Australia's Capital Could Have Looked Very Different

[@kingsandthings]

Would have loved to have visited this place! Btw, some other suggested names for the city were "Australville", "Shakespeare", "Paradise", and "Sydmelperadbrisho".

[@Dave_Sisson]

When they moved the capital city from Melbourne to the new "Bush Capital", as it was nicknamed, some people in Melbourne argued that it was good for their city. Rather than a loss of prestige, they said collecting all the politicans, staffers, bureaucrats and lobbyists and moving them to an isolated location in the middle of nowhere would greatly improve the moral character of Melbourne.

[@Chinoiserie9839]

You should make a video about how Manila could have been if the plans designed by Daniel Burnham was materialized. He took inspiration from Paris and Washington D.C. There are still remnants from his original design but the city now looks like crap.

[@LamiNalchor]

Love the Arts and Crafts movement.

[@overworlder]

@@Dave_Sisson - Well that worked as well as transportation a century earlier. 'Underbelly' gangland killings and all.

[@betula2137]

Do you perchance view 'Not Just Bikes'? He has a few handy bits on urban design , particularly bashing on a lot of things which make many cities, like Canberra, not-so-good in terms of practicality and well-being.

[@thatcitybuilder9379]

Gimsons plan for Canberra feels alot like those "ideal" city plans made in The Renaissance and Baroque era. The big domes and red-tiled roofs remind me of cities like Dresden or Florence. Great vid as always!

[@Charliecomet82]

"Florence on the Mononglo?"

[@pronumeral1446]

@@Charliecomet82 Or, in the English tradition: "Canberra-upon-Molonglo"

[@josephwinder6878]

Yes, unfortunately too classy for australia

[@angelusvastator1297]

Australia took a L when they rejected this plan

[@cewla3348]

@@angelusvastator1297 as someone who lives in canberra, this would have been so amazing. A city built around biking.

[@Jadead23]

As someone living in Canberra, it's really sad how little any of these designs were implemented. All of the center of our city is spaced out to the point it's difficult to experience it on foot unless you're in the Civic area. It ended up designed primarily for cars rather than people, and we only got a tram for the first time in the last 10-ish years. The one thing I will always love about my city is the shear abundance of nature. We were so lucky to get a horticulturalist named Charles Weston, who envisioned Canberra as the 'bush capital' of Australia. His work to add greenery, encourage the population to garden and to have specific trees for each area of Canberra is honestly my favourite part of where I live.

[@Broesky]

I feel for you. A tragedy. Your "Canberra Central" is a parking lot... This says it all about the lack of vision the modern planners have.

[@ZeroToNero843]

The tram was in the original plans that burley griffon submitted its just crazy it took 100 years to build it

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

@@ZeroToNero843 sort of, iirc the current tramline would have been a standard rail section based on the maps. But the second section would have turned at Campbell and Manuka (cutting through the Kingston edge of the Jerrabomberra wetlands) to head to Queanbeyan, with a pair of splits just before Manuka heading to Barton and Fyshwick. The tram lines would have connected all the main rail stations along the remaining lines.

[@tallaganda83]

WBG never even visited he was so disappointed. As someone who also lives in Canberra, I do believe it still has potential.

[@pitchkinker]

Cars> people though. Cities don't need walkable-ness, that leads to people getting in the way of cars which are bringing commerce, etc.

[@rachelcookie321]

If Canberra was actually built to this design I imagine it would be a very popular tourist destination. It’s like a little Europe in Oceania. I would definitely want to visit, it’s so picturesque. Maybe this Canberra could of grown to be a proper city and not just a small city based around the government.

[@daad8364]

true. its such a government based location which is such a turnoff. it could have been so much more.

[@mareksicinski3726]

'an europee'? I guess it has certain features people associate with aprts of europe

[@LemmiwinksH]

I don't think I've ever met anyone that's said regarding their visit to Canberra that it was anything more than alright.

[@sparksfly5877]

@@LemmiwinksH I looked up a list of 10 things to do in Canberra, and two of them were kayaking.

[@Nathan-gs5tw]

@@LemmiwinksH I live in Canberra and it's a pretty underwhelming city, but for its size it's not so bad. It's way too expensive though

[@abbasalchemist]

This is how cities should look. An elevation of the human spirit, not a degradation to its most functional aspects.

[@elorani1714]

Exactly. A community designed for humans, not cars, like so many modern cities are.

[@reggie69.]

@@knowthatitisnearevenatthed9413 I don't understand this comment pls explain

[@markusbananus6432]

@@knowthatitisnearevenatthed9413 yes, a degradation to Marxism.... in a capitalist based economy 🤔

[@foodistzen]

@@markusbananus6432 there's this thing called cultural marxism

[@overworlder]

@@foodistzen - that’s less a real thing than another right wing conspiracy meme

[@simonsaysno]

What was so unique about Gimson's proposal was the attempted revival of Byzantine architecture, most notably the proposed parliament building. The West went through several revival movements in the 19th century, yet little attention was given to Byzantine architecture (outside the Slavic-speaking world). If an Anglo-Saxon country like Australia had lead the way, I suspect that many of our public buildings would have an "eastern flair" to them.

[@TigerofRobare]

Actually, there was a Byzantine revival in the West at the time. The most notable building to come from it is Westminster Cathedral, the Roman Catholic cathedral in London, but when Ralph Adams Cram took over as architect for St John the Divine, the Episcopalian cathedral in New York City, he added a Byzantine dome to the Gothic design.

[@dannyhightower911]

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC is a massive neo-byzantine church, also The Catholic Cathedral of St Louis in Missouri is as well.

[@LOLERXP]

The throne hall of Neuschwanstein Castle is in neo-byzantine style as well. I wouldn't say it got little attention.

[@simonsaysno]

@@LOLERXP Time to address this as several are pointing out anecdotes. I never said one could not find examples of Byzantine revival in the West. I do however stand by that little attention was given to it, compared to other revival movements. For example, you can hardly visit any North American city without encountering a classical or gothic-inspired building. Yet, you can drive from coast to coast without ever laying eyes on a Byzantine revival.

[@conor845]

I liked that about Gimson's proposal too. We have the Australian War Memorial here in Canberra which is of Byzantine architecture style. I think it would've been nice to have more of that style throughout the city.

[@tdb7992]

When I was a little kid, maybe in year 4 at school in Perth, I remember seeing Walter Burley-Griffin's plan for Canberra in a school text book. I was so amazed by the idea that you could build a city from scratch. That single picture inspired me so match I've been a huge map nerd for years, drawing maps and transit systems amongst other urban things. It really captivated me. Now I'm 37, and I still draw maps and transit systems! I'm amazed to hear a non-Aussie talking about this subject as a lot of non map-geek Aussies probably wouldn't have even realised other designs for Canberra are out there. I had to stop the video at 1:36 to write this message, and I just know that I'm going to love the whole video!

[@shenanigans3710]

If you go the National Archives in Canberra you can see many of the other entries, as well as the stunning paintings on silk that Marion made for the Griffin's entry. In fact I believe that there's a whole exhibition dedicated to her that's on right now.

[@tdb7992]

@@shenanigans3710 thanks for the heads up! I'm in WA and our border opens soon, and I'd just booked a trip to Melbourne where I lived for 13 years. I might fly up to Canberra to check the museum out!

[@perthdude21]

@@tdb7992 I'm also a map nerd from Perth! I used to draw maps and create imaginary cities when I was younger. I don't really do that anymore, but I wouldn't mind creating stuff like that again. I'm still into maps though, I love sites like Google maps and Google Earth

[@tomparke2407]

I have a similar memory when I was young and my mother (who spent some of her childhood living in Canberra) told me they designed the city from scratch. Really elevates the mind of a young person to think such a thing is possible.

[@captainwalrusbeard3793]

@@perthdude21 nice to know there are other Australians out there that do/did this as well. I can very much relate. For a bit of light hearted but informative map content be sure to check out the KZbin channel “Map Men” they have a well earned following of devoted map fans.

[@erichtomanek4739]

I'm Melburnian and wish we would use this man's City Designs. If nothing else, How can you say no to Gold Domes?

[@paulorocky]

Ah the Royal Exhibition Buildings...

[@erichtomanek4739]

@@paulorockyTrue. Bit that's just one example. Melbourne, during the Gold Rush was called "Marvelous Melbourne" after all.

[@dantemadden1533]

@@erichtomanek4739 back when Architects had taste, now all they have is shit on their tongues

[@jacksonguillory8114]

If I can conquer, I'll gladly get this stuff done

[@Kintabl]

@@dantemadden1533 You are 100% right.

[@Peripepp]

If only it were designed like that, people wouldn't have mistaken Melbourne or Sydney as Australian capital city.

[@dallascopp4798]

oof, shots fired

[@natep6729]

@Zaydan Naufal This was way before those things were built. National palace was only built less than 20 years ago 🤦🏻

[@jivanjovan]

@Zaydan Naufal I'm Indonesian and I literally have no idea what those two buildings are, I feel like you're picking at straws here

[@kaiden6677]

i dont think its the design that makes people think it isnt the capital, i think its the fact that canberra is a tiny shit hole with nothing to do and barely any people. If it was designed that way it would still probably be the same size and have nothing to do.

[@felixthecat0371]

tbh it looks so out of place compared to the rest of Australia, it would be wrong for our government to reside in a Palace

[@TheDutchMitchell]

That design is so beautiful...it really seems like the perfect place to live in. I wish we still built like that

[@chronofactor2037]

That's a city I'd like to live in. At the moment I'm living in a suburban hellscape, with new developments that really show you how soulless suburbs are. I've taken many walks to the probably now recently inhabited suburban developments in my town and I can say that I wasn't thinking about how creepy suburbs were until I started really focusing on the details of the place. Every house was the same, and all the houses were empty due to it being a new area. It's worse than being just a cookie-cutter residential zone, the houses were legitimate all the same, no wear on anything to be seen which would add some variation to the landscape, and due to the lack of population, they were left as built. You don't realize how much customizing your front yard helps to improve the look of your suburb until you see something like this. It was quiet, lonely, and devoid of anything that rings of human nature. It felt like an empty dollhouse while I was walking through it. I had also gone there at night one time and the new LED street lamps just made it look creepier with their cold white glow illuminating the already impersonal landscape.

[@bengorst-wright5446]

Canberra is basically one giant suburb with a parliament house and some gardens in the centre if you want to live in a city you'd be better off in Melbourne/Adelaide/Brisbane (Sydney is far too expensive to recommend)

[@chronofactor2037]

@@bengorst-wright5446 I was referring to the illustration version, but thanks for the advice! If I ever move to Australia I'll keep that in mind

[@EpicCorn0]

I don’t know why people always talk about suburbs like this but I guess new developments aren’t that great. I live in what I’d consider a really nice area in Sydney, the houses are quite varied in design and there’s lots of green space and trees around. People get around outside quite a bit and most people put effort into their front gardens

[@chronofactor2037]

@@EpicCorn0 Suburbs in the states are not very nice looking. It's like if you compare a homemade sugar cookie to the ones you get for cheap from a supermarket. I think it's kinda the difference between a suburban area and an area that's built to be suburban.

[@EpicCorn0]

@@chronofactor2037 I see that’s a shame. Still at the same time I’m not a big fan of some parts of European cities that are just the same housing blocks laid out over and over with little green space. But I get what you mean, I’ve looked around on google maps enough to know there are some really ugly spots like you described in the Midwest that are like that

[@nathanyakich3152]

Your use of documents, paintings, and images from the era make your videos so much more enjoyable. I always learn so much. Thanks!

[@ryanvega2081]

I honestly find Gimson's, Griffin's and Sarinen's plans all attractive. Maybe the Australian government should build them somewhere else, I know it'll never happen but with the population becoming so concentrated in Australia's few large cities they really should look into constructing new regional cities. It's a shame that not even Griffin's intended plan got built, as it looks infinitely better than what was built. Griffin's original plan reminds me of Lutyens Delhi with it's hexagons and octagons, and I think had it gotten built Canberra would be much more dense and feel like an actual city instead of a giant suburb. Great video btw!

[@aussietom85]

There's not enough water inland.

[@BirdTurdMemes]

@@aussietom85 Pipeline/desal plant

[@overworlder]

There’s been various attempts over the years. Canberra itself, Albury-Wodonga, Wagga and Townsville, all benefited from past decentralisation or inland or regional development policies. These days the focus seems to be on developing towns around Sydney and Melbourne into dormer suburbs, Newcastle, Bathurst, Wollongong, Goulburn, Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong, with proposed HSR links.

[@darthsorosious3985]

Lutyens delhi is bullshit

[@sullivandmitry1416]

The problem is Australia is a retarded economy that has slowly started to die out. I lived there for a little while a decade ago and even then it was showing signs of decay. They have little to no excavation of oil in the middle, are insanely restrictive about importation and have over the last 2 decades pushed out all of their foreign car manufacturing plants and the areas they have for farm land are being consumed due to population increases. They are dying both economically and politically as in recent years the government and people have slowly started pushing against each other. It is sad to see.

[@thechildhoodruiner15]

Coming from someone who lives in Canberra, it's quite fascinating to see how the city could've looked like if they didn't pick Walter Burley Griffin's plan. However if they did picked Ernest Grimson's plan, I wonder how they would've built it if they had the same time delays as the chosen plan.

[@Ali80076]

Although beautiful Grimson's origional plan would have been greatly changed as it is in a couple of decades as it didnt leave much room for modern vehicular traffic in the city center. No doubt the wide avenues and vast openness of the current design left more room for modern infrastructure.

[@thechildhoodruiner15]

@@Ali80076 considering how Canberra’s satellite cities like Belconnen, Woden, Gungahlin, Tuggeranong, and Weston were designed with cars in mind, as much as I like the ambitions of Grimson’s plans. It wouldn’t have been sustainable from the 60’s onwards.

[@overworlder]

@@Ali80076 - Yes, the core of the city really had to be built before WW1 otherwise it was always going to be designed around cars.

[@betula2137]

@@Ali80076 Well, Canberra isn't that large (in population), so theoretically, whilst there may have been a big traffic block in the '60s and so-on, with its density, if would have been able to follow the Netherlands and essentially solve traffic and cars with bicycles and trains.

[@blackkray1168]

@@betula2137 not to mention trams. I really dont understand how trams have fallen out of fashion

[@henryhargraves4184]

I live in Canberra sometimes and I’m really excited to have someone make a video of it since Australia is not often the subject of people’s videos.

[@bazza945]

Yeah, quakkas are cute, but koalas are just tree thugs.

[@revel8213]

Jeez, as a canberran im mad. Couldve been such an amazing place. Instead we have 4 shopping malls, you need cars and buses to go anywhere, and theres literally nothing interesting.

[@victorsamsung2921]

So I have been told by locals and other Aussies. When I lived in Sydney. Fortunately, both Sydney and Melbourne etc. have *not* lost their charm at the hands of government sponsored modernism etc. Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth too etc.

[@mackb2852]

As a Canberran, I WISH canberra couldve looked like this. Old Canberra is pretty, dont get me wrong, but this would've been amazing!

[@maple494]

Fun-fact: The guy who came 2nd in the competition, Eliel Saarinen is from my hometown in Southern Finland called Kirkkonummi

[@overworlder]

An arts-and-crafts capital could only be built if the city was built in the tens and twenties. Just as Burley-Griffin’s architectural illustrations were never realised. Only his street plan. The oldest parts are 30s ‘garden city’ style, stolid red brick or stucco'd bungalows and public buildings, ie the fashion at that time, and the rest is mundane postwar office blocks, malls, freeways-and-suburbs. It’s nice to dream of the pre-automobile arts-and-crafts city that might have been. I really like the idea of arts-and-crafts apartment buildings taking up a full block enclosing gardens. A more spacious leafier version of Haussmann’s Paris or Gruenderzeit Vienna and Berlin.

[@sagichnicht6748]

The flaw in your argument is the idea that nowadays one could only possibly built cities entirely dictated by the car. While that was the fashion for a long time, it is not a necessity. Of course one can not turn back time but one could certainly "repair" Canberra, especially its heart and turn it from a city for cars into a city for humans with attractive civic places and urban parks as well as mixed use urban buildings.

[@overworlder]

@@sagichnicht6748 - The flaw in your argument is I wasn’t talking about now, I was talking about the period when most of the city was built, the second half of the 20thC. Canberra’s currently increasing density and allowing mixed-use zoning, which is a strategy to make the city more walkable, and improving public transport. But then, that’s what all Australian cities are doing. Everything happens according to the current fashion.

[@sagichnicht6748]

@@overworlder Ok, you've got a point there. In the mid 20th century the situation was indeed quite hopeless in this regard. However, in the right places things changed already as early as in the late 1970s again, even more so in the 1980s and 90s. It is not just about the fasion and it doesn't happen equally in all places either. Also, not every fashion creates equally attractive or livevable urban environments either. In Europe for example different cities developed almost radically different even though they faced similar situations of heavy war damage, economic recovery and big investments in reconstruction. What kind of reconstruction however was already far from uniform. On top of that some cities didn't want to miss out without war destruction and destroyed central neighbourhoods without any war damage ever taken place. Others reconstructed what was destroyed to an extend that many wouldn't even guess that there had been major damage to begin with.

[@ackaaa22]

Thanks for making this video! I personally prefer saarinen's plans but I had never looked this in-depth at the others, I think most can agree all the plans are much grander than what we eventually got

[@theicepickthatkilledtrotsk658]

One of the greatest city plans never to be built.

[@wyattmcgee1]

These master plan vids are my favorites. :)

[@thebpulse6477]

Canberra is weird man, just feels like you’re traversing a massive farm that has amenities. Quite unique actually

[@Apis4]

Interesting side note: Not only was the conflict between the colonies of Victoria and New South Wales so bad it forced a compromise, it actually almost scuttled the plans for Federation. Neither the NSW or Vic. Governments would accept the other's capital as the national capital, and it was a lot more of an issue than most ever publicly knew. As a result, constitutionally, Australia's capital can be ANY city, EXCEPT Sydney or Melbourne, it cannot even be within 100kms of Sydney.

[@mabamabam]

It says the seat of government must be in Commonwealth territory in NSW more than 100mile Sydney. So no it can't be ANY city.

[@Apis4]

@@mabamabam Convention holds that's not absolute. There were 11 cites short listed for the capital, and all eligible. In fact, convention is, at present, and has been for decades, that IF Canberra can not function as the national capital, those 11 towns have priority to become the new capital. The thing is, whilst they wanted a regional locale, so towns like Parkes, Tebterfield and Tamworth are of those suggested cites.... ....theres towns NOT in NSW which are on the list too. When the Government has pondered this occasionally, the posit8n has been that what's meant is that IF said new capital is IN NSW, then it must be no closer etc etc. But that does not mean IT MUST be. This is supported by the fact that CANBERRA IS NOT IN NSW

[@mabamabam]

@@Apis4 why not just read the constitution yourself? It's not hard to do. "The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney."

[@Apis4]

@@mabamabam Because that's not what's held as absolute. It's contended. As I said, some of the first short listed cites, around 30 initially, if I remember correctly, were NOT in NSW. The prevailing opinion, or said one of my Pol-Sci tutors many years ago, by the late 20th century, was that if the crown was to acquire land, and it become federal jurisdiction, it was not essential it be in NSW, so long as it was not Melbourne. That it was because NSW offered the land and the Federal Government accepted, but was NOT obliged. Whilst this has not been tested, the consensus of the 70s, when I think it was ladt unofficially pondered, held that they'd have little trouble getting the High Court to see it that way too. Thus, they formed the belief theoretically, any town or city could be the Capital so long as not within 100 miles of Sydney, but also not Melbourne. Stop replying now. This is irksome.

[@mabamabam]

@@Apis4 " and shall" is not contentious. Make up whatever weird little interpretation you like but it will only ever be taken seriously inside your head.

[@vianabdullah2837]

As someone living in Canberra, I'd be lying if this isn't something I wished went through. The city is fine as it is but it's very stale and utilitarian in its design.

[@kubabooba548]

Yeah, it's a shithole.

[@bazza945]

It is full of politicians, all welching off the taxpayers.

[@kwazooplayingguardsman5615]

thats funny, with a name like that, I would assume you would enjoy a rootless utilitarian design.

[@gaiusmarius7562]

"Lacked the grandeur called for by the government and failed to encapsulate the progressive, pioneering spirit of the young country." This part is so infuriating. Canberra today is a glorified suburb.

[@MMadesen]

Its not even glorified. Almost every non Australian thinks, Sydney or Melbourne are the capital.

[@gaiusmarius7562]

@@MMadesen Maybe I worded myself wrong. "It's a suburb masquerading as a capital." That's better. Btw, I was one of those who believed the capital was either Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. It was this very video that informed me that it was Canberra.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

@@MMadesen I think they should throw in the towel and make Sydney the capital as it ought to be. I live in Melbourne, but I honestly think Sydney serves better as a capital city than anywhere else in the country. It has inspiring architecture. It has infrastructure. It has business. It has culture. People around the world want to visit Sydney because it's Sydney.

[@drafezard7315]

@@JohnFromAccounting No it should be Melbourne. We Melbournians would secede from the Federation before we see Sydney made to be our Capital!

[@johnmcphee3136]

@@JohnFromAccounting As a Sydney-sider, I'd much rather we had all of the politicians, civil servants, persons of influence and other unsavoury characters in a small, soul-less city comfortably positioned a decent two-hundred miles elsewhere than have them all be a train-ride away. If one would insist to move the Capital, I would proudly pass the torch to my Melbournian brothers.

[@stoopidapples1596]

This design would have been iconic for sure, but Canberra’s design is definitely extremely intuitive for its time, so I wouldn’t have it different.

[@arctiic7980]

Proud Canberran here. Love hearing local names on a random KZbin video, thanks for making this awesome video!

[@ahdhnahajajlrd]

as a canberran, I feel seen. it's a new feeling for me. I also feel mad af that I could have lived in this absolute oatic utopia and instead live in canberra.

[@mallie35]

Very interesting. I was born and raised in Canberra, and still live here, it's a great city.

[@srichra6358]

I am from Canberra and am currently sitting in Canberra right now writing this. Let me give you an idea of how Canberra looks nowadays. We can see a lot of WBG's inspiration throughout the city, lots of long avenues and roundabouts galore, we consider ourselves to be the roundabout capital of the world. We didn't have much money for a while, so a lot of our government and university architecture is ugly, concrete, brutalist style buildings. Since the 1970's, we've really come into our own. We are basically a city of public servants. Personal income is high and people have demanded a higher standard of living. There is much more to do in Canberra now than there ever was in the past. Also, a lot of those ugly brutalist buildings are starting to be torn down and replaced by newer, more aesthetically pleasing buildings, although some of the old, ugly architecture has achieved cult/ icon status (look up Canberra bus shelters). Canberra is a polarising city - you either love it or you hate it, and though I understand why people want to move to Sydney of Melbourne, I love Canberra.

[@anaussie213]

In the 60s and 70s that ugly brutalist architecture was actually seen as cutting edge. They thought it looked cool and modern at the time.

[@MMadesen]

​@@anaussie213 They never thought, it looked cool. It always was and still is ugly architecture. It was just following the then modern principle "form follows function". Beauty was considered unnecessary, even distracting or fake. A building should just be fullfiling its practical use as a building. Thats why modernism in general and especially Brutalism has the most boring, basic shapes and uses construction materials such as concrete and steel both as the actual construction and for the facade. I hate this style of architecture with a passion. Especially since the crude concrete and steel facades dont even hold up that well. They start to rust, crumble, fall apart, develope black spots and can hardly be renovated, since it cant just get a new paintjob. A part of my high school was brutalist. It was the newest and simultainously shittiest part of the school. It was run down, ugly, badly designed inside and out, its asbest roof had to be replaced over time. Water was leaking through on several occasions, since it had a flat roof, which is a bad idea anyway in snowy and rainy regions. Its rusting, crumbling and washed out facade even created stalagmites over time and was constantly dripping after rain and snow. I hope it gets demolished sometime and replaced with good architecture.

[@joebloggs6841]

People love Canberra so much they bail every weekend to coast.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

Brutalism for a city made entirely of bureaucrats and paper pushers. Depressing, but fitting.

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

@@joebloggs6841 eh, only the EL1s and EL2s. APS6 and lower tend to spend their weekends at home bitching about the weather.

[@danielintheantipodes6741]

A lot of Australians trash Canberra, but personally, I really like it. It is a beautiful city. Yet the designs for this city are wonderful in their own right. I wish it had been built. Thank you for the video!

[@Psychol-Snooper]

"Trash Can..." berra?

[@pottot4664]

i live in canberra, and dont really like it at all. i think with the way that it is spread out so much it has all the worst bits of a small town and all the worst bits of a big city. the initial design seems like it could have worked quite well though i really think its implementation was terrible. in my opinion the best sounding design was the Gimson one.

[@justajellydonut2]

@@pottot4664 As a Sydneysider it seems far too dispersed to be a proper city. That said, the large amount of open spaces leaves the potential for it to be filled in.

[@sigma3636]

its actually a nice looking city when you compare it to other capitals (ottawa)

[@Psychol-Snooper]

@@sigma3636 Paris, Madrid, Berlin, London, Rome, Tokyo, Washington, Beijing... Brasilia... hmm

[@sebastiandalpozzo5362]

As a born and bred Canberran, it's amazing to see what it could have looked like

[@lukeh567]

Home town. Love it. Thanks for the alternate Canberra info. I swear this is the first video on youtube about Canberra that isn't about politics or local news. Love it.

[@princeofchetarria5375]

It makes me really sad that modern architecture and city planning has largely rejected quaintly beautiful buildings. I understand that affordable housing needs to be built but honestly it seems they just put up any concrete/glass structure not caring how it looks at all or what effect that has on the community it serves, especially in the long term.

[@KonradofKrakow]

I agree. We have the same problem with new suburbs in Europe - while the old city centers are beautiful the outskirts are built to be purely functional but often look 'meh'. Makes you wonder how is it possible that despite all our modern technology and comforts we are not able to match the beauty and character of past centuries.

[@WiggaMachiavelli]

The erection of monsters is not unthinking or uncaring. Rather, it's a deliberate and purposive denial of and assault against the higher spirit of man.

[@exchangAscribe]

the funny thing is concrete glass modern architecture buildings are not much cheaper if at all than other architecture styles and ones that people like. its just the norm to build modern so they dont question it. they also dont hire architects in many cases to try to make more profit, and just use/buy existing designs or copy another development directly. in reality its not much more difficult or more expensive to make something beautiful that people like, especially when you consider overall long term profits. they just reject the premise of beauty to begin with, and dont think it matters how a place looks and whether its residents are comfortable.

[@AymenDZA]

The architect's of old were truly a different breed, they were not only masters at their craft but also had a overarching grasp of many disciplines and practices and and that shows in how many of them had great painting and illustration skills, had other jobs/professions that broadened their views like carpentry, gardening, urban planning, sociology, ecology...etc

[@cygil1]

Sure, but this is urban planning, not architecture. The discipline hadn't completely emerged from "architecture" at the time of the design competition, but all these "architects" are just urban planners with the knowledge of that discipline.

[@sagichnicht6748]

I feell, calling Canberra of today a "city" is an exaggeration. It looks more like a suburb without a central urban heart and some massive car oriented monumental modern buildings thrown into the mix and connected with some geomatrically oriented massive roads. In what looks remotely as its "urban" heart there is a massive pedestrian hostile roundabout surrounded by huge parking lots. The positive side effect of that is that once the city dares to free itself from the shackles of total car domination in urban design, this vast central space could be cleared from anti-pedestrian roads and parking lots and turned into a dense urban heart with an attractive green centre, not designed as backdrop for driving cars but as urban park for humans.

[@c4_ro]

Canberra looks at least nice here in eastern europe we call 10 commy blocks 2 factories a park and a train station in the meddle of nowhere a city

[@lightsoda7445]

No one wants to share a seat and be farted on by degenerates on public transport. Cars will never be eradicated. Let go of this already.

[@sagichnicht6748]

@@lightsoda7445 Funny then, that there are much more attractive urban places than Canberra out there in the world which manage to have a modal split of less than 30% car and considerably more than 30% PT. PS: I can't stand the stench of a wet cold car in winter. Luckily I haven't had to endure it for a long time. On the other side, smelly transit is rare in places that actually bother to have an attractive well maintained service.

[@johansmifthelry9307]

@@lightsoda7445 I live in the Netherlands, and people only have cars as secondary vehicles. I always take public transport to go anywhere that is more than 15 minutes away biking. Making cars obsolete and redundant is very much possible, and is being achieved right now in some places.

[@thebusthatcouldntslowdown3612]

Editing my comment as I've just seen the second part of yours - I agree that Canberra has strong potential to become less car-centric over time. A light rail line now runs down Northbourne to that 'heart', and most of those carparks are now being replaced with mixed-use buildings. Hopefully one day we will see it completely car-free

[@jordankb1987]

I have lived in Canberra my whole life, and this video is beautiful, but also saddens me of what could have been..

[@komododragon6061]

"Yaaaaaaassssss, Canberra, lets build it!" -Australian Government

[@Scribe333]

WOW thanks! I did a small presentation this year in Architecture school on Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin and found the idea of a could be capitol so interesting.. so good to see more research on this, not so easy to find!

[@untruelie2640]

Will you make a video about the architecture of the french revolution one day? :) It's quite fascinating, although a bit megalomanic like the "Cenotaph for Isaac Newton" by Étienne-Louis Boullée.

[@kingsandthings]

I'd love to! I've been thinking about doing one either about Boullée specifically or about some of the architectural competitions held by the first republic. Remains to be seen if I can find enough information about the latter though.

[@untruelie2640]

@@kingsandthings Oh, I would love that. 😄 I hope your channel gets a lot more subscribers, because you absolutely deserve it. Your videos are so aesthetically pleasing and of such high quality, you should work for ARTE.

[@BlaBla-hq1bu]

I fear, you are conflating two topics here. French Revolutinary Architecture has nothing to do with the French Revolution, apart from the fact that both came from the ideas of the Enlightenment. I know they sound similar, but by the time the Revolution rolled around Revolutinary Architecture was already on its way out, having been an important part in early neo-classical architecture, but soon to be forgotten.

[@justbecause3187]

Gimson's concept drawings are very beautiful, with the varied building designs around parliament house giving the city a sense of history with layers built on top of one another. Of course this would have been a mere illusion but sometimes an illusion can be worth surrendering to. Keeping things to a human scale is very fashionable among architects and urban designers these days, but then parks and wide practical roads are not without their merits. Ballance is always best, I for one do sometimes find myself seeking out open spaces to escape the congestion of the urban landscape.

[@jessed2717]

If they had used the Florence-inspired designed, I think more people who have visited Canberra as a tourist destination, much like how people visit Melbourne or Sydney.

[@subwaytovenus3237]

The title lured me as an Australian living in the capital, however what made me stay was the beautiful presentation and production. Any chance of some more Australian content? I'll be deep diving your channel regardless.

[@man-o-arizona5166]

I love your master plan series

[@jacktowers7533]

It’s always crazy for me as a life long Canberran seeing the old painting and photos of the area before anything substantial was built The hills and mountains are your only reference point to say “oh yeah that’s the Woden Valley or the central mountains etc.” the building of the man made lakes changes everything in terms of reference points

[@deadmanwalking93]

No matter how they built the city, it would never have been right. Most purpose built cities feel just too artificial, and lacking in spirit. Your experience might be different, but that is how purpose built/planned cities feel to me. When city planning occurs as the city develops according to the activities of the citizens, it is done in a way that balances functional needs and esthetic preference of the citizens. When you live in a particular land, you eventually develop some intuitive sense of how the land should be used, where particular things should be. On an individual level, there will likely be some differences in preference, but the overall population will have a particular direction towards where things (the business districts, suburbs, industries, transportation hubs etc) should go. I figure the nature of the land has an influence on the design and planning choice for the city, and you have to have lived in the land to develop a sense of balance between form and function in that particular environment. When you plan and build an entire city ground up, it might look nice on the blueprint, and the renderings, but it won't feel the same when you visit it after it is built. Buildings look out of place, suburbs don't have the same familiar feeling as the suburbs you are used to, transportation hubs (airport, train station, bus station) feel out of reach (too far apart for instance). It is just impossible for a few city architects to accurately predict how an entire population prefers to use a land. All the major cities I've felt like everything fit together without looking out of place, and moving from one area to another had a smooth transition. I think this is why fictional cities in video games are now more often modeled after real cities. A city designed from ground up probably wouldn't be convincing enough to engage even in a world of make-believe. Purpose built cities in real life felt like that to me - just not engaging. Again, that is just my experience, and if those cities don't feel any different to you then I'm glad to know that there are people willing to give those places a spirit of life.

[@PaulO-re4xx]

Planned cities have worked in the past, Paris and Rome come to mind. If Paris was really such of a droll boring place it wouldn’t be #1 tourism location on earth lol

[@deadmanwalking93]

​@@PaulO-re4xx You are 100% right, and initially I was thinking of mentioning those cities (as well as Saint Petersburg), but I wanted to limit my discussion to the planned cities in the modern/post-industrialization era. I figure those planned cities from the past turned out well, because the scale of the planning at the time must have been limited by the available technology, so they just planned important structures (government buildings, city square, markets, gardens), and left the rest of the development to human activity as more citizens settle into the area. Now, the scope of the plan can be much larger by having different expertise work on the planning (civil engineers, architects, urban planners, and others), so the plan (with different stages of expansion) will reflect more closely what the city will end up as. Despite how good it looks on the blueprint, drawings, scaled models, and computer generated renderings, it will never look as good in real life, and I based this on what I observe in modern architecture: when a new building is proposed, its renderings always look really good, and it always seem to fit well into the skyline/background. Once its built, it is disappointing or even repulsive. Melbourne is a good example of the dissonance between plan and reality. There have been a lot of new buildings go up in Melbourne over the last 10 years, and most of them are eye sore. Some of the buildings look like an optical illusion, but I bet they looked like a creative showpiece on the plan. Believe me, when the buildings look that ugly, there is no way they will last as long as some of the till standing Roman structure like The Pantheon. At some point people would want to have it demolished, and hopefully build something better...

[@deadmanwalking93]

@Paul O Also, I had a conversation with my colleagues about the overall look and feel of Canberra, and of all the capital cities we've been sent to Canberra has to be the most 'un-capital like' capital in the world. I'm not sure whether the Australian leaders realize, but capital city is like the face of the country - it is where foreign leaders will come to have important meetings. If the capital city look lacking in spirit as Canberra is, I don't expect foreign leaders to take the country and its leaders too seriously when they come for important meetings. It is just human nature that visual presentation strongly affects how things are perceived...

[@Steve211Ucdhihifvshi]

One of the paintings you put up is one of my grandmothers. She was an amazing artist.

[@rustyshackleford9799]

I love that our capital was decided in a concept art competition

[@richardfinlayson1524]

That was very interesting,haven't been to Canberra for years, it's fascinating to imagine the different ways it could have gone, good on you mate, good vid.👍

[@Awakeinthegame]

I wasn't born in canberra but lived there for about 8 years until 2021 and I absolutely loved it! It was such an epic combination of natural beauty and feeling like you had S P A C E around you. It still had a city feel without the 'rat race' feeling of the bigger Australian cities. Theatre, epic food and coffee, small nightlife neighbourhoods (IYKYK), cool hidden bars, cultural experiences, and really epic brutalist-style architecture within a natural landscape were my personal highlights.

[@lenn939]

It’s nice you liked it but most people consider brutalist architecture an absolute eyesore. Architecture should take into account the general public’s preferences which are overwhelmingly against brutalist architecture and in support of more classical, more ornate architecture. When people come to visit European cities the first thing they do is take a walk around the old town and marvel at the ornate architecture of the past. I’ve never met anybody who considers it more exciting to instead take a stroll around the new parts of town and take in all the brutalist and utilitarian modern architecture.

[@randombassguy5780]

Liked because you said the Brutalist architecture was epic. Sad that the 1970s Brutalism is slowly getting demolished for something bland.

[@randombassguy5780]

​@Lenn agreed. Even though I love the sci-fi aesthetics of some Canberra 70s Brutalism (Old Belco Interchange, Benjamin Offices and Callam Offices), classical and ornate architecture should have been the way to go. If anything, we have gotten architecture that is worse than anything from the 1970s as of late.

[@untruelie2640]

Every time a new video comes out, it is like Christmas. :D

[@aperfectlycromulentusername]

The impact of the First World War and the Great Depression on Canberra's development was massive! Planners and developers in the ACT have been making it up as they go ever since. So sad that not even the WBG's winning design was realised and is now under threat.

[@melanc1132]

Ooo I really liked this video! Seeing what could’ve been of Canberra is really fascinating

[@Jeremy-mc2ut]

Modern Canberra's biggest flaw is the lack of walkability. Burley-Griffin's sprawling plan is partly to blame, but so is the decision to spread new suburbs out far and wide rather than density the inner city areas. This was done to make Canberra 'green' with vast swaths of undeveloped land within the city bounds but ironically means that everyone needs a car to get anywhere.

[@Coolsomeone234]

The land tax will fix this

[@thealmightyaku-4153]

A missed opportunity, and I say that as an Australian who has loved being in Canberra. I found it to be a small, quaint city as it is - a sprawling country town, basically -and this design would have been a delight to have as a national capital.

[@atriox7221]

I feel like this city would have been an incredible design if the government had tried investing in more inland cities with the hopes of growing the inland presence. This and/or cities designed to express a particularly Australian culture would’ve surely given the inland an appealing presence it still needs

[@JustinWatson23]

Yes the lack of decent transport infrastructure has led inland Australia lacking. I can't help think an improved rail network would help (doesn't have to be High speed rail, but you know fast rail at say 160km/h)

[@lucaskanyo]

Merci pour la vidéo, très bien décrite et ilustrée

[@greatgamingchannale8257]

2nd design looks so mighty and yet beatiful at the same time, shame it didn't win. But still even if it won it wouldn't have been built anyways.

[@colierarcherwilliams]

Having lived in this town for 5 years, I have found it isolating with little to remember is by when I move away soon.

[@MBCMurrayPlaysRL]

The unfortunate thing about modern Canberra is that it's central areas are often devoid of people with some of the central expanses of parkland becoming carparks and the main avenues just full of cars.

[@OldSchoolRT]

1:04 The de-yassification of Canberra

[@andrewgreig1886]

You mentioned that the name of the hill was changed from Kurrajong Hill to Capital Hill. Prior to Canberra, the Yass Valley was a very rural area and the hills were largely unnamed. Eastern Australian farmers and graziers look for Kurrajongs (which tend to grow on higher ground) to determine good land for agriculture. As such, a 'Kurrajong hill' is more of a landmark than an official name. The original cartography meant more 'hill with kurrajongs' indicating that the properties between it and the river would have been more arable. Sort of the opposite of Tea Tree Creek. Eastern Australia is covered in both names.

[@glennaa11]

I have a great booked called Canberra Following Griffin that I picked up at the National Library gift shop a few years ago. It discusses some of the other finalists and the whole history of the planning process along with the many setbacks that occurred. There's a great little museum on the lake front that deals with the city's design. I know it's popular to hate the place, but I enjoyed my visit. It did take me a couple of days to really start to understand it though. I stayed at an Airbnb in Barton so it was easy enough to get around on foot to the places a tourist would go. The collection of suburbs reminded me of places like Reston, VA near where I live. I love the idea of planned capitals created from scratch. The ones that exist don't have great reputations though.

[@duncthemonc9951]

Interesting to hear the part about degradation of quality due to industrialization. I’ve always thought that we’ve been going backwards when it comes to what we create. Pretty much every ancient culture I know of has some sort of extremely high quality product(s).

[@Key_highway]

The problem with that theory is that they still made extremely poor quality things in the past, it’s just that the only objects that lasted were the ones that were well crafted. Also I’m really not sure the industrial revolution was bad, I’m pretty glad we don’t die at 40 and throw our shit out into the dirt from a bucket every morning

[@m2heavyindustries378]

Tell me more about this degradation and going backwards when for most of history we dumped excrement in our own backyards and died of plague at 12. Please do go on.

[@geilleadh4852]

@@m2heavyindustries378 that's over exaggerated tripe

[@shantyclips6358]

You have the only channel producing quality content about beautiful classical architecture! I love your work and hope u continue uploading this! You deserve a million subs and should be able to live off of this! 😊

[@jorder85]

Damn. I’ve never been a fan of Canberra, but if this is what we got I would be happy to visit it heaps!

[@567secret]

After your description of Gimson, I was legitimately like "This guy reminds me a lot of William Morris", and having looked up Gimson now, it seems they were well acquainted, if you're familiar with Morris' visions for the world, you can even see aspects of that in the work you show here.

[@glocksmith226]

Can you make a video on how Napoléon the first and Napoléon the third reconstructed Paris, because before them Paris was seen as a swamp and a dirt city.

[@flamingfrancis]

So pleasing that we have ended up with something that looks Aussie and not out of Europe. The Parliament House we now have is as identifiable as the Sydney Opera House. I just love that unique boomerang shaped flagpole made from our very own home made stainless steel.

[@project_calais4977]

As a Canberran, I often find myself at odds with the city. I for one love the design, being car focused and having an abundance of parkland. Each part of the city genuinely feels unique and has its own spirit. A gripe of mine would have to be the lack of unique buildings other than Parliament House (old and new), Telstra Tower and The War Memorial. Canberra, like many other major Australian cities, is also undergoing a large scale construction boom, in which many new office buildings and appartments are being built. While I do welcome the new construction, I feel that the demolition of older buildings to make way for them isn't the right move, depending on the building of course. I have found that there is a lack of connection with the new architecture. Its modern, but it doesn't quite click or flow like the older pre 1980's structures do. I would argue that I much prefer Canberra for its older homes and buildings, where as a city like Melbourne or Brisbane I very much welcome the idea of glass high-rise towers and modern townhouses.

[@frankryan2505]

There is not much of loss regarding what's being pulled down. You honestly pining for the Northbourne apartments?

[@randombassguy5780]

Agreed, I welcome new construction but the problem with Canberra is that knocking down older buildings erases a large portion of its architectural history. Some of the buildings are not given enough time to surpass the 50-year pre-heritage listing period when they start to garner a fan base of some sort.

[@Fireprincess161]

I wish it did look like that. Growing up there it was kind of just depressing in the BCD, but it was actually nice around parliament and the war memorial, and even around the museum, a bit of a sign of what they could have done.

[@curiousponderings]

Shame to see this didn't happen

[@jett4961]

As a Canberra resident I will say that I do like it here, it’s like the biggest small town. Especially the older neighbourhood streets away from the city, all the trees and wildlife are wonderful to have in a capital.

[@lurox388]

The best plans are never (fully) built. Another example is the plan of Chicago that is also shown here at this channel.

[@HubboStuff]

Good video, I saw his plans on Reddit a few weeks ago and i kind of with Canberra took some ques from it.

[@arnbo88]

There are a few similarities to Washington D.C. such as: Capitol Hill, the large boulevards and lake Burley Griffen which is a more natural counterpart to the reflection pool in D.C. I'm sure that Burley Griffin would have seen the mistakes made in Washington and realized that the ACT provided a blank canvas. None of the architects could have envisioned the impact of the automobile. The Finnish architect would have rivalled Albert Speer in his Germania style designs.

[@josephyoung6749]

This would have been a great proposal: a modern city built with the compact, pedestrian-friendly medieval European cities in mind, allowing room for nature to exist surrounding the city.

[@aboriginalalex]

as an australian, it hurts seeing the architectural mundanity of modern day canberra

[@tophatjoe5042]

WE COULD HAVE HAD *THIS?!?!?!* Pain, suffering even. Why must we as Australians and ESPECIALLY Canberrans wholeheartedly and stubbornly reject all that is generally considered beautiful? Like damn mate this is fuckin amazing looking, Its not exactly Beaux-Arts but its a helluva lot better than any city we have on this empty ass continent. This design would also have led to us not having to spend almost as much time driving as actually doing what we need to do at our destination if development stuck to the original plan! (which in all likelihood it still wouldn't) but at least unlike WBG's design it wouldn't have implicitly encouraged sprawl as much. BTW there are still some art deco buildings in and around the CBD from around the 1910s-1950s, its not the best architectural style aesthetically but hey at least it's something. The lack of beauty and car dependency here and around my country seriously makes me consider a life somewhere in Europe.

[@kp-legacy-5477]

as an australian this alternate vision is far superior to what we got

[@lamarlockhart-smith8191]

As an Australian, I believe this alternative vision would have the same shortcomings that Canberra faces today in its current form. Mass city planning from the era of car centric transport has, in many instances, created cities that lack human scale and activities. The city hasn’t developed organically so it just has the appearance of suburban sprawl with a giant capitol building in the centre of it. With gimson’s masterplan, all of these issues would still be present, and in my opinion, is a less competent design. The whole design lacks any form of distinctive Australian aesthetic and is another repetition of colonial, European architecture. Still ever present in today’s society there is a fetishisation of European architecture, and don’t get me wrong, I think it is a beautiful architecture style, yet architecture needs to fit the vernacular of the area. Plopping a European city in the Australian landscape isn’t respecting the area and it’s history. That’s where I think burley-griffin’s design is a better design, as it lacks any colonial architecture, and is more in tune with a developing Australian architecture vernacular. (Emphasis on the vernacular still developing).

[@kp-legacy-5477]

@@lamarlockhart-smith8191 tldr

[@lamarlockhart-smith8191]

@@kp-legacy-5477 😂

[@chuckspoke]

Wonderful presentation!!!!!

[@LamiNalchor]

Love the Arts and Crafts movement.

[@jordanolafson80]

I always thought Canberra had a strange design especially near Parliament House after seeing this I am convinced it use to be a Star Fort

[@havedalDK]

Damn, that actually looks a little similar to Edinburgh. Imagine if it Canberra would just have that tint of tourism and beauty that Edinburgh has, it would be an a lot more attractive city.

[@mabamabam]

Canberra is a thousand times more attractive than Edinburgh. There might be a few uninspired places but it's in no way a dirty old Scots town.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

@@mabamabam Absurd. Edinburgh is steeped in history, and the buildings tell a story of how the city evolved through the ages. Canberra is a big suburb full of the politicians we kicked out of our proper cities.

[@JDEcheverry]

Thank you American style of design around cars and not people. Now we’re stuck with it and lost a golden opportunity to build an amazing capital city instead of a boring sprawled suburb with boxes… I hope we learn one day

[@hf_61]

I'm a foreigner in Canberra now, compared with Sydney, Melbourne, Japanese or Chinese modern city, Canberra is kind of waste of land. Cities are always growing especially the capital of Australia.

[@Da__goat]

Fascinating. Looks wonderful

[@vladsnape6408]

Canberra is a city dedicated to the car. We can thank the US for that. The streets and suburbs are not at all suitable for people that don't want to drive from place to place. Public transport is truly abysmal. For the money spent on it, and still being spent on it, it could have been so much better. I guess that makes the geography of Canberra a metaphor for the complete waste of money that the federal politicians are, with few exceptions.

[@LuxDeLune]

I like to cling to the idea that something like this can still be done. Most of Australia's new buildings are not much better than carboard boxes but I like to thin that maybe a group of philanthropists could initiate a new city like this.

[@aramusaj2163]

i still can't get over YASS💅✨-Canberra

[@nolesy34]

There's a McDonald's sign up that says McDonald's yass but just an m in front of yass

[@britfox7766]

I can't believe it was almost named Kangaremu. It's just... too perfect. The memes would be magnificent.

[@oxvendivil442]

Canberra turned into an unremarkable and forgettable run of the mill city design like a modernist missionary style town in the middle of nowhere instead of a grand RPGesque traditional and dignified citadel on the edge of the habitable world. Ask most people around the world where AU's capital is and they would say something else, even if they knew it was Canberra most would not have any mental visual idea of what it looks like.

[@NorthSea_1981]

Precisely

[@jean-lucbuczinski143]

Walking is one of life's greatest pleasures. A city built without that in mind is a failure of the human spirit. Canberra is an ode to Henry Ford.

[@mishinegluposti1466]

not me losing my mind over the original site being called "Yass-Canberra"

[@lukamih]

This brings me so much peace

[@32123ABCBA]

No one: The capital: YASS Canberra

[@silesiaball9505]

Great video as always

[@tomeu9872]

Not been there for 20 years. Architectual was great! However, the night-life sucked real bad.

[@patrickfitzgerald4189]

As a Chicagoan, The Prairie School was amazing and had so much potential. The Griffin plan WAS beautiful, it's just the fact that they didn't build it as intended, and what they built in it.... not so much. It's an architectural tragedy.