The Neanderthal Parliament of Canada - Interior Design Thesis

The Neanderthal Parliament of Canada brett patychuk irn 800

Order of Contents Preface

Background

Concept Statement

Similarities and Differences The Elements and Principles of Neanderthal Design

4-5 6-11 12-13 14-17 18-21

Schematic Design

22-41

Design Development

42-55

Closing Thoughts

56-57

Bibliography

58-59

Preface

4

Preface The means in which a story is told is virtually endless.

Through language we have been gifted the ability to transfer knowledge orally. Through art, we have been able to visually convey norms and conventions while immortalizing moments in time. Movies and plays allow us to recreate stories for viewers time and time again while books write down our thoughts and allow them to be read across time and space. No matter the medium we chose, humanity has a diverse and profound way of telling stories and providing insight into the people and culture that created them.

Interior design is one of these mediums. Interior spaces give insight into the conventions and mantra of whom they are meant to serve. The design, the layout, the materials, and the principles all reflect the vernacular of the person, place, or culture in which created them. Interior spaces are reflections of individual and collective identities and act to transfer that identity when viewed. Howecer, the discourse of interior design often isn’t seen as a primary tool for the telling of stories.

Rather, interior design is often considered the set in which stories take place. They may give a taste of the time and place in which a story or element of knowledge arises from, yet it is not often that a story teller uses an interior space as their primary source for the transference of knowledge. Nevertheless, Interior Design can be just as valuable of a tool for the transference of culture as any other medium.

transfer a set of information to the viewer. Not to be analyzed from a rational perspective, rather the space is to be considered for its emotive and storytelling potential.

The story at play is one of retribution and renaissance, of righting the wrongs and ignorance of past mediums, and to present a paradoxically more accurate presentation of human existence through a made-up interior space. The goal of this project is to use interior design through The Neanderthal Parliament of Canada to create a space that brings to light a more accurate depiction of Neanderthal cognitive function and cultural ability. For too long have we been told a misconstrued story of Neanderthals inferiority, but through this project, through interior design, I hope to bring to light a new and more accurate story about our evolutionary cousins and human equals.

It is this notion of using the discourse of Interior Design to tell a story that I employ within this project. The Neanderthal Parliament of Canada is a plausible space designed solely to 5

Background

6

Introduction 70,000 years ago, as homo sapiens ventured out of our homeland of Africa onto the Eurasian continent, we found ourselves as guests at an unexpected family reunion with our evolutionary cousins. For over 200,000 years, Neanderthals ruled Europe and Western Asia unmatched in their evolutionary complexity, well adapted to their cold, ice-age climate.

Their lankier and warm adapted African cousins, us, would not have been the first choice for which evolutionary human would prove to dominate the globe, and yet it is myself, a homo sapien, writing this 70,000 years later. Ever since the rediscovery of homo neanderthalensis fossils in the Neander valley in 1856, a discourse has been preached that our evolutionary cousins, the Neanderthals, were ill-witted, ill-fated, unintelligent peoples outcompeted and dominated by homo sapiens, becoming extinct some 30,000 years after our arrival outside of Africa. However, this notion is finally being turned on its head. With the recent extraction of Neanderthal DNA in 2010 and improved scientific measuring capabilities, a clearer picture is being painted of our evolutionary cousins as intelligent, capable, modern humans with the ability for language, social organization, and symbolic thought well within the exclusively human domain of culture. Furthermore, evidence suggests that homo sapiens did not drive Neanderthals to total extinction but rather through inbreeding they exist in the DNA of you and I. The misconstrued and dated discourse of Neanderthals as sub-human still holds significance in pop culture and the general public’s understanding of our ancestral cousins but with the growing knowledge of Neanderthals as much more

advanced and complex humans than previously thought, discussions are changing our perception of who the Neanderthals were and what they were capable of. This realization of cognitive equality amongst homo sapiens and homo neanderthalensis is also bringing theoretical questions regarding the implications their survival could have meant for modern humanity. What if Neanderthals were never absorbed into the homo sapien genome? What if they instead continued to live alongside homo sapiens as a distinctive human species?

This hypothetical scenario would likely pose great changes in our cosmologies today and how we view the world and everything within it. Questions like these shed light on the misconceptions we’ve become accustomed to with regards to the Neanderthal species and our history as humans. A new rewritten history of humankind, social orders, culture, and world views would arise, and with relationship to this class, this would include a whole new vernacular of Neanderthal interior design.

What would the design dialogue of Neanderthals include, what similarities and differences would it have comparative to homo sapiens? No one can be certain, but existing material culture can give a distant look into the early forms of symbolic thought that could shape an interior design practice of an alternative history.

Therefore, what this project seeks to explore is what a distinctive Neanderthal design discourse would be through the creation of a culturally significant interior space for Neanderthals. Using abstractions of existing Neanderthal material culture, educated assumptions based off contemporary homo sapien design, culture, and population evolution, and a 7

bit of pure imagination to fill in the voids, I will seek to explore the creation of interior spaces for the transference of culture by formulating a hypothetical culture of Neanderthals to create a more humane depiction of our genetic equals. While creating an interior space for the transference of culture, the act of me creating this space also acts as a transference of culture to you, the observer, on the very cultural significance and capabilities of our ancestral cousins; the Neanderthals.

Who was homo neanderthalensis

In the briefest terms, Neanderthals, scientifically classified as homo neanderthalensis, are an archaic human species that existed in Europe and Western Asia at least 250,000 years ago (and possibly as early as 400,000 years ago) to as recent as 36,000 years ago. Sharing a common evolutionary ancestor with homo sapiens, homo heidelbergensis 600,000 years ago, Neanderthal’s isolation on the Eurasian continent brought forth by global cooling meant they were classified as an entirely different cold-oriented evolutionary species compared to the African originated homo sapiens (Papagianni and Morse, 2015).

For 200,000 years, Neanderthals lived uncontested as the dominant advanced human species in Eurasia, developing their own advanced lithic industries, mastering fire, creating habitable structures, enduring various climatic hardships, and recently being discovered to initiate in and embrace symbolic thought through art, music (The National Museum of Slovenia, n.d.), religion, culture, and interior design (Papagianni and Morse, 2015; Yong, 2016). When homo sapiens initi8

ated their major exodus from Africa some 70 000 years ago, reaching Europe 50 000-45 000 years ago, we came into contact with Neanderthals for the first time, at times living alongside and even cross-breeding with our related cousins.

However, by 36 000 +/- years ago, Neanderthals ceased to appear in the archeological record. Various explanations attempt to understand the disappearance of the Neanderthal species from being outcompeted by homo sapiens, environmental stress, to genetic absorption by homo sapiens but the likely case was that all three elements were at play (Shipman, 2015. Papagianni and Morse, 2015). Neanderthals, albeit adapted to cold weather, still relied heavily on ambush hunting in forested regions with a chiefly meat based diet but due to volcanic winters that occurred 39,000 years ago in Europe and a period of global cooling that saw the invasion of grasslands into much of the European forests, their traditional environment drastically decreased (it’s worthwhile to note that many homo sapiens that also relied on similar habitats in Europe also died off, with a select minority that were able to advance their lithic technologies to allow for hunting in the grasslands being able to survive and thus form the basis for contemporary European genomes), coupled with a significantly lower birthrate than homo sapiens (approximately 10x less (Bocquet-Appel and Degioanni, 2013)), and cross breeding with migrating humans saw the collapse and extinction of true Neanderthals (Shipman, 2015. Papagianni and Morse, 2015).

Neanderthals: What we know about them today We are in the midst of a golden age of Neanderthal paleoanthropology. Previously, the picture painted of Neanderthals were of a brutish, primitive proto-human with pronounced brow bones and an inability for language, complex thought, and of a species seemingly evolutionarily flat. However, in the last 30 years increasingly accurate dating techniques, further discoveries, and genetic sequencing breakthroughs have proven that although Neanderthals did in fact have pronounced brow bones, they were far from the brutish unintelligent caricatures we envisioned them to be for the last 150 years.

In 2007, a discovery in Atapuerca, Spain gave a definitive date of hominins living in Europe 1 million years ago, far later than we previously thought (Papagianni and Morse, 2015). Around 500, 000 years ago, the earliest traits of Neanderthals begin to show in the archeological record, becoming distinctively classified as a separate species and the first and only hominin native to the European continent, homo neanderthalensis, by 250, 000 years ago providing a lengthy period for adaptation and evolution until their disappearance 36,000 years ago (Papagianni and Morse, 2015). One of the biggest findings that has reshaped our understanding of the middle paleolithic, that is the period of 300 000 to 30 000 years ago coinciding with homo neanderthalensis and archaic homo sapiens, is the discovery of Neanderthal DNA by Svante Paabo in 2010 that amongst many discoveries, showcased genetic capabilities for language and culture and provided concrete evidence for cross-breeding amongst Neanderthals and homo sapiens. We now know their genomes make up anywhere from

1-4% of modern non-African homo sapien DNA today and possibly creates an alternative explanation for the disappearance of true homo neanderthalensis today (Papagianni and Morse, 2015).

Through dating techniques and greater understandings of Neanderthal physiology through increased finding of skeletal remains and archeological deposits, we now have a greater understanding of the lives of Neanderthals. One of the most vital findings is the existence of cultural tendencies of Neanderthals. Culture was once sought to be the exclusive characteristic of modern homo sapiens, but findings are now suggesting that our Neanderthal cousins evolving separate to homo sapiens developed their own culture, thousands of years before homo sapiens reached behavioural modernity (Papagianni and Moprse, 2015). This ultimately unearths Neanderthals as complex humans, just like ourselves, showcasing compassion, having complex social organization, and who likely used symbolic representation and thought to similar if not greater extents than their contemporary homo sapiens and thus changes our perceptions of Neanderthals to now being mentally and ideologically equals.

9

The above drawing, by Frantisek Kupka in 1908, was one of the first attempts of recreating a Neanderthals appearance based on skeletal remains and would subsequently influence the popular perception of how Neanderthals looks for another 100 years. The skeleton that this drawing was based on from La Chapelle-Aux-Saints in France however, was later found to have an unusual and extreme form of early arthritis, completely deforming his spine. Today, many people still associated Neanderthals from this misconstrued image, completely derived from a one-off and severely deformed individual (Papagianni and Morse, 2015).

10

At the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann, Germany—at the original sight of the first rediscovery of Neanderthal skeletal remains in the 19th century—an instillation has been used to show a recreated Neanderthal in modern clothing (Neanderthal Museum). Styled akin to George Clooney, the statue brings to light the question of what Neanderthals would look like today; just how similar or different to us would they look? The dominant contemporary picture of Neanderthals is dated to their existence 50,000+ years ago and thus they are cognitively and physically painted in a poor light, ignoring that their material culture and appearances would have been very similar to their contemporary homo sapien cousins. However, had they existed and evolved alongside us, would we be able to instantaneously discern someone’s species on the street, or would our ability to recognize, or even the need to recognize, different species be called into question?

11

Concept Statement

12

But why should we care?

Mourning is one of the most defining characteristics of humankind. Why then do we not mourn the loss of our closest evolutionary kin? For the last 150 years, the images painted of Neanderthals as simple-minded, static, and primordial primates have dominated our popular discourse, and yet, these descriptions grew from scientifically ignorant and erroneous understandings of the real homo neanderthalensis. Neanderthals were equally complex, intelligent, insightful, and imaginative humans just as—if not more—capable of innovation, art, and culture as us homo sapiens; a fact increasingly acknowledged in academic fields but still largely ignored by the general public. Using the discourse of interior design as a visual medium for the transference of knowledge, my project seeks to employ an alternative history where Neanderthals continued to exist into present alongside homo sapiens to create a paradoxically more accurate depiction of Neanderthal’s humanity. In this scenario, Neanderthals engage in the growing trend of identity politics and claims of autonomy in our contemporary society, adopting a semi-autonomous parliament and representation system within Canada. This parliament acts as the governing heart of Neanderthals in Canada while also acting as the primary institution for establishing an official Neanderthal cultural narrative and design vernacular. The Neanderthal Parliament of Canada thus becomes a space for the legitimization and conveyance of Canadian Neanderthal culture within this alternative history, while also becoming an abstract insight into the more humane depiction of our evolutionary cousins.

13

Similarities and Differences

14

The Anatomy of homo neanderhtalensis and homo sapiens: The Differences and Similarities Differences

Similarities

Long, Lower Skull with greater Cranial Capacity

Exclusively Bipedal Large Brains

Heavy Eyebrow Ridge

Use of Language

Larger Eye Sockets indicative of Greater Visual Processing

Use of Complex tools Complex Social Organization and Networks

Prominant Nose with developed Nasal Chambers for Cold Air Protection

Use of Ornamentation Modern Behaviours of Complex Thought and Symbolic Representation

Larger, Broader Rib Cage

Art and Complex Culture Create Music Ritualistic and Religious Fabricate Clothing Used “Hashtags” Make up the DNA of Modern homo sapien sapiens

More Muscular, Robust Build with Shorter Limbs

homo neanderthalensis

“Human”

homo sapiens 15

Two Humans: Similarities and Differences Recent discoveries have created a clearer picture of Neanderthals that is increasingly similar, and at times more advanced, to that of homo sapiens. Differences still exist however, chiefly with regards to Neanderthal physiology. Homo sapiens and Neanderthals shared a similar evolutionary grandparent, homo heidelbergensis some 600 000 years ago from which they evolved from into separate species; one in Europe (Neanderthals) and one in Africa (homo sapiens) (Papagianni and Morse, 2015).

Homo heidelbergensis already set the stage for many modern hominin tendencies including language, the use of more precise flint stone tool manufacturing and even the use of wooden spears (as early as 400 000 years ago as found in the Schoningen mine in Germany), the control and use of fire, the creation of simple wood and stone structures, and possibly symbolic burials of the dead as found at Atapuerca cave in Spain (Papagianni and Morse, 2015. Smithsonian: Homo heidelbergensis). As global temperatures dropped and a lack of genetic contact between Europe and Africa transpired however, genetic differences occurred over thousands of years to create the two separate species of humans, homo sapiens and Neanderthals, reflective of their different climatic environments and in-part by genetic drift.

Neanderthals are undisputedly adapted for colder climates.

Their more robust, muscular bodies provided for greater maintenance of acceptable body temperatures in their more northern homeland, with more prominent nasal chambers that may have helped warm cold and dry air being breathed 16

in (Pagano et al, 2014). Their climate resulted in a slightly shorter but more muscular and barrel-like body than contemporary humans albeit this variation has little effect on the anthropometric requirements of Neanderthals (thus building codes moving forward would likely not vary as homo sapien variation is already adequate in addressing Neanderthal accessibility). Their larger eye sockets are also indicative that they had greater visual processing abilities, ie. relied heavily on visual stimulus and communication to greater extents than homo sapiens (Papagianni and Morse, 2015).

However, more similarities than differences characterize the relationship between the evolutionary cousins homo sapiens and Neanderthals. Both species have the largest brains of all hominins, with Neanderthals having an even larger cranial capacity than homo sapiens providing ample room for complex cognitive function (Amano et al, 2015). Neanderthal material culture is characterized by the Mousterian lithic industry with its own “ethnic� variations akin to the various lithic traditions that characterized contemporary homo sapiens and provides further insight into the social capabilities of Neanderthals (Papagianni and Morse, 2015). Relying on flint rather than core tools (in more simplified terms, smaller and precise stone tools versus larger, heavier, general tools), it is a direct evolutionary trait associated with preparing for the future and advancing social relations. Not only were Neanderthals using similarly advanced tools as homo sapiens, they were also interacting with similar if not slightly smaller social networks as contemporary homo sapien hunter gatherers existent today, having social networks as large as 120 individuals (Papagianni and Morse, 2015). At the core, Neanderthals were equally if not slightly less social as other human species

which could be in part due to their environmental constraints, nevertheless fostering complex social connections and the spread of ideas.

Until recently, the application of complex symbolic thought, chiefly culture, was designated as a solely homo sapien adaptation, but anthropologists have now uncovered that Neanderthals were producing art and employing symbolic thought just as much as homo sapiens, and in some cases, thousands of years prior to the earliest homo sapien forms to create a new multiple species model to explain the origins of behavioural modernity (Moro Abadia and Gonzalez Morales, 2010). Personal ornamentation including perforated animal teeth and talons, beads, and shells with wear patterns consistent of jewelry found in a plethora of sights across the European continent in distinctively Neanderthal strata are showcasing that Neanderthals were able to create their own symbolic traditions (Moro Abadia and Gonzalez Morales, 2010, Papagianni and Morse, 2015). 176,000 years ago, Neanderthals in France organized a ring of 400 stalagmites in an Averyon Valley Cave, creating the oldest existing evidence of intentional interior design (Yong, 2016). Traces of ochre on skeletal remains as well as in caves, and recent stone etches associated with Neanderthals further highlight their similar cognitive understanding of symbolic representation, burial practices, and art on-par with homo sapiens during the middle paleolithic, and recent evidence suggests that before their disappearance in the archeological record, Neanderthals were also experiencing significant artistic and material advancements 36,000 years ago, similar to the same massive changes noted in the records of homo sapiens also in the early stages of the upper paleolithic era (40 000 to 10 000 years ago) (Moro Aba-

dia and Gonzalez Morales, 2010, Papagianni and Morse, 2015).

What these findings can conclusively tell us is that Neanderthals shared the same cognitive capabilities as modern humans, and in some cases, performed culturally and artistically symbolic rituals thousands of years before homo sapiens.

When discussing their ornamentation or social networks, it is also vital to acknowledge their complexities were on par with the same expression and organizations of homo sapiens within their contemporary middle paleolithic and early upper paleolithic eras. The showcasing of increasing complexities as the upper paleolithic approached gives us insight into a similar advancement trajectory of behavioural modernity that occurred among homo sapiens 40, 000 years ago and thus opens up a vast area for interpretation moving forward in this project. Neanderthals were not stagnant in their symbolic and cultural representation, nor in their social organization and would very likely follow similar advancements on par with homo sapiens. Thus producing an interior design vernacular for contemporary Neanderthals, I will have to look at how humans have advanced today, applying my own interpretations and using existing elements of Neanderthal material culture as simply a jumping ground for an entirely made-up vernacular of what Neanderthal culture would look like in 2019. What will be clear however, is that Neanderthals were, and will thus be, equally complex, cultured, and creative and this will show in the following project.

To aid in the establishment of an inherently Neanderthal design vernacular, I have looked to existing elements of Neanderthal material culture and art to create general elements and principles of Neanderthal design.

17

The Elements and Principles of Neanderthal Design

18

The Design Vernacular of the World’s First Interior Designers Humans live within the realms of socially fabricated rules and norms that construct our cosmologies, dictate how we act, and influence how we design. In order to affirm the humane existence of Neanderthals within this project and to use Interior Design as a way of creating a more accurate perception of an inherently Neanderthal existence, it is important to establish a degree of rules relative to Neanderthal design to create a cohesive story and provide constraint. Without these rules, we are left with an infinite degree of interpretations and potentials for how Neanderthal design vernacular could have progressed, or even if it would have differed from homo sapiens at all. Ultimately, there is no way to know for sure how Neanderthal design would look in present times, but by using Neanderthal design evidence that exists today as a premise and applying similar levels of design progression experienced by homo sapiens, we can establish a hypothetical design vernacular supported by some level of scientific evidence and restraint.

With these principles specifically relative to Neanderthal design, they provide loose expectations and rationale for design considerations and provide a reference point to look back at when acknowledging the forthcoming interior space as being inherently and uniquely Neanderthal in nature.

Therefore, it is vital to establish unique and species-specific elements and principles of Neanderthal design through the analysis of existing elements of Neanderthal material culture.

By looking at four unique and different examples of Neanderthal material culture, shown on the previous pages, I set the four primary dictators in establishing an official Neanderthal Design vernacular as Radial Organization, Verticality, Etching, and Removal.

19

20

Radial Organization

Verticality

Verified by uranium dating (Yong, 2016), 176,500 years ago in a cave in France’s Averyon Valley, 400 stalagmites were intentionally removed from the ceiling and organized in two semi-circles, which unbeknownst to the Neanderthal creators, would become the oldest existing evidence of symbolically manipulating interiors; the foundation for what would become the discourse of Interior Design. Due to their earlier artistic complexity, Neanderthals were very likely the world’s first interior designers, and this finding, coupled with evidence of a central fire in the middle of the circle formation, showcases a ritualistic behaviour and symbolic understanding and value of radial organizations within Neanderthal design.

This ladder figure as a series of short horizontal lines bounded by longer vertical lines has been dated to over 64,000 years ago by uranium-thorium dating the calcitic crust formed over the ochre used to paint this piece being solely attributed to Neanderthals (Netburn,2018). Located in Maltravieso, Spain, this piece is not just important as being one of the earliest cave painting by humanity, but when viewed critically brings to question what the value of the vertical lines in comparison to the horizontal ones meant to Neanderthal epistemologies.

As an abstraction, the importance of vertical spaces will have influence in my forthcoming designs.

Etching

Removal

Drawing from a Neanderthal engraving in Gorham’s Cave, Gibraltar aged to 39,000 years ago, the depth of lines and evident cross-hatch show a deliberate design intent requiring continuous engraving to complete. Colloquially known as the “Neanderthal hashtag” or the worlds first “hashtag”, it is one of Europe’s oldest human made rock carvings and a marker of modern symbolic thought (Videl et al, 2014). As an abstraction, the Neanderthal tradition of engraving can be applied to both material details through engraving to architectural practices of reveals etc.

This 80,000 year old Moustarian Neanderthal stone hand-axe displaying Levallois stone-knapping techniques required an immense knowledge of pre-planning, preparation, and removal of flakes from a core to create a flake based tool that was effective, efficiently produced, and ergonomic. It is the process of flake removal (as well as retouching and sharpening as observed on the edges of the tool) that inspire the Neanderthal vernacular tradition of removal and creating voids which will help inspire the programming layout of the project.

21

Schematic Design

22

Introduction to Schematic Design and the Intent Progressing to the Schematic phase of the design for the Neanderthal Parliament of Canada, I approached it with the intent of making a rational and comprehensible space that fits the molds of a conventional interior design project. This means approaching it from a planning perspective that allowed for adequate programming, circulation, and spatial flow that would be necessary in an existing parliament and cultural space for homo sapiens. The intent behind this was to portray Neanderthals in the same light as homo sapiens, ie. also requiring the same level of schematic planning and detail as homo sapiens and ultimately by having me comply with the standards of a schematic design process, I am using my own actions to tell a story of similarity between the species.

Thus at this stage, my intent was to create a rational organization of the Neanderthal Parliament of Canada and determine and explain the programming needs central to the Neanderthal existence. The following is my exploration of programming needs, organization, blocking, and finally emotive experiences that I sought to convey through the design of the parliament.

23

Programming Needs “The Architecture of spaces of political congregation is not only an expression of a political culture, it also shapes its culture” (XML, 2016). Parliament buildings are the architectural solution for the governing and creation of legitimacy of political and cultural authority through a delicate relationship between outward projections of power and perceptions, the legislatures actual functioning, and the design of the parliament itself. In order to establish an authoritative depiction of Neanderthal cultural complexity then, a Parliament provides greater authority and validation than a just a cultural center or museum. In an attempt to address the contemporary discourse of the evolutionary complexity and equality amongst Neanderthals and homo sapiens, a Parliament is an architectural vessel with the greatest symbolic power and thus is the rational choice for this project.

Within the Neanderthal Parliament of Canada, a number of program requirements exist:

The Legislature At the heart of all parliaments is the central debate chamber.

All 193 sovereign nations of the world and countless other institutions employ varying layouts of central chambers reflective of their regimes and ideas of power sharing (XML, 2016).

Non-democratic regimes such as North Korea share the same design DNA in that they focus their attention at the front in a classroom configuration, whereas the least common and most democratic circle configuration is only found in 9 parliaments in highly democratic western nations and provinces (XML, 24

2016). On the pure belief that a newly constructed Neanderthal parliament already located within the realms of a democratic nation, with an existing history of Paleolithic equality (Lovgren, 2008) and the earlier mentioned radial organization tradition of Neanderthals provides me with the assumption of this unique albeit highly influential circle configuration would be an ideal display of democratic engagement, transparency, and legitimacy for the new construction of a semi-autonomous parliament for Canadian Neanderthals.

Determining the size of that legislature requires some assumptions regarding the Neanderthal population of Canada and desired level of representation. The current parliament of Canada’s house of commons has 338 sitting members representing approximately 35 million Canadians. At these levels, one sitting member represents approximately 104 000 Canadians. Maintaining these levels of representation of 1 representative for every 104 000 individuals for a Neanderthal parliament whose population is calculated by their differing birthrate of 10x less (Bocquet-Appel and Degioanni, 2013) and only applying this in comparison to self-identified individuals from the Neanderthal’s traditional region of Europe and Western Asia results in a Canadian Neanderthal population of 2.5 million individuals and equates to a parliament that houses 24 members of parliament.

The Offices and Bunker To support parliamentarians, an office space is required.

Open office space configuration is applicable as long as

shared private offices are available. Additional requirements relative to the office space include a meeting room and lounge space. In the basement, a bunker helps to reinforce the importance of the parliamentarians within and acts as another normative function of a parliament. It also brings to the forefront the realization that Neanderthals would have to be victim (and at times involved) in the destructive nature of humanity that occurs in our contemporary existence.

The Media Space Parliaments also tend to have spaces allocated for media and presentations, thus a space should be provided that albeit mixed-use in nature, should be able to hold press-conferences when needed.

The Cross-Species Collaborative Space With such a close proximity to Parliament Hill and in attempts to create a greater dialogue of similarities between Neanderthals and homo sapiens, a Cross-Species Collaborative Space should be provided that hosts meetings, workshops, and activities that highlight the vast similarities between the two species.

The Neanderthal National Library and Gallery Neanderthal physiology suggests that they were highly visual, and inherently artistic in nature and would likely have found visual means as an ideal representation of stories, themes, and histories even more so than us homo sapiens. Thus, a space for visual and physically written culture would be particularly important for the transference and representation of Neanderthal culture and helps to present them in terms comprehensible to modern civilization. Thus, space should be allocated to both a National (and thus authoritative) Neanderthal Library and Gallery, as well as archival storage.

Connecting the Neanderthal Library to the Library of Parliament (for homo sapiens) Sparks Street Branch which is located directly behind 100 Wellington St. through a bridge helps to maintain a dialogue of similarity and collaboration between species.

The Cafe A cafĂŠ would also provide an area for the exploration of an alternative way to exhibit culture, chiefly through cuisine. It would also provide an element that helps bring in homo sapiens and Neanderthals alike into the Parliament building, and provides a resource for the employees of the parliament.

25

Cultural Space Legislative Chamber (30ppl)

Meeting Rooms

Governing space

Private Access

Employee Lounge

Office Space (70 ppl)

Public Access

Shared Private Offices

Connection to Library of Parliament-Sparks Street Branch

Cross-Species Collaboration Space Bunker

Security Checkpoint

Media Room

Multipurpose Space Library

Cafe

Entrance Atrium Gallery

Bubble Diagram 26

In-house Archives

Stairs

Neanderthal National Portrait Gallery

W/C

Stairs

Lift

Cafe

Entrance Foyer +Reception

Neanderthal National Library Stairs

Primary Entrance Wellington St

Culture Circulation

Ground Floor Blocking

Governing 27

Bridge to Library of Parliament: Sparks Street Branch

Stairs

Stairs W/C

Cross-Species Collaborative Space

Mixed Use/ Media Room Lift

Lift

Upper Foyer

Neanderthal National Library

Stairs

Culture Circulation

Second Floor Blocking 28

Governing

Meeting Room

Stairs

Stairs

W/C Lounge

Lift

Lift

Neanderthal National Library

Culture Circulation

Third Floor Blocking

Governing 29

Stairs

Lift

W/C

Neanderthal Legislature

Culture Circulation

Fourth Floor Blocking 30

Governing

Stairs

Lift

Archival Storage Emergency Bunker

Culture Circulation

Basement Floor Blocking

Governing 31

Neanderthal Legislature

Cross-Species Collaborative Space

Upper Foyer

Neanderthal National Library

Entrance Foyer +Reception

Archival Storage

Emergency Bunker

Culture Circulation

Block Section 32

Governing

Neanderthal Legislature

Upper Foyer

Stairs

Entrance Foyer +Reception

Archival Storage

Culture Circulation

Block Section

Governing 33

Foyer Library

n gto

llin We

St

Cafe -

Block Axo 34

Cross-Species

Legislature

Schematic Look and Feel 35

Place of Arrival 36

Place of History 37

Place of Knowledge Transfer 38

Place of Collaboration 39

Place of Sovereignty 40

Place of Nature 41

Design Development

42

Introduction to Design Development and the Intent Following the original presentation of the schematic phase of the Neanderthal Parliament of Canada, I found people’s initial reactions to be very beneficial into how to progress my attempt at story telling through interior design. The biggest challenge that I faced was that in its schematic intent, the parliament was presented too literally and instead of becoming first and foremost a mechanism for storytelling, it was still being viewed in conventional terms with room for critique on programming and rational elements as little as bathroom sizes and seating capacity etc. By no means was my intention to direct the discussions regarding Neanderthal cognitive function to ones on seat counts and circulation adjacencies.

Within the design development phase then, I made an effort to further remove the interior space from reality or a conventional and critique-able thesis project, but rather design it as an exclusively emotive experience.

The layout set forth in schematic design stayed the same and yet no longer was understanding the circulation or programming relevant to the project. Although finished plans exist they are not presented, only a single section provides a level of program insight but was included chiefly to show the Neanderthal elements of design--verticality and removal--being implemented. What I seek to present is instead visuals of the interior spaces, each alluding to stories and components of Neanderthal humanity, culture, and cognition.

43

Room Stories Entrance

The first space presented is the Entrance. Here we are introduced to homo neanderthalensis and their paradoxical existence as similarly humans, but nevertheless a unique species.

In this render we are met with the first instances of the deconstruction of the interior and exterior as nature encroaches.

This is both a metaphor for the deconstruction of the notions of Neanderthals, but also to note the importance nature played in Neanderthal society. As noted, Neanderthals had at least 220, 000 years of harmonious interactions with nature on this planet, 50, 000 years more than us homo sapiens currently have enjoyed. Environmentalism was a key inherent principle that was biologically ingrained into the brains of Neanderthals who in times of strife would minimize consumptions and procreations, a stark contrast to the norms of homo sapiens whose commodification of children often expands populations in times of strife as seen in developing nations of today.

National Library The Library is an exploration of the cranial capacity (cc) of Neanderthals. With an average of 1600cc amongst Neanderthals, 200cc more than homo sapiens (albeit the flatter forehead of Neanderthals meant that 100cc of the excess was allocated to grey brain matter), there is scientific reasoning to believe Neanderthals had the potential for even greater cognitive function and memory retention than homo sapiens.

44

Had Neanderthals continued into modernity and had the ability to document their history, they may have engaged in authorship and writing to an even greater degree than homo sapiens. This is further supported by their physiology; their larger eyes and greater cranial capacity to support greater visual cognition would suggest that Neanderthals would have relied more on visual modes of transference of knowledge (such as books or interior design) than what we do today.

National Gallery The Gallery is an extension of the themes presented in the library, where visual cognition and an emphasis on visual creativity being significantly imbued into the culture and physiology of Neanderthals. Some of the first elements of visual culture and symbolic art are related to homo neanderthalensis, not homo sapiens.

Paleo Cafe The cafĂŠ of the Neanderthal Parliament of Canada is a discussion of Neanderthal consumption in contrast to the nutrient limited agrarian diet of modern homo sapiens. That is not to say that Neanderthals may not have adopted similar methods of consumption, but their diets still differed to their homo sapien contemporaries. Their heavy reliance on protein allowed for their stocky and more muscular bodies but this also had its drawbacks and may have aided in their demise. Diabetes is a trait inherited by our Neanderthal DNA

that likely arose due to Neanderthals having times of food scarcity and thus having their bodies evolve to address the lack of abundance that could occur in their non-agrarian societies.

Atrium Hallway In this transient space, a scrum is presented to allude to the political actions and thus authority the parliament entails.

However, one of the more important story telling elements is in relation to the round pocket doors. These doors are an allusion to the potential modern design vernacular Neanderthals could have embraced if they continued and evolved on the same trajectory as us. Radial in shape in conjunction with the earlier mentioned elements and principles of Neanderthal design, they are modern interpretations of the clichĂŠ perception of round boulders as the original doors of cave dwellings found in cartoons, biblical references, and popular media today.

Boardroom The boardroom is a space of complex thought and organization in modern society, and its existence in the Neanderthal Parliament suggests that Neanderthals too engaged in preparation and possessed immense foresight. Elements of this foresight can be seen through their use of advanced flake (as opposed to core) tool making, and albeit gruesome to modern standards, their common employment of infanti-

cide if anything suggests the serious manipulation of social environments and relationships in order to maintain social orders and an equilibrium with nature.

Rooftop Patio

It was important to have a space showcasing Neanderthals in nature as they were physically evolved to be better adapted to nature than ourselves. Their robust bodies and nasal cavities were better equipped to withstand colder climates and thus they would have enjoyed greater time exposed to natural elements within their buildings.

Legislative Chamber The legislative chamber acts as the legitimisation of Neanderthal culture and is programmatically related to the project, providing a level of authority to the discourse and complexity of Neanderthals. The design of the space itself, organized radially, references the radial organization rules set forth by Neanderthal design while also acting as the most democratic organization of parliamentary systems, found only in certain western nations such as Iceland and the Faroe Islands. This organization sparks an aura of utopia amongst Neanderthals that is lightly existent throughout this project. It is the location across from the Canadian Parliament however, seen through the windows, a space where the exact same functions of governing and cultural authority takes place, where we end with the dialogue that Neanderthals were, and are, very similar to us.

45

7

8 11

1

4

1

46

Entrance

2

National Library

3

National Gallery

9

5

10

4

Paleo Cafe

5

Atrium Hallway

6

2

3

6

Boardroom

7

Rooftop Patio

8

Legislative Chamber

9

10

Media Room

Cross-Species Mixed-use Space

11

Administrative Offices

1 47

2 48

3 49

4 50

5 51

6 52

7 53

8

54

55

Closing Thoughts

56

Conclusion Within the design development phase, I sought to present both a collective story as well as individual elements as they pertain to Neanderthal existence, room by room. There was a greater success in conveying the story telling element when rational elements such as floor plans, material boards, and evident programming from schematic design was removed as it allowed viewers to remove themselves from their own homo sapien biases and epistemologies. With even more time, I would continue to abstract the spaces and attempt to further counter my own homo sapien tendencies that prevented me from embracing the elements and principles of Neanderthal design whole heartedly

stories and the transference of knowledge, and had Neanderthals existed to this day, they very likely would have also told stories through the interiors of their own.

Nevertheless, the Neanderthal Parliament of Canada was, and is, able to spark a conversation and tell a story about the cognitive and cultural abilities of Neanderthals. To individuals who were able to become intimate to the storytelling at play, it was exciting to see how involved they got at the end of the project and vocal about their perceptions of what modern Neanderthal design vernacular would look like. There is no way to determine the exact vernacular of Neanderthals but subconsciously viewers of these interior spaces were already associating much more complex human, cultural, and artistic characteristics to Neanderthals than they had ever imagined previously. Through interior design, the Neanderthal Parliament of Canada transfers the scientific knowledge of the vast complexity and cognitive function of homo neanderthalensis and for many, may be the first time the species has been painted in such a light. In conclusion, the discourse of Interior Design is as good of any medium in conveying 57

Bibliography Amano, H. , Kikuchi, T. , Morita, Y. , Kondo, O. , Suzuki, H. , Ponce de León, M. S., Zollikofer, C. P., Bastir, M. , Stringer, C. and Ogihara, N. (2015), Virtual reconstruction of the Neanderthal Amud 1 cranium. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., 158: 185-197. doi:10.1002/ ajpa.22777 Bocquet-Appel, J and Anna Degioanni (2013). Neanderthal Demographic Estimates. Current Anthropology 54(8): 202-213 Joaquín Rodríguez-Vidal et al. 2014. A rock engraving made by Neanderthals in Gibraltar. PNAS, vol. 111, no. 37; doi: 10.1073/ pnas.1411529111 Langdon, D (Feb 14, 2011). AD Classics: Scottish Parliament Building / Enric Miralles. Archdaily. Retreived from https://www.archdaily.com/111869/ad-classics-the-scottish-parliament-enric-miralles Lovgren, S (Feb 3, 2008) Sex Based Roles Gave Modern Humans an Edge, Study Says. National Geographic News.

Márquez, S., Pagano, A. S., Delson, E., Lawson, W., & Laitman, J. T. (2014). The nasal complex of neanderthals: An entry portal to their place in human ancestry. The Anatomical Record, 297(11), 2121-2137. doi:10.1002/ar.23040 Pagano et al, 2014 Moro Abadia, O., & GOonzalez Morales, M. R. (2010). Redefining Neanderthals and Art: An alternative interpretation of the multiple species model for the origin of behavioural modernity: Redefining neanderthals and art. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 29(3), 229-243. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0092.2010.00346.x Neanderthal Museum (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.neanderthal.de/en/Permanent-exhibition.html.

Netburn, D (Feb 22, 2018). Case Closed: Oldest Known Cave Art Proves Neanderthals were just as Sophisticated as Humas. LA Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-neanderthals-were-artists-20180222-htmlstory. html Papagianni, D and M. Morse (2015). The Neanderthals Redisovered: How Modern Science is Rewriting Their Story. Thames & Hudsons Ltd. London 58

Rhodes, M (Sept 15, 2016) The Design of Parliaments has a Funkadelic Impact on Plotics. Wired. Retrieved from https://www. wired.com/2016/09/beautiful-book-reveals-architectures-impact-politics/ Shipman. P (2015). The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Exinction. First Harvard University Press.

Cambridge Massachusetts.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (n.d.) Homo heidelbergensis. Retreived from http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-heidelbergensis The National Museum of Slovenia (n.d.) Divje Babe: The Neanderthal Flute. Retrieved from http://www.divje-babe.si/en/the-neanderthal-flute/ The Scottish Parliament (n.d.). “About the Parliament Building.� Accessed from http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/visitandlearn/9983.aspx.

Tsang, W. (2014). Creating national narrative: The red guard art exhibitions and the national exhibitions in the chinese cultural revolution 1966 - 1976. Contemporaneity: Historical Presence in Visual Culture, 3, 117-132. doi:10.5195/CONTEMP.2014.58 XML (2016) Parliament. XML. Amsterdam Yong, Ed (May 25, 2016) A Shocking Find in a Neanderderthal Cave in France. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/05/the-astonishing-age-of-a-neanderthal-cave-construction-site/484070/

59