‘How can an entity with no discernible beginning or end be a place?”

Fumihiko Maki

Architecture has long provided concrete expression for ideals such as home, nation, justice, democracy and spirituality. In so doing, it has helped to place them within society. The placing of these ideals has been an important aspect of both ancient and modern cultures, helping to focus, gather and structure many aspects of daily life, to mesh practices and customs with the assets of particular locales, and provide grounding for human existence.