Canberra: Capitol of Australia II
Lead: The site chosen for its new capital chosen, Australia turned to an international competition to choose the designer. The winner was an American of the Prairie School of Architecture, Walter Burley Griffin.
Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.
Content: Walter Griffin was considered part of the Prairie School of Architecture, the most prominent proponent of which was Frank Lloyd Wright, who employed Griffin for several years after 1901. Functional, of economic design, and unpretentious, Prairie School Houses were designed to fit into their surroundings. In 1912, Griffin was selected to design the new capitol of Australia southwest of Sydney.
Canberra: Capitol of Australia I
Lead: With the coming of the Australian Federation in 1901, the new constitution required the establishment of a capitol. Not Sydney, not Melbourne, but an entirely new seat of government.
Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.
Content: Prior to 1900 the continent of Australia was divided between six separate European colonies: New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia and Southern Australia. In the debates leading to Federation, regional rivalries were so intense, particularly between Sydney and Melbourne, that the price for agreement was a new capitol, in New South Wales, but at least 100 miles from Sydney.