Alexander J Macdonald, (1864–1951)
Entry 9
Elsternwick, Victoria, Australia
Born in Australia, Macdonald received his architectural training in
Scotland. He returned to Australia and worked for the Public Works Department
in
Victoria. Then he became Examiner of Patents for Victoria and later for
the Commonwealth. He did some private work for Walter Burley Griffin
when the latter came to Australia.
One of the more attractively drawn plans, it is a curious combination
of two superimposed grids placed at 45° from one another. The larger of
the two grids is oriented to the cardinal points of the compass, and the
streets of the base grid make elongated city blocks with a main northeast–southwest
axis, to provide maximum sunlight for buildings.
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