere,3 the Yanoama refer to this central innerclearing as their sacred temple and ceremonial

    ground. It is the place for mortaring, general

    prayers, hunting ceremonies, rites to tie the grouptogether and other celebrations (Zerries andSchuster, 1974). The vast open plaza is seen as asacred temple of ancestors and the group itself,which indicates that for the Yanoama this clearingis more than just a big, open space; it is Topos, themeaningful place creating place-bound identityand a sense of belonging together.

    Genotypic patterns

    Place identity seems to be a very fundamentalproperty of human settlements and, therefore, is ageneric relationship between socio-cultural de-mands and design in the planning of settlements.

    While solutions in details vary, the principalrelationships appear to be ubiquitous. The link

    between the central structure, termed Topos,and the ceremonies will be highlighted in thefollowing.

    Figure 13. Yanoama, Venezuela. Scheme of an ideal village.

    3Artefacts, ritual stones or other ceremonial structures arenot common in nomadic cultures, since this would be extra

    burden and would make them inflexible when moving on.

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    Munster and Siena were chosen as the morefamiliar examples from the set of traditionalEuropean towns. From investigating history anddesign of the Topoi, the Prinzipalmarkt and thePiazza del Campo, the social structure of theinhabitants in medieval times can be clearly andunambiguously understood. Both Topoi showsimilar patterns, namely the palazzi or townhouses of the ruling families surrounding thecentral square. Together with the town hall, theyare built in as if there was a round table built instone. The outlook of the whole area is splendid indesign and highlights the importance of thespace. Besides, the major events or celebrationshappen on this very place and are deemed todeepen civic pride. Plaza and ceremony aredeeply engrailed in everyones mind andstrengthen the ties between the citizens. This

    interplay has been so effective that even today,some 800 years later, Munsters inhabitants arestill very active in organising, preparing andcelebrating the Karneval, and Sienese peoplegather to discuss the choice of the right jockeysand horses and maintain the banners, or Contra-das, before the Palio begins (Ceccini, 1958).Particularly, the Piazza del Campo is nowadaystaken over by tourists and it is sometimes statedthat the Campo is a monument of public openspace where tourists believe that democraticpractice is taking place (Herczog and Hubeli,1995, p. 21), at times of the Palio Sienese people

    regain their Campo and use it as they ever didsince it once was inaugurated (Crowhurst-Lennard and Lennard, 1995).

    Although built as a permanent city, Shrirangam,too, has a place, which can be clearly defined asTopos, the city centres temple district. A wallwith doorways, which connect the temple withthe adjacent city, surrounds the sacred place. Inanalogy to the previously mentioned examples,the city layout its streets, doorways and walls is built to serve the major celebrations andprocessions. These processions and celebrationsdeepen civic pride, the belief of the Hindu society.Topos is built to support the peoples rituals andin turn reminds them of their meaning, even inthe absence of ceremonies.

    In the ancient city of Huanuco Pampa, it is verywell demonstrated that a space combined withceremonies can represent and symbolise a society.Being a planned city, it reveals how Inca emperorsaimed to structure inferiors and claim power by

    implementing a spatial system and layout fortowns. Central and focal point is the vastrectangular plaza in the centre of the town withthe usnu, the throne, in the focus. The usnu notonly is meant to symbolise the society itself, butalso demonstrates the claim to power of the Inca.The Inca emperor himself is therefore the symbolof Huanuco Pampas inhabitants. In the case ofNias villages, a similar phenomenon can beobserved, however, in the latter not a livingperson is symbolising and representing a society

    but ancient founders of the village. Nevertheless,the chief demonstrates his affiliation to ancestors

    by displaying megaliths representing ancestorsoutside his house on the central ceremonialground. Thus, not only Topos, but also the wholevillage is the perfect projection of the socialstructure, culture and religious beliefs.

    The final case study of the Yanoama shabonoarguably shows the most basic structure of Toposin its essence. Yanoama are semi-nomads, fora-ging in relatively small groups of only up to 100200 individuals. Both their flexibility (villages areupdated frequently and can pay respect tochanges in group members) and the relative smallnumber of individuals allow creating villages oflow complexity. The private homes of the nuclearfamilies surrounded the inner clearing. From theprivate homes, where most of the time is spentwhen being in the shabono a perfect overview of

    the central clearing is provided for all members(Zerries and Schuster, 1974). As was discussedabove, this space is Topos, which is expressed byits vastness, since this is the only medium toexpress the importance of a location in a societywhere everything from personal belongings tomaterials for houses as well as other structures must be easily transported to not render theminflexible. Furthermore, this place also marks thevery centre of the compound and can be over-looked by all members at all times. To tie thecommunity together, certain rites and ceremoniestake place at regular intervals. They underpin theimportance of the temple-like clearing which,during the year, will itself be a reminder forculture, beliefs and the way of life of theYanoama. Or, using Smoles definition: Theshabono provides for their social organisation,demonstrates their technology, and reflects theirecological stability (Smole, 1976, p. 61).

    The examples were taken from various places,various cultures and epochs. They represent just a

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    few places that have been studied in a broaderresearch (Bornberg, 2003). Interestingly, similari-ties could be observed among all examples and more importantly some elements could bedelineated. These elements have to be understoodas generic patterns rather than morphologicalstructures. The Topos in each settlement, villageor city has its unique outlook, which is importantto create place identity. Nevertheless, for urbandesigners it is important to understand thegeneric elements that underlie these spaces tocreate Topos in the context of contemporary citiesand towns as follows:

    The ceremonial area is normally sized to allowall inhabitants to join the major celebrations.Besides, it is often much bigger than that.Especially in nomadic and semi-nomadic cul-

    tures, size of the space is vast because of thelack of other artefacts or buildings that can bepermanently exhibited throughout the year.The vastness of the central clearing is referringto the importance of the space. In permanentsettlements, the plaza is large enough to allowideally all inhabitants to participate the celebra-tions and to allow the major symbols enoughspace to be widely seen.

    Topos should be located in the centre of thesettlement. This is clearly to be seen in nomadicand semi-nomadic tribes, simply because theycan update their camp according to size and

    needs of inhabitants. In permanent settlements,updates cannot be done so easily. Firstly,population may change, and new dwellingsare built only in one area, but also geographicconcerns may force people to create the mainplaza elsewhere. Therefore, the central plazamay lie not exactly in the very centre of the city.Nevertheless, most of the observed historicplaces showed that firstly people did try locatethe main plaza in the centre, at least as much aslandscape and other factors made this possible.

    Topos is designed to create civic pride andplace identity. Therefore, a symbol of thesociety is placed here. This symbol can be atown hall, a temple and a ceremonial structureor seen in nomadic cultures the space itself. Thesymbol must be an artefact that represents allmembers of a settlement, village or town. Itmust be something that all inhabitants associatewith their particular way of life, their socialrelations, and their culture and beliefs.

    Equally important as the plaza itself, includingall its elements, is the ceremony that takes place

    on the square. This ceremony ties groupstogether and creates civic pride. The rites andcelebrations underpin the importance of Topos.In many cases, Topos is formed and designedaccording to the major events. Without know-ing the major celebrations, it is impossible todesign Topos that can create place identity.

    Concluding, Topos deals with a very fundamentalhuman behavioural concept. As argued above,Topos cannot be fully understood if not relating itto a particular action plus a special design ofspace. Although widely accepted and discussedin social sciences, this correspondence is hardlyrecognised in urban design and town planning.Therefore, a short overview of the related debatefollows next.

    Human relationships and space

    Human beings can be characterised as intention-ally acting individuals who have the ability toorganise both, their own lives as well as the wayof living together in a group. Of particular interesthere is the fact that each society will define a set ofrules in order to organise them, containing thedos and donts. The built environment of asettlement, town or village is the three-dimen-sional image and manifestation of this cultural

    programme (Weiske, 2008). The structure of thebuilt environment determines the places wherecertain activities take place, which areas are to beused by whom and what for; it determinesmovement patterns, patterns of social interactionand human behaviour in general. Human socie-ties exist in and through communication, and the

    built environment is part of the communicationsystem. A market place, a school or a hospital can

    be seen as settings within which users can andwill act, since the structures contain informationfor the way of using them (Park, 1952). Thesestructures contain information that mediates

    between user and planner. As a simple example,consider how a door or a chair transport, bydesign, the information how to use it (Ertekin,1981). The urban fabric conveys a more complexmessage than single objects, but it is important tonote that the urban environment with all itsvarious elements is part of communication systemof human beings (Weiske, 2008). Robert Parkdescribes the local community as the author of itscity town or village (Park, 1952). In this respect, it

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    is important to understand that the layout anddesign of public open spaces acts as a medium forvarious messages. Each setting within the publicrealm will communicate its own and mainmessage.

    Topos, the here discussed category deals with theidentity of a group in order to tie them together.As seen in the examples from around the world, itseems that the combination of space and celebra-tion is very sufficient in creating collectivememory. If there is a setting with an undiffer-entiated space, a community will incorporate itaccording to its social system. The various layersof space will be filled with sympathetic values(Durkheim, 1965). Memoire collective (Halb-wachs, 1980) is embedded in space and thus has

    social meaning. In memory, space is the longer-lasting association than an event, since spaceprevails. Particularly where intense inter-relations

    between social actions like celebrations or ritestake place on a certain space, rites will becomeinseparably linked with it and add to thecollective memory. A social situation such as arepresentation of a community will be symbo-lised, if this situation is constantly linked with acertain space. However, this interplay does notapply to any space, since the chosen space musthave qualities to represent the particular socialsituation (Simmel, 1970, 1992). Stability and

    permanence of space as well as its uniqueness isimportant since each community intends tocertify its own status and identity (Halbwachs,1980). By using space as one part of communica-tion, individuals experience their space andcollective social behaviour will be established(Park, 1952).

    This short elaboration of space combined with asocial act reveals that space will be memorisedparticularly when combined with a certain cele-

    bration, feast or rite. However, this only works ifon the one hand the chosen space has certainqualities that support the main ceremony. Onthe other hand, the rite, celebration or socialact must be repeated frequently such that in-dividuals will include it to their collectivememory. From this point of view, it is clear whyTopos spaces have outstanding beauty, splendidfeatures, but also host regular celebrations or ritesthat all deal with place-bound identity and civiccollective pride.

    Conclusions

    I propose that Topos, the meaningful place withthe ability to create place-bound identity andcollective memory, should still be an important

    element in contemporary urban design. Through-out the broader research (Bornberg, 2003), it wasclearly to be found in all observed cultures, nomatter of economic development, cultural back-ground or environmental circumstances. Thismeans that the concept of Topos is so successfulthat it was used and developed over a significantperiod of human social development simulta-neously in different cultures and different regionsaround the world. As shown above, Topos createscivic pride and a sense of belonging to as well asgroup identity. Topos represents the communityand is the ever-remaining symbol of it. Looking at

    the historic development of European towns, thisfactor seems to be more important than maybeelsewhere. In many other regions around theworld, communities identify themselves by an-cestors and clan members. This is different inEurope since, in European towns, it was mainlyindividuals that moved to a city (Weber, 1958;Hauptmeyer, 1981, 1994, 1996). They came here

    because of an affiliation to an artisan guild orwere merchants settling down, but never came inwhole clans or families. The European town ismore than elsewhere a system of individuals thathave little in common, but share the same

    interests, the same way of life and live in thesame city (Weber, 1958). In the absence of anyother unifying feature, one can speculate thatTopos is of particular importance here in order totie residence together and to strengthen a sense of

    belonging to and to create collective memory.Therefore, the space itself clearly should beintegrated in newer towns and cities combinedwith ceremonies or rites that conversely shape thespace. If space design and ceremony are success-ful they will contribute to the collective memoryof its users.

    It was the aim of this contribution to highlightthat the features of Topos can clearly not apply toany space within a city or town. Topos must be aunique and highly memorable space, outstandingin its design and worth being a symbol. It clearlymust stand out of other spaces, such as transportplazas, spaces for mourning, spaces for leisure,shopping or spending spare time in a park, or asKate Fox (2004) terms it, social grooming talk, andso on.

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    The here discussed Topos is just one example ofcategories of public open space within a settle-ment. Other space categories should, too, bedesigned according to their main function andshould as well be outstanding from any otherspace within a settlement. Some other categorieshave been delineated already elsewhere (Gehland Gemzoe, 2001; Bornberg, 2007), although byno means complete. This contribution aimed tohighlight the importance of categories in publicopen space and not to discuss it only in terms ofthe grade of publicity gradually sloping down toprivacy. Very much like in architecture, where itwould be insufficient to just talk about buildingsand not about categories in terms of their mainfunction, such as schools, private homes, office

    buildings or railway stations, it is imperative toconsider the design of public open space in terms

    of social use. This paper showed how to use andintegrate just one of these categories, Topos.However, town planners, architects and urbandesigners should integrate such well-definedcategories in the process of building well-ac-cepted and well-used public open spaces.

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