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National Capital Exhibition Centre Regatta Pt, Canberra ACT
Terrazzo Map based on Walter Burley Griffin's1913 plan for
Canberra.
Installed in the forecourt of the Canberra Exhibition Center 2000
Size; 5m x 5m (made as 20 pre fabricated terrazzo panels),
Produced by David Humphries in collaboration with
Bruce Chalmers Landscape Architect, the National Capital Authority,
Architects; Woods Bagot
Commissioned by the National Capital Authority 2000.
The National Capital Exhibition Centre at Regatta Point is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Canberra attracting
over 350,000 visitors each year, most of whom are from interstate or overseas. The centre occupies a prominent site within the Central National Area. Sited in parklands on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin it
provides sweeping panoramic views across the capital and houses interactive displays and exhibitions of Canberra's evolution, and contains conferense and restaurant facilities. The centre is often the first
attraction tourists visit in Canberra.
Walter Burley Griffin is best known in Australia for the design of the national capital, his masterwork.
The scheme
is remarkable for the ideas, which informed it, the resolution of those ideas and their artistic expression
The collaboration of Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahoney envisioned 'a city not like any
other city in the world, not just a new city for a new nation - a democratic city for a democratic nation. They strove to find architectural solutions, which expressed a balance between society and the
environment, an affinity between the human spirit and the natural world.
'Australia, of most democratic tendencies and bold radical government, may well be expected to look upon her great future,
and with it her Federal capital, with characteristic big vision ... that she will fully express the possibilities for individual freedom, comfort, and convenience for public spirit, wealth and splendor of the great
democratic civil ideal for which her capital offers the best opportunity so far.'
W.B.Griffin. 'Canberra: the architectural and development possibilities of Australia's capital city', Building,
12.11.1913
The terrazzo map in the forecourt pays tribute to Griffin, Produced by David Humphries in collaboration with Bruce Chalmers
Landscape architect, the National Capital Authority It is designed as a page torn from Griffin's sketchbook. This high-tech production involved complex layering of computer drawings to accurately cut stencils for
sandblasting and template production. Great care has been taken to interpret his drawings in keeping with the integrity of Griffin's plan and the importance of the geometric layout Griffin was trying to reinforce.
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