Symposium | Making and Remaking Canberra

Session 1 | The Future of Housing and the Need for Public Amenity | 12.30–2.30pm 

Session 2 | Romaldo Giurgola: Rome, Philadelphia, Canberra | 3–5pm 

Reception | 5pm–6pm 

Tickets | General Admission | $45 one session | Members | $35 one session 

Discounted ticket for both sessions: General Admission |$80 two sessions + reception | Members | $60 two sessions + reception 

Bookings Essential

Overlayed on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people was a city planned by the Griffins using Garden City principles. As our ‘bush capital’ evolves, we continue to be influenced and guided by its landscape setting. It was with respect for the landscape that Romaldo Giurgola crafted our most significant public building on Capital Hill, and it is with respect for the landscape that we reimagine our urban fabric to support a growing population. 

Session 1 | The Future of Housing and the Need for Public Amenity | 12.30pm–2.30pm 

This symposium will bring together some visionary architects, urban designers, policymakers, and economists to discuss the evolving landscape of residential design, the need for more housing typologies, and the strategies for delivering public spaces and streetscapes that promote healthy living.

Housing densification is a necessary construct for the future of our cities and to achieve this we need to accept that urban renewal will be required. How does a city based on ‘garden city’ design principles and highlighted as one of the world’s most liveable cities, retain its landscape quality while delivering housing supported by an overlay of high-quality public amenities for its residents. In partnership with the Australian Institute of Architects, City Renewal Authority and Suburban Land Agency. 

Session 2 | Romaldo Giurgola: Rome, Philadelphia, Canberra | 3pm–5pm 

This session focuses on the work of Italo-American architect Romaldo Giurgola, the principal designer of Australian Parliament House (APH). Giurgola had known about the Walter Burley Griffin–Marion Mahoney plan for Canberra since his student days in Rome and was an enthusiastic entrant in the 1979 competition to design the new and permanent Australian parliament building. His winning scheme for the Australian capital was deeply concerned with the city’s landscape qualities and how a new monumental complex must respond to those qualities while also acting as a key pivot of urban movement and meaning.

The speakers in this session will highlight the ways in which Giurgola’s Roman professional and personal formation and the urban problems and questions specific to Philadelphia shaped his approach to remaking Canberra. The session will include presentations by guest speakers Dr Denise Costanzo from Penn State University and Bill Whittaker from University of Pennsylvania Architectural Archives. It will also include a panel discussion involving Giurgola’s former colleagues and collaborators moderated by Professor Philip Goad. The panel will reflect on the ideas, values and processes that shaped APH and the ways in which the project remade the national capital. 

The University of Sydney and University of Melbourne jointly lead the project Locating Giurgola: From Philadelphia School to Global Practice, which is funded through the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Discovery Project (DP) scheme. Other supporting organisations are University of Pennsylvania, Penn State University, Swiss Federal Institute (EFL).