Page 1193 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 24 April 1990
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Which buildings constructed during our time here will be a celebration of this city? Will we approve buildings that put people before profit? Will any of our buildings have any immediate or lasting visual power? Will any of our buildings invite people to gather and will they create a shared feeling? Which buildings will be built for people? Indeed, which spaces in Civic will be built for people? Walter Burley Griffin's vision of this city was as a place of life and meaning. None of the buildings in our immediate vicinity reflect this. Rather, the buildings around us seem antagonistic to life and meaning. Griffin had a vision of social places juxtaposed with office accommodation. I wonder what he would make of the social places surrounding this building. Goodness me; not even the demonstrators like our plaza out there, that cold and windswept place.
Mr Kaine: It is too cold.
MR WOOD: Exactly.
The following set of commandments which I shall read were for urban design. They were formulated by a town planner in Greater London but they have great relevance to Canberra today. I will read them:
One, thou shalt consider places before buildings.
Two, thou shalt have the humility to learn from the past and respect the context.
Someone claimed, when I said this, that I was the Prince Charles of Canberra, because these were the things that he was saying about what he did in the UK.
Three, thou shalt encourage the mixing of uses in towns and cities.
Four, thou shalt design on a human scale.
Five, thou shalt encourage freedom to walk around.
Six, thou shalt cater for all sections of the community and consult with them.
Seven, thou shalt build legible environments.
I like that one; it is important.
Eight, thou shalt build to last and adapt.
Nine, thou shalt avoid change on too great a scale at the same time.
Ten, thou shalt, by all means available, promote intimacy, joy and visual delight in the built environment.
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