The Ghosts of the Griffins and the Competition for a New Parliament House

Abstract

The competition for a new Parliament House in Canberra in 1979 had to accommodate a number of issues. These included the political sensitivity of choosing the prominent, elevated site of Capital Hill at the apex of the Parliamentary Triangle and at the end of a powerful Land Axis. These geometries were two of the major organising features in the planning for Canberra, as proposed by the Griffins, Walter Burley and Marion Mahony in their winning competition entry for the city design of 1912. The site of Capital Hill was originally designated by the Griffins as being set aside for a public building – “The Capitol” – and it was expressly not to be used for government purposes. The status of the Griffins and their ambitions, in regard to the planning of Canberra, waxed and waned since winning the competition, but by the early 1970s, the importance of the original vision was being resurrected. It was within this political context and the Griffins' resurgence that an architectural competition to locate Parliament House onto what is the most important urban site in Canberra was opened. This paper will look at the background to the Griffin ambitions for Capitol Hill, its subsequent selection for New Parliament House and how competition entries and the jury responded to the sensitivities of this context.