Devastated by Peruvian slaving raids and a smallpox epidemic, their population dwindled to as low as 111 before Chile annexed the island, imposing austere military rule for decades.
The new federal courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City is a massive, futuristic cube of metal and glass that looks imposing, austere and, above all, impregnable.
The facades of some blocks, for instance, are being brightened by dozens of quaint sea-facing balconies, changing the nature of the imposing, austere architecture that stood as a monument to insatiable militarism.
Kadri argues that over the past 40 years, governments that aspired to instill an Islamic identity have imposed austere interpretations of Shariah, ones that run counter to a millennium of transformation and universality.
The imposing, austere 1920s brick façade, with stairs and groups of columns at either end, faces a large open square adjacent to one of the city's canals.
In the nine months since then, the extremists have imposed an austere and severe form of Islam – those who disobey their rules are beaten with whips and camel switches.
The Grossmünster church, on the Zwingliplatz, is imposing and austere, with a 16th-century statue of Charlemagne, credited with founding the church, in the basement.
There is probably no other issue on which the American and Iranian government share such close views as the Taliban, a militant Islamic movement that has battled its way to power and imposed an austere brand of Islamic law.
Parents, however, have been left irritated at the new rules – with one branding the move "funereal", saying in a letter to the school: "I am at a loss to understand why you would impose such an austere, funereal and outdated dress code on our young women.
The Saarinen building, to which an extension was added in the nineteen-seventies, is austere, imposing, and fortresslike.
