Australian Architecture
Australia's contemporary architecture shows all the richness and complexity of a truly multicultural society in its ability to take the best of architecture
and design from the wider world and adapt it to meet the special needs of the Australian environment - with a result that is distinctly Australian.
National Pride
 Canberra, the national capital, is a treasury of Australian achievement, at its
best in the Parliament House building. Completed for the Bicentennial in 1988,
Parliament House is a potent national symbol - and a showcase for Australian
materials, design, craftsmanship and ideals.
Much of Parliament House lies below the surface. A domed roof covers the building, which was designed to blend with the contours of Capital Hill. From
a distance, its most striking feature is the four-legged, 81 metre flagstaff that towers over the top of the building. Although the Australian flag that flies at the top
of the mast might look about the size of a postage stamp, it's actually as big as a double-decker bus.
The design for the new parliament was chosen by an international competition that attracted more than 300 entries. The winning design was the work
of a New York-based Italian architect, Romaldo Giurgola. In a curious footnote, on January 26, 2000, Australia Day, Giurgola and his family became Australian citizens.
The approach to the parliament building takes you across a courtyard decorated with an enormous mosaic, Meeting Place, designed by Aboriginal artist
Nelson Tjakamarra. Inside the foyer, the 48 grey-green marble columns represent a eucalypt forest, while the timber panels depict some of Australia's native plants.
The upper floor of the building overlooks the Great Hall, featuring a 20 metre tapestry, one of the largest in the world, designed by Arthur Boyd.
Beyond the Great Hall, near the gallery that runs above the Members Hall, one of only four of the existing originals of the Magna Carta is on permanent
display.
Free guided tours of the building depart every half-hour when Parliament is not in session. At other times, there are talks on the building, held
in the Great Hall. At all times, visitors are welcome to wander around the public areas.
The Spirit of Sydney
 Covered in a million tiles and distinguished by a design that evokes billowing
sails, the Opera House conveys a powerful sense of occasion and style. So
closely has it become identified with Sydney, it's hard to imagine the harbour
without it - yet its magnificent location was once occupied by a depot for
tramcars. The government of New South Wales decided in the 1950s to build a
performing arts centre there instead, and an international competition was held
to design one. Over 230 architects submitted entries, with the eventual winner
being Danish architect Jørn Utzon. To demonstrate that the revolutionary spherical geometry of the design would work, Utzon chopped up a wooden sphere and reassembled it.
Originally, construction of the Opera House was budgeted at A$7 million. When the cost kept soaring, the shortfall was met by a special lottery.
By the time it opened in 1973, the Opera House had cost 13 times the original estimate. Sydney's verdict was that the beautiful finished creation was worth it.
From top to base, the Sydney Opera House measures 67 metres. The lowest point, the Drama Theatre's orchestra pit, is located several metres below sea
level. The building's opera theatre seats 1,547 people and its concert hall (the biggest of five halls) seats 2,697. A guided tour of the whole building is well worth
a visit. Tours depart about every 30 minutes from 9.15am to 4pm each day, except for Christmas Day and Good Friday. Better still, attend a performance there!
Melbourne's Modern Marvel
 Melbourne Museum, the largest museum complex south of the equator, opened in 2000 and has become highly popular. It includes Bunjilaka (an Aboriginal centre), the Pasifika
Gallery (Pacific artefacts), a Living Forest Gallery, a Science and Life gallery, a Children's Museum (a place of discovery, fun, and learning for the whole family) and
a theatre.
The Forest Gallery is just that - a living exhibition capturing the spirit of Victoria's tall mountain forests. Visitors feel fog, splashes of water,
sun and shade. They can smell the forest, touch the plants and hear frogs croaking. Native fish dart along the stream and small forest birds hop past on the pathway. As
well as being a refreshingly different experience, the Forest Gallery captivates visitors with stories drawn from the forests.
The Australia Gallery houses one of Australia's greatest racehorses, still lifelike after a visit to the taxidermist. Phar Lap, a chestnut gelding,
is considered a national hero. This magnificent horse won the 1930 Melbourne Cup by three lengths, before his heart failed in 1932 shortly after winning California's Agua
Caliente Handicap.
Melbourne Museum is open from 10am to 6pm daily except Good Friday and Christmas Day. It stands in Carlton Gardens beside the historic Royal Exhibition
Building, completed in 1880 for Melbourne's first International Exhibition, which displayed the cultural, industrial and technological achievements of more than 25 nations.
Olympian Designs
 As the world followed Sydney's triumphant 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games on television, few viewers realised that the site of most events, Sydney Olympic Park at Homebush
Bay, represented another kind of triumph. The site, a neglected part of Sydney's waterfront, formerly served as a saltworks, a brickworks, an abattoir, a naval armaments
depot and a landfill dump. Its cleanup, which took years, was one of the greatest environmental victories in Australia's history.
A giant new park, Millennium Parklands, has spread over 450 hectares around the Olympic facilities and the Sydney Showground. The sporting stadiums
and facilities constructed for the games serve as a showcase for Australia's top contemporary architects.
The opening in early 1999 of Stadium Australia, which went on to become the Olympic Stadium during the games, has added a new dimension to entertainment
in Sydney. Stadium Australia hosts big musical and arts events as well as sporting spectaculars.
Sydney International Aquatic Centre (SIAC), site of the games swimming, is open to the public. Its four magnificent pools include a leisure pool, complete
with palm trees. For dedicated swimmers, SIAC's facilities are second to none. The dive pool even has a special device to break surface tension on the water.
Sydney International Athletic Centre is a vast, two-arena complex purpose-built for the 2000 Olympics. The 5000 seat grandstand is named in honour
of 'Golden Girl' Betty Cuthbert, Australia's four-time Olympic champion.
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