The Australian Academy of Science – Shine Dome
The Academy of Science's Becker Hall was renamed the Shine Dome in 2000. The building is a highly distinctive dome-shaped structure with 16 radiating arms. It was designed by Sir Roy Grounds an opened in 1959. Significantly, it is the first public building to be constructed in Canberra with non-Government funding.
The dome is constructed of reinforced concrete and covered in copper. It is easy to underestimate the size of this dome as it is at near ground level. It is one of the largest domes in the world, bigger than those of St Peter's in Rome and St Paul's in London. The dome supports itself, with no internal walls holding it up.
The architectural style is called Late 20th Century Structuralist and is considered by some to be a reaction to the harsh brutalist style (see Canberra Architecture 1 – Cameron Offices) in vogue at this time. Grounds might also have been influenced by Geodesics which were also popular at this time. The first geodesic dome was patented in 1954 by the wonderfully named Buckminster Fuller and set of a fashion for such structures. However, the Shine Dome is not a geodesic structure.
The building has won several major architectural awards including the Sulman Prize in 1959 for architecture.
This building is not open to the public, but feel free to wander around and peer through the various doors to get a feel for the interior space. I feel not much has changed since 1959.
Take a look at the plaque with the picture of the dome under construction. Let A = the number of ladders visible in the front-most arch of the picture. Each ramp over the mote has a number of glass blocks. Let B = number of blocks per ramp.
The National Film & Sound Archive (Waypoint 2)
The NFSA building was formerly the Australian Institute of Anatomy building. It was constructed in 1924 and was used up until 1984 for this specific purpose. It housed a museum, open to the public, and I remember visiting this place as a child and seeing the rather grotesque specimens on display.
The NFSA building is designed in a Palladian style. Palladio was a hugely influential 16th century Venetian architect, although most modern Palladian buildings are an evolution of his original designs. Key style indicators are the symmetric façade with the central portico and sweeping wings on either side. (The White house in Washington DC is Palladian.) However, the NFSA is a rather restrained example and lacks some Palladian features such as the distinctive windows.
The other feature of this building is the Art Deco ornamentation. Art Deco is a decorative style, not an architectural style. Art Deco was highly popular during the late 1920's and 1930's. It has been applied to a wide variety of building styles. The exterior of the NFSA building has a very subdued level of decoration. It is well worth taking a look inside if you are visiting during the week when it is open as there is much more decoration inside. This is an elegant building.
Take a look at the tiled frieze patterns around the windows and the figures carved into the sandstone door surrounds. On the main door surrounds, there is a frieze of a stylised, crowned frog. Let C = the number of frogs with 2 legs.
The Canberra School of Art (Waypoint 3)
The final stop of this short tour is at the former Canberra High School, now the Canberra School of Art (CSA). This building is what most people would consider a classical Art Deco building, but as we know from the last stop, Art Deco is not an architectural style. This was a fairly common form of building for the time with some architectural similarities to the NFSA, but the emphasis on the decoration here.
There are a number of Art Deco inspired structures in Canberra. Some may come as a surprise: the National War Memorial and the Commonwealth Ave bridge. If you have seen the main war memorials in Sydney and Melbourne, these too are Art Deco. Construction of these sites corresponded with the Art Deco popularity of the time.
Art Deco styling has many roots, but it was a mixture of the past and futuristic. Influences include the skyscraper, the auto-mobile, movies, and a wide range of new materials like chrome as the the economic effects of WW1 receded. The discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter created great interest in Egyptian style, and this too influences Art Deco. The Egyptian form is what you see at the war memorials.
This location for a high school is interesting considering the lack of nearby residents. Walter Griffin designated this site for a high school in the original blueprints for the area. The building was designed by architect Cuthbert Whitely quite late in the Art-Deco period: 1936 and opened in 1939. The start of WW2 would mark a return to more austere constructions. By this time, the Art Deco stylings were fairly formalised: the use of windows mouldings, the clock tower and rounded corners. Observe the use of parallel lines in the CSA building. These are thought to be of Egyptian influence. The central clock tower pays homage to the skyscraper. Low relief (or bas relief) sculptures (like the frog sculptures of the NFSA) are typical in many ancient cultures but especially the Egyptian culture.
To complete this cache, take a look at the sculpture at this place called “Torii 19DE – Gift of the Artist 20FG”.
The final cache location is at S35 17.(A-1)(D/E)(C-B) Checksum: 25 E149 07.(G-A-1)FE Checksum: 32
A shiny new StrangeTrousers PathTag awaits the FTF