From Canberra — Australia’s National Capital by Crispin Hull
Afterword
In 1938, the year after her husband died in Lucknow, India, Marion Mahoney Griffin gave a radio interview to mark the 150th anniversary of Europeans coming to Australia. She said, “”Canberra is the only really modern city in the world. A structure is truly modern when the foundations are properly laid, and so it was with Canberra. . . .
“”Cities shouldn’t be allowed to develop from cow paths or real-estate subdivisions. . . . City planning, as founded by Mr Griffin, was not a mechanical drafting board affair, imposing on the earth, destroying whatever got in the way, producing only a certain monumental beauty. Such architecture does its share not toward keeping the earth alive, but toward killing it – this seems to be the only way in which human egos express themselves at present. We must keep our courage, knowing that the nature of the ego, at first destructive, can later become constructive. In planning Canberra every detail of the natural conditions were studied thoroughly to preserve them, making the most of each and every thing, so the city could be a living and healthy and growing thing. The continent of Australia will do well to learn this lesson from its capital. . . .
“”The citizens of Canberra will realise it is their duty to see to it that their own buildings, be they residences or shops or offices, can be beautiful and harmonious together. They will realise that each can assist not in denuding but in reclothing all the hills not only with softwood forests, but with native loveliness. Then what a breathtaking thing the heart of Australia will become.””