Council Hall
The home of wisdom, the seat of power, and the center of government.
The term "Council Hall" can refer, depending on context, to one of two types of buildings. Either the single massive administrative hall in Landen that is the actual meeting place for the Council of Austur and centre of national government, or the great hall in each provincial capital city that serves as the centre of government administration for that province. The minor ambiguity is intentional. The Council Hall of any given capital is intended to be both a practical government building and a symbolic proxy for the "real" Council Hall in Landen, as if The Council itself were present in each capital and each province.
Purpose / Function
A provinces Council Hall serves as the meeting place for the City Envoys, the Council's proxies in that province, as well as the central location for various government department's main offices. Every hall is built at the head of a cities Patron Square, looking out over the square and down the long arcade to the Council Ports. The grand front entrance and wide dais and steps serve as a speaking platform and presentation stage for major announcements, the weekly Noonday Truenight service, and major civic ceremonies like the Memorium.
Architecture
Though most cities Council Halls may vary somewhat in size, they are intended to be universal and consistent. Since all Council Halls across Austur were built in the fifty years following unification specifically to tie the provinces together, their grand, elaborate stone architecture became the standard that defined "high unification" architectural design.
While more traditional architecture had focused on building tiled halls and smaller rooms around vast central courtyards, high unification style focused on vast high ceilinged rooms with large arched windows and elaborate stone floors. The courtyards were still present, but were usually smaller and purely decorative.
A Council Hall opened into a massive entrance hall with marble floors and reception desks with a clear line of sight to the small (relatively speaking) central courtyard with its elaborate gardens and a central fountain. Two wings of various sizes would extend off to the left and right of the central courtyard housing various offices and meetings rooms. Extending further past the courtyard would be the massive central meeting chamber, the Envoys offices, and smaller private meeting rooms.
The entire "high unification" style is dedicated to grandeur and creating a sense of awe. It is an attempt to showcase not just the great power of the Council, but the skill of humanity's artisans, carvers, and sculptors. It is also a symbol of uniformity and ubiquity and reliability of The Council. Every Council Hall was built of whitestone, even though it had to be shipped by barge and then overland wagon to Sylvas and Nohil over a period of years from the norther quarries. Every Council Hall was rooved in blue clay tiles, even though they had to be shipped carefully up the Rothum and over the heights of the Cascades from the eastern provinces to reach Wilsadore and Catric.
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