About An Ideal City

The design of Canberra, Australia’s national capital, is a remarkable achievement. But most people don’t know about this story or the extraordinary couple, Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, who won the international competition in 1912 with their beautiful plans and drawings for the new city.

This website is about the competition to design Australia’s capital, placing the Griffins’ winning entry in the town planning context of the time. All 46 shortlisted designs are interpreted by Professor John Reps of Cornell University, USA who conducted extensive research at the National Archives of Australia, National Capital Authority and the National Library of Australia.

Professor Reps’ research formed the basis for the development of a touring exhibition, which was launched in 1995. The exhibition was a collaborative project of the National Archives of Australia, the National Capital Authority and the National Library of Australia.

The content of this website is based on the 1995 exhibition An Ideal City ? The 1912 Competition to Design Canberra .

Explore Australia’s national capital. Do you think Canberra is ‘an ideal city’?