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You might think that the design for Canberra was developed by an Australian architect – but you’d be wrong.  It was back in 1911 when the Australian government came up with the idea for a Federal Capital Design Competition to select an architect to design the new capital city.  By the time all the entries were in for the competitition, which was not an uncommon thing at the time, there were three finalists who made the cut…and no, none of them were Australian architects.

Canberra City Design Finalists:

• Eliel Saarinen (Finland)
• Dr. Alfred Agache (Paris)
• Walter Burley Griffin (U.S.)

Out of 137 entries submitted, it was Walter Burley Griffin who beat out all of them.  Griffin is quoted as having said, “I have planned a city that is not like any other in the world.”  Some say it was Griffin’s ability to do architecture and amazing landscape art that won the government over.

There was actually some controversy over the choice that King O’Malley made (who had final say); the judging board’s chairman wanted a consortium of Australian architects to do the design but was eventually overruled.  Not that anyone can take anything away from the architects in Australia, it just appears as though this time it was meant to be that Walter Burley Griffin should design Canberra.

At Archi Oz we know that architects in Australia are among some of the best in the world.  The good thing about the greatness in the architects who reside on the world’s smallest continent  is that they often times get their influences from abroad.  Archi Oz knows that best are often inspired by the best.  Because the best architects hail from other parts of the globe – though we’d like to believe Australia has more than their fair share – inspiration often crosses seas and oceans.

If we look at someone like famed American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, it is easy to see why so many Aussie architects will claim to have learned a lot from this architectural genius.  Visit Archi Oz when you want to share in the stories of other architects who learned or studied from the work of a fellow architect that doesn’t happen to be a fellow countryman. 

But Archi Oz visitors don’t need to be dismayed, there are bound to be just as many architects who have looked the work of our own native architects and found their inspiration as well.  That’s right there’s more than just the Outback that Aussies have to share with the world, we have amazing architecture designed by even more amazing architects; visit Archi Oz and you’ll learn even more about the architects here.

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