SYMBOLISM
When identifying a suitable site for any new public building it is vital to consider that building’s
function, its significance and relevance to the community. It would be truly ‘city making’ to ensure that a building’s symbolic importance is both captured and enhanced by its location.
Griffin conceived City Hill as the place that expressed ‘city life’ and where the National and
Municipal functions coalesced. City Hill is imbued with great symbolism – it is Canberra’s ‘meeting place,’ however, it is blighted and under-utilised through the dominance of both roads and surface level car parking.
To retain the integrity of the Griffin Plan and give expression to the symbolic value of City Hill:
- This apex must be physically connected to the other points of the National Triangle and to the landscape elements of the Griffin Plan;
- The paramount Civic buildings, a new Legislative Assembly and the Supreme Court, must occupy sites of significance; and Plazas, forecourts and gardens must be developed with the public buildings to promote public events, ceremonies and cultural expression.
- City Hill itself must be preserved as an open space accessible to all. It must be retained as a symbol of our City’s association with its setting and to the primacy of our egalitarian values.
CLARITY AND ACCESSIBILITY
Memorable cities have a ‘natural’ order – they are easily navigated, provide a choice of paths and destinations, are safe, have great amenity and enrich our experiences.
City Hill provides an excellent opportunity to establish a network of streets, paths, public buildings and spaces that focus on this signature and connect the adjacent commercial and lake parkland precincts.
City Hill is surrounded almost entirely by car parks, a consequence of past planning that emphasised access by the private motor vehicle. Unfortunately this changed the role of the streets and public spaces from that envisaged by Griffin. They were no longer destinations in themselves, offering opportunities for social, cultural and commercial exchange, much like St Kilda Road in Melbourne or Martin Place in Sydney.
To improve access to and around City Hill and provide greater clarity in the City’s urban structure:
- The Avenues must connect to City Hill and traffic speeds and volumes must be managed to give priority to vehicles that are coming into the City, rather than passing through;
- Northbourne Avenue from Barry Drive to City Hill, and Vernon Circle should be altered to give primacy to pedestrians rather than through traffic;
- Paths must be established, quite clearly linking City Hill to adjacent precincts, and especially to the Lake;
- Routes and networks traversing the City must offer obvious choices;
- Paths and routes must offer destinations or places for people to gather, meet, rest, refresh or observe others; and
- Significant changes in the City’s presentation should be marked with elements that express civic and community life. These ‘expressions’ not only enrich our experience of the city but also become important cues in navigating our way around.
QUALITY
Cities are the physical manifestation of the activities and values that bind us as a community. The quality and the character of a city’s public spaces and buildings determine much of how members of the community and visitors perceive it.
Canberra is often described as beautiful in its monumental simplicity but lacking in vibrancy.
Most certainly, Griffin understood the need to ensure that the Australian landscape and people’s
egalitarian nature had to be expressed in the form of Canberra.
Just how the nation will view us when we celebrate the naming of Canberra in 2013 will depend
on the sense of vitality in our public spaces and the spirit encapsulated in the architecture. City
Hill, as the symbol of community life, as Canberra’s meeting place, will be in the centre of the
celebrations and it must:
- Establish an identity to City that reflects the unique character of the Bush Capital;
- Recognise and enhance the City’s natural topography and the geometry of the Griffin Plan;
- Provide a range of spaces and functions that meet community expectations and enrich community life; and
- Place public buildings where they will enhance the sense of community and civic endeavour.
GROWTH AND INVESTMENT
Griffin’s vision has informed and inspired Canberra’s planning for nearly 100 years and the
strength of the vision is not in the ‘blueprint’ he set out but that the plan has accommodated the
layering of values from each generation.
We have an opportunity to add another layer to the Griffin Plan around City Hill and to begin to
express the maturity of self-government in Canberra. In doing this we can:
- Reinforce the spirit and intent of the Griffin Plan as captured in the National Capital Authority’s Griffin Legacy work;
- Express our contemporary values and aspirations; and
- Respect the rights of future generations and preserve their opportunities to express their ideals.
THE GOALS
- Conserving City Hill’s symbolism in regard to Canberra’s association with the landscape and as Canberra’s meeting place;
- Streets, paths and public places networks must focus on City Hill, establishing obvious civic destinations and clear connections to the adjacent commercial and lake parkland precincts; and
- Respecting the intent of the Griffin Plan in reflecting our community’s contemporary aspirations, including the incorporation of principles of sustainable design. These goals are encapsulated in the conceptual framework for City Hill, which:
- Reinforces City Hill as the city’s symbolic centre;
- Places key public buildings on sites addressing City Hill and where the buildings’ symbolic importance aligns with the symbolism of the Griffin Plan;
- Recognises the distinct precincts and establishes a focus, or destination in each of these, around City Hill; and
- Creates visual and physical connectivity between these destinations.
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