4. Design
THECITIES
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CANBERRA the CAPITAL city 12
SYDNEY the HARBOUR city 38
BRISBANE the RIVER city 68
DARWIN the TROPICAL city 94
PERTH the WILDFLOWER city 114
ADELAIDE the FESTIVAL city 136
HOBART the MOUNTAIN city 164
MELBOURNE the BAY city 188
5. CITYSCAPES
AUSTRALIA
I am often asked how I feel about photographing
Australian cities. “After all, you’re a nature photographer”,
is the usual comment. I will admit that when I first
started pointing my camera at the urban world, I did so
begrudgingly. It was back in the mid 1980s and, at the
time, my incentive was mostly commercial — but it is
certainly not today!
Nowadays, I regard my time wandering the streets of
Australia’s cities as a joyous experience. After all, the
urban environment is still about nature; it is prime habitat
for the most influential species on the planet! All of the
colours, shapes, textures and patterns that we create
are little more than replicas inspired by the natural world
around us.
Strolling the streets with a camera is a very different way of
looking at a city then simply living there, or dashing from
A to B. I have to get to know the city — to sit on a bench
and ponder, to people-watch or to scan the high-rises for
reflections, shifting shadows and sparkles of light dancing
on glass surfaces. I have to feel the ambience when
a stormy sky breaks, allowing golden shafts of light to
illuminate the walls of a tall office tower — the simple joys
of a newborn urban creation.
One thing is certain, cities are also about change. Public
art suddenly appears where once there was none.
Bridges are constructed, allowing access to an unfamiliar
angle. Festivals and events spring up like coloured gypsy
caravans, showcasing everything from wildflowers to
music, art, comedy and history. And the seasons robe the
city, piling rusty red leaves on the pavement, or crowning
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parks and gardens with fresh, new buds.
So I never grow tired of revisiting Australian cityscapes
time and time again. It allows me to test my eye for new
detail and reminds me that I am also constantly changing
my perception of the world I inhabit — the dynamic,
urban world of cityscapes.
Left: The sun sets over the Swan
River and Perth’s CBD. Above, top to
bottom: Scenes of Sydney Tower — with
flag flying proudly; obscured in mist;
touched by twilight at the end of day. Paddington, Brisbane
6. CANBERRA
SYDNEY
theCAPITALcity
theHARBOURcity
With its generous green vistas,
contemporary elegance and bold,
monumental style, Canberra — purpose-
built to act as Australia’s federal capital
— has defied expectations of contrived
political functionality and grown into a
cultural, educational and sporting centre of
unique character. Set amid farmland and
native forest at the base of Black Mountain
in the Australian Capital Territory, it is
somewhat deserving of its affectionate title:
“the bush capital”.
Canberra’s distinctive layout was the
vision of Chicago architect Walter Burley
Griffin, who won an international design
competition staged in 1911. Griffin’s design
incorporated broad avenues radiating
outward from Capital Hill to spacious,
hexagonally arranged suburbs, all framed
by the surrounding picturesque ranges. The
artificial lake at Canberra’s centre, formed
by the damming of the Molonglo River in
1963, is named in the architect’s honour.
The Federal Parliament first sat in Canberra
— the name is fittingly derived from a local
Indigenous word for “meeting place” — in
1927. Today, parliament buildings both
old and new align along an axis with the
Australian War Memorial and Mount Ainslie
in the south.
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The capital is home to many of the nation’s
most important public institutions including
the National Gallery of Australia, the
Australian National University, the National
Museum of Australia and the Australian
Institute of Sport. It is also a city where the
natural and rural surrounds are never far
from view, a fitting quality for a capital that
represents all Australians no matter their
location, gender, religion or race.
Left: Looking over the domed roof of the Australian War
Memorial, down Anzac Parade to the Parliament Houses.
Pages 14–15: Canberra city, seen from Mount Ainslie.
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8. Opposite, clockwise from top: View Set amid imposing ranges and sprawling native forests,
to the east from Canberra Nature
Park, past Telstra Tower to Lake Burley Canberra is a city artfully designed to serve its people.
Griffin; a canine resident; enjoying a From the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, shady, tree-lined
day out at a music festival. This page,
clockwise from top left: Entertainment
boulevards lead to leafy suburbs. The city centre merges
includes: street musicians; shopping; the original 1920s architecture with ultra-modern shopping
Australian Dinosaur Museum; walking
plazas, pedestrian malls, government offices, museums
paths; Regatta Point; sailing on Lake
Burley Griffin; the Australian National and centres of learning.
Botanic Gardens.
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Opposite: Sculptures outside the Canberra is not only the nation’s seat of government, it
Australian Institute of Sport in Bruce:
The Acrobats, by John Robinson, was is also a living centre for science, art, history, sport and
installed in 1970; The Basketballer, by justice. Gracing the capital are the High Court of Australia,
Dominique Sutton, was commissioned
for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
the National Gallery of Australia, the National Science
This page, top to bottom: Questacon, and Technology Centre, the Australian War Memorial, and
the National Science and Technology
the Australian Institute of Sport. These distinctive structures
Centre on Lake Burley Griffin; the High
Court of Australia. reflect a century of innovative urban design.
