{"id":16809,"date":"2022-07-29T10:00:16","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=16809"},"modified":"2024-11-19T13:34:04","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T18:34:04","slug":"nothing-like-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=16809","title":{"rendered":"Nothing Like It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally Published July 29, 2020 by Linda Lou Burton posting about Canberra, Australia from Little Rock, Arkansas<\/em> – I\u2019m a sucker for capitol buildings \u2013 on the Journey Across America<\/em> I always dug into the story of how each state’s capitol came to be; the reasons for the choices made in design, location, and symbols. So natch, the story of Australia\u2019s Parliament House was the first thing I wanted to dig into when I woke up in Canberra this morning (on my NDI RTW<\/em>). Here\u2019s the story straight from the Australian Government website. https:\/\/www.aph.gov.au\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Canberra Has Had Two Parliament Houses <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Old Parliament House started life in a rather temporary status. It was named the Provisional Parliament House<\/em> when government moved from Melbourne to the new capital of Canberra in 1927, designed to serve the needs of Parliament for a maximum of 50 years. It was built in a \u201cStripped\u201d Classical style common to the 20s and 30s in Australia \u2013 no columns or pediments, but the symmetry associated with neoclassical architecture.<\/p>\n

By the 1970s the building had exceeded its capacity and was in need of considerable repair and renovation, so plans for a new Parliament House began. The new building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in May 1988. I don\u2019t know what the Queen thought about it, but it\u2019s safe to say there is nothing like it anywhere else in the Commonwealth, or for that matter, the world. Its roof is covered in grass, and the shape is, well \u2013 two boomerangs. No kidding, look at the aerial view. See the curves? And that flagpole on top is 266 feet high, weighs 275 tons, and flies a flag that is 42 x 21 feet, about half the size of a tennis court. To the right is the forefront and verandah of the building, where the public is welcomed in; a 640 sq foot mosaic by an Aboriginal artist depicts ancient western desert dreaming.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But the Old Parliament House wasn\u2019t left out; some of the facades of the New included deliberate imitation of some patterns of the Old, so that there is a slight resemblance despite the massive difference of scale. And the Old still stands today; at the base of Capital Hill at the centre of the Parliamentary Triangle, which is the heart of Walter Burley Griffin’s design for the city of Canberra. (More about the city\u2019s design in the next post<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

Here are some numbers to stretch your mind with regard to the scope of the New Parliament House project.<\/p>\n