Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications

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Back to the future: The pragmatic classicism of Australia's Parliament House

TOMBESI, P (The Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand, 2003)
Routine production or symbolic analysis? India and the globalisation of architectural services

Tombesi, P ; Dave, B ; Scriver, P (Informa UK Limited, 2003-12-01)
Back to the future: The pragmatic classicism of Australia's Parliament House

Tombesi, P (Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2003-01-01)

Until the launch of Federation Square in Melbourne, in 1997, Australia's contribution to the history of international architectural competitions consisted essentially of two buildings: the Sydney Opera House, won by Jørn Utzon in 1957, and the Federal Parliament House in Canberra, won by Mitchell/Giurgola and Thorp (MGT) in 1980. While Utzon's building is widely acknowledged as a daring piece of innovative design and one of the architectural icons of this century, MGT's winning scheme for Parliament House drew heavy criticism from the moment the proposal was unveiled: neo-Classicist lines, a Beaux-Arts parti, and the building's occupation of Capital Hill – at the top of the Griffins' 1912 scheme for Canberra – were seen by many as displaying a lack of sensibility towards Australian landscape, culture, and ingenuity, and as the result of a conservative approach to contemporary urban design.