Canberra Following Griffin: A Design History of Australia's National Capital

This book is a comprehensive design history of Canberra, Australia's capital, covering nearly 90 years history. It focuses on the landscape design of Canberra prepared by Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin and his partner, Marion Mahoney Griffin. The 386-page book, which is lavishly illustrated, explains how the Girffin design was revised, partially implemented, and later resurrected to create the beautiful city that Canberra is today.Canberra, along with Washington, Brasilia, and Ottawa, is one of the few capital cities in the world that was deliberately planned. In 1911 the Australian Government ran an international design competition to obtain a design for its new capital. Chicago archtect Walter Burley Griffin, who had worked in Frank LLoyd Wright's studio, won the competition -- even without ever having visited Australia or seen the site for the proposed new capital.The design was an inspired one but Griffin met much resistance in its implementation. The author, Paul Reid, meticulously reviewed archival records to dicover why the building of the capital was such a fraught process. He explains in detail what was intended and what was actually built. The position of the Parliament buildings and other key buildings, the growth of two city centres, the placement of roads and thoroughfares all deviated from Griffin's plan -- sometimes for good reason, but at times to satisfy the whims of various bureaucrats.The book covers a vast expanse of design history in a very readable style. The many pictures and maps help to guide the reader. The book is still in print and available for $90 from the National Archives of Australia, its publisher. Contact [email protected] - that's where I got my copy.