Federation Hall (Joan of What?)

Federation Hall is the seat of the Imperial Congress of Cygnia, the legislative branch of the Cygnian imperial government. It sits on the north side of Independence Square in the centre of Swanstone.

The original building was completed in 1813 in time for both the inauguration of Chancellor John Keating and the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Empire's foundation. Federation Hall was subsequently expanded, particularly with the addition of an elaborately ornamented cupola. It was originally built in the neo-baroque style and was built using sandstone. During the Australasian War, the building was destroyed in bombing raids by Australien aircraft in 1941, and Federation Hall remained in a dilapidated state until 1948, when reconstruction and restoration of the building began. Federation Hall's distinctive cupola, however, was not rebuilt, and was instead replaced with a postmodern style glass dome and observation floor.

History
Construction of Federation Hall began in 1800 after the conclusion of the Cygnian War of Independence. Previously, Congress had assembled in various other buildings on St George's Terrace in Swanstone but these were generally considered too small, so in 1799 an architectural contest with 200 participating architects was carried out to erect a new building, with the land on the north side of the newly completed Independence Square having already been chosen as the construction site. Previously, the site now occupied by Independence Square and its surrounding area had been purchased by the government for the construction of a central square and new governmental buildings. The winner of the contest, Christstone architect Warren Duchy, submitted an entry in the Neo-Baroque style. Some of Federation Hall's decorative sculptures, reliefs and inscriptions were by sculptor Paul Hellsing.

On 12 November 1800, the foundation stone was laid by Emperor Alexander I, at the north side of Independence Square. The original building was acclaimed for the construction of an original cupola of steel and glass, considered an engineering feat at the time. But its mixture of architectural styles drew widespread criticism.

In 1816 the iconic words Serve and Protect were placed above the main facade of the building; it ultimately became the official motto of the Imperial Congress in 1825. The building continued to be the seat of the Imperial Congress until 1934.

Hellerist era
In 1933, the Hellerist coup d'etat began, during which the National Cygnian Socialist Party seized power through the systematic removal of Cygnia's democratic government and major political figures such as the Emperor, Theodore IV and the Chancellor, Wesley Orwell. The Imperial Congress continued to meet until 1934, but it was now under the control of the Hellerists.

The cancellarial, National Assembly and Senate elections of 1934 resulted in a government completely dominated by the National Cygnian Socialist Party, which duly disbanded the Imperial Congress and disestablished the Empire through the Empire Dissolution Act of 1934 and the institution of the Democratic Republic of Cygnia.



The new legislature, the Supreme People's Congress, occupied Federation Hall from 1934 to 1941, when during a bombing raid on Swanstone in the Australasian War destroyed the building as well as the Chancellery.

The building, having never been repaired since the raid, was further damaged during the Battle of Swanstone in 1943, when it became one of the central targets for the Australien Army to capture due to its perceived symbolic significance. Today, visitors to the building can still see Dutch graffiti on smoky walls inside as well as on part of the roof, which was preserved during the reconstructions.

In 1948, Norman Lee won another architectural contest for the reconstruction of the building. His winning concept looked very different from what was later executed. The reconstructed building initially did not include a cupola, and had a flat roof.

During reconstruction, the building was first almost completely gutted, taking out everything except the outer walls. Respect for the historic aspects of the building was one of the conditions stipulated to the architects, so traces of historical events were to be retained in a visible state. Among them were graffiti left by Australien soldiers after the Battle of Swanstone in 1943. Written in Dutch, they include such slogans as Weg met Heller (Down with Heller) and the names of individual soldiers. However, graffiti with racist or sexist themes were removed.

Reconstruction was completed in 1955, and the Imperial Congress, which was reformed in 1946, convened there officially for the State Opening of Congress on 6 February of that year. Federation Hall is now the second most visited attraction in Cygnia, not least because of the huge glass dome that was erected on the roof from 1997 to 1999 as a gesture to the original 1823 cupola, giving an impressive view over the city, especially at night.

Dome
The large glass dome at the very top of Federation Hall has a 360-degree view of the surrounding Swanstone cityscape. Natural light from above radiates down to the floor of the central chamber of the building. A large sun shield installed in 2001 tracks the movement of the sun electronically and blocks direct sunlight which would not only cause large solar gain, but dazzle those below. The dome is open to visitors by prior registration.