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Post by Delighted Of Tunbridge Wells on Feb 18, 2019 19:03:20 GMT
It does seem stupid. Why don't they have one Parliament for Brussels, a National Parliament and the Walloon/German-speaking/Flemish Parliaments. Why don't they have one States General of the Netherlands for Flanders, a French Parliament for Wallonia and a Budestag for Malmedy. And dig a big fucking hole where Brussels is And put Guy Verhofstadt in it I'm guessing you don't like Belgium as a country then? |
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Post by uhurasmazda on Feb 18, 2019 21:44:17 GMT
NZ's had a few Parliament buildings. I'm not sure where most of the old Provinces had theirs, but Auckland Provincial Council met in the 'Shedifice', a purpose-built two-storey structure that has since been demolished. And a good thing, too, because not only was it draughty and leaky, it also lacked toilets. The NZ Parliament also met there (alternating sitting days with the Provincial Council) until it moved down to Wellington in 1864. The old Parliament Buildings in Wellington were originally the home of Premier William Fox, but had been donated by him to the Wellington Provincial Council after their initial home (Barrett's Hotel, an up-jumped grog shop) collapsed in an earthquake. The land underneath the Parliament had been called Kaiota (tr. 'food of dubious quality') and it was positioned between two streams - Waipiro (tr. 'putrid water') and Tutaenui (tr. 'large amounts of excrement'). These streams have now been covered over by later development, presumably to the relief of the locals. Over the late 19th century, the old Fox home was enlarged and extended to contain committee rooms, a bar, a library, and a three-storey office complex - all in wood. However, the Lobby was rebuilt in masonry in the 1880s. In general, the vibe they went for was Gothic Revival, but it was a heterogenous and ramshackle collection of different stages of development. Photos put me in mind of Gormenghast. The main problem they had at the time was that the library was in wood and therefore at risk of fire damage (a common joke was that the whole rabbit warren ought to be torched), so the old library was pulled down in the recess and a new brick-and-masonry library built in its place in 1898. This was quite wise, as its fire door was the only thing that saved the library when this happened:  Parliament then moved over the road to take over Government House, the Italianate home of the Governor-General. The House of Representatives met in the ballroom and the Legislative Council in the conservatory. This situation came to an end when the new Parliament House was finished in 1918 - Government House continued to be used for various functions, but by the 1940s, the floorboards were so warped that filing cabinets had to be propped up to stop them falling over and the roof leaked so much that plantpots were positioned underneath the worst places. The new Parliament House was a neo-classical marble job, intended to cover the whole hill with columns and domes. Unfortunately, costs mounted and the First World War intervened, and only half of it was ever built. After the War, there was little enthusiasm for the original plan, which was now unfashionable, and in any case there were worries about structural soundness in the event of a big earthquake. As such, when Government House was finally demolished in the 1970s, the more modern Beehive replaced it as the home of the Executive Wing. This, however, didn't provide enough space for a rapidly expanding and increasingly professional Parliament, so Bowen House (a 22-storey office block) was built over the road in the late 80s, just in time to serve as a temporary debating chamber in the 1990s while Parliament House was being refurbished. Left to right: Bowen House (with stripe up the middle), the Beehive, the right-hand half of Parliament House, and the Library.  |
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cibwr
Plaid Cymru
Posts: 3,589 
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Post by cibwr on Mar 12, 2019 17:11:24 GMT
There are lots in England, from the days when Parliaments were summoned for a few weeks and in any town in the Kingdom and using any public hall that happened to be there. The earliest purpose-built Parliament building in the country is Parliament Hall in Edinburgh - now part of the Supreme Courts of Scotland. The Scottish Parliament used to sit in the Church of Scotland's General Assembly Hall and handed it back when the Holyrood buildings were completed. I wonder what happened to the old basement computer room that was converted into the first Welsh Assembly before the Senedd was built? The former Irish Parliament building was sold to the Bank of Ireland and is still their headquarters. The octagonal chamber is not recognisable but the old Irish House of Lords was preserved. The old computer room is still there and is occasionally used - is was used by the former Youth Assembly, but that now meets in the Senedd Chamber. |
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cibwr
Plaid Cymru
Posts: 3,589
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Post by cibwr on Mar 12, 2019 17:23:06 GMT
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