The construction of Canberra

Introduction

France has Paris, England has London, the United States of America has Washington D.C., Japan has Tokyo and Australia has Canberra. The capital of Australia is located in Australia's Capital Territory, between Sydney and Melbourne, and was founded in 1908. As Australia's largest inland city, Canberra was planned and built specifically for use as the nation's political capital. Construction of Canberra was an important event in shaping Australian identity - Australians wanted to be recognised for their contribution in World War I and as an independent, equal and strong country. Her capital was built to match her dreams for the future.

In 1911 the Federal Capital Design Competition was launched for architects to design the perfect city. The winner was Walter Burley Griffin, an American architect from Chicago. Despite having drawn the winning plan, construction for the site of Canberra was not straightforward. Politicians and commissioners disagreed over the plans and though construction finally got underway in the 1920s, the Great Depression of the 1930s almost halted construction completely.

The Design of the City

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When Australia became a federated nation in 1901, politicians decided to look for the location of the new capital. The constitution specified that the capital had to occupy its own territory in New South Wales but could not be within 160 km of Sydney. While the location was being decided upon, parliament met in Melbourne. There were many suggestions, such as Albury, Tumut and Orange, but parliament could not agree on one site. In 1906, the Federal and New South Wales State governments agreed to a location somewhere in the Yass/Canberra district. In 1908, after several inspections made by senators and members of parliament, Canberra was selected as the site of Australia's capital.

Politicians then began to formulate an idea of how the nation's capital should look. Hugh Mahon, the Federal Minister for Home Affairs said, 'The Federal Capital should be a beautiful city, occupying a commanding position, with extensive views and embracing distinctive features which will lend themselves to a design worthy of the object, not only for the present, but for all time.'

The problem of selecting a name for the new Australian capital also arose. 'Canberra' was agreed upon as the name of the capital. It is thought that the word Canberra is derived from the Aboriginal word for meeting place - corroboree.

It was decided that Australia's capital should be a specially designed city, like Washington D.C. in the United States, and Brasilia in Brazil. On 24 May 1911, King O'Malley, the Minister for Home Affairs, launched the Federal Capital Design Competition. Architects from around the world sketched their plans for Australia's capital city, drawing on many different architectural and artistic styles in an attempt to embody the Australian dream.

Walter Burley Griffin, an American architect from Chicago, entered the competition.

Griffin had studied architecture at the University of Illinois and had worked as a draftsman in Chicago. He then worked with the legendary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Their relationship was difficult and Wright would later take to describing Griffin as his 'draftsman' and an architect of no great skill.

His interest in architecture grew from a passion for landscaping. He was strongly influenced by radical European and North American architects. The 'City Beautiful' and 'Garden City' movements were popular in late nineteenth and early twentieth century town planning. This strong classical style included large areas of gardens and greenery around settled areas, wide, long boulevards lined with tall buildings, parks and water features. The natural environment and Australian flora featured so prominently in Griffin's plans that Canberra was often called the 'Bush Capital'.

It was at the urging of his wife, Marion Mahony, that Griffin entered the competition. The designs were 8 feet wide and 30 feet long. Griffin was entrant number 29 out of 137 architects. He submitted his work on cotton cloth. The judges rated his work the best - the company Griffiths Coulter and Caswell rated Griffin first, the Finish architect Eleil Saarinen second and D Alf Agache of France third. Griffin's designs won because they captured the essence of Australian politics by using different building levels to give an impression of the hierarchy of government. He also created a harmony between politics and nature by leaving wide open spaces and areas of bushland to sensitively articulate Australia's natural landscape.

On 23 May 1912, Griffin received a telegram from Melbourne which read, 'Your design awarded first prize.' Griffin had won the competition to design Australia's national capital and define physically the Australian political landscape. It was an immense task but he had succeeded in achieving what politicians and Australians at the time believed would embody the Australian political ideal - a democracy modelled on the best of European constitutions in a beautiful country of wide-open spaces. Griffin's designs gave Australia a political terrain to match European capitals but also a distinctly Australian identity. Griffin was internationally acclaimed for his creativity and ability to incorporate the aesthetics of the Australian environment in his town planning.

Building the City Part I - Committees and Conflicts

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The Australian public treated Griffin like a celebrity, one reporter writing, 'There resides under the fair billowing looks some of the finest ambitions that a person can cultivate for the service of his fellow creatures.' Griffin also had a strong fondness for Australia and moved to Australia permanently after construction of Canberra was completed.

Construction commenced in 1913. King O'Malley, the Minister for Home Affairs who oversaw the competition proceedings, appointed a departmental board to oversee the construction of Canberra. Unfortunately, certain members of the departmental board had their own design ideas for Canberra. Without consulting Griffin, some changes were made to his original designs.

When Griffin learned of the changes he was furious and demanded that he be allowed to personally oversee the construction and overrule any interfering board members. So, in October 1913, O'Malley's board was removed and Griffin was appointed as the Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction. This allowed Griffin to bring his plans to life and include all the details and features that he had originally envisioned for Canberra.

Between 1915 and 1920 early construction of Canberra took place. Yet again, Griffin's plans and his authority over the project were questioned. A royal commission on the federal capital territory was held when reports of poor administration and delays in construction were made. The commission caused many problems for Griffin as he was again delayed in building Canberra. But the commission eventually found no evidence that Griffin was not managing the site well and he was reconfirmed as Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction. He resumed construction of Canberra.

If delays in construction were not problem enough, World War I slowed building.

In 1919, Griffin's contract as the Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction expired and he had to go through the process of extending the contract month by month until December 1920.

The end of the War and the new government of the early 1920s brought more problems for Griffin and his plans for Canberra. A new committee was formed, called the Federal Capital Advisory Committee, its head was John Sulman. This Committee came down hard on Griffin's poor record of construction and he excluded himself from the project when the committee handed him the conditions of appointment. The difficulties that Griffin faced in creating Canberra ended with his resignation from the project in 1921. The man who designed Canberra no longer had a role in its construction.

Building the City Part II - Full Steam Ahead in the 1920s

Responsibility for building Canberra fell squarely on the shoulders of John Sulman, the head of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee. Although overseeing the construction was now organised, actual construction again progressed slowly. The committee invited Griffin to assist with the construction but having had his pride hurt, Griffin declined but continued to live and work as an architect in Australia.

It was decided by the Country-National Party in 1923 that following the 1926 federal election, Parliament would move permanently from Melbourne to Canberra. This decision forced a deadline on the construction of Canberra: Parliament House had to be completed by 1926. This decision propelled construction forward. A deadline had been set.

In 1925, yet another committee was formed, called the Federal Capital Commission, with John Butters leading. Construction began on a provisional parliament house but it was not located where Griffin had drawn on the plans, on Camp Hill overlooking the main boulevard. Instead it was moved to a flat piece of land to save money. Griffin was outraged that the provisional parliament house would be built in front of the site for the permanent parliament house - he complained that it was like 'filling the front yard with outhouses'.

Now the construction of Canberra gained momentum. Roads were made, sewerage pipes were laid, trees were planted and houses and offices were built for the public servants who soon moved from Melbourne to Canberra. Shops were constructed at Civic, Manuka and Kingston. Suburbs such as Braddon, Barton, Forrest, Yarralumla, Ainslie, and Reid were built to accommodate the public servants. Suburbs were named after significant Australian figures and historical events - Yarralumla was the name of an Aboriginal tribe that lived in the area, and Barton was named after Edmund Barton, Australia's first prime minister. The residential architecture included Mediterranean and Georgian-style houses. This style is unique to Canberra. Mediterranean-style houses featured terracotta and tile roofs, arches, articulated doors, large balconies and lush gardens. Georgian-style houses used traditional English features such as geometric proportion and symmetry of windows and external features. Streets were lined by identical house fronts.

The parts of Canberra constructed during the 1920s include The Prime Minister's residence 'The Lodge', the East and West blocks of government offices on either side of the provisional Parliament House, several hotels, the Royal Military College at Duntroon, a hospital, a dam, a powerhouse, and a railway connection to Queanbeyan.

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The highlight of construction during the 1920s was the opening of the provisional Parliament House in 1927. The Duke of York, later King George VI, opened the building on 9 May. Dame Nellie Melba managed to fit in a performance of the national anthem, 'God Save the King', into her busy farewell tour. The first step had been taken in making Canberra Australia's political and national capital.

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Although at the close of the 1920s construction of Canberra was well under way and Griffin's original designs - although slightly altered by the various committees and commissions in charge of construction - were becoming a reality, the Great Depression halted building. 7000 people had moved to Canberra and now lived in a half-built city. The funding for the project disappeared and, like much of Australia during the Great Depression, faced a period of inactivity. After the Great Depression and the recovery of Australia's economy, construction at Canberra continued through the 1930s and 1940s.