Parliament buildings - Page 2

In Canberra, a much longer boulevard stretches from Parliament House at the top of Capital Hill to the Australian War Memorial. Unlike Washington, the Australian War Memorial is itself on a hill (Mt. Ainslie) and the boulevard is interrupted by a lake (Lake Burley Griffin). Furthermore, the modern day Parliament House in Canberra is very young, having been built as recently as 1988 (work began on the American Capitol in the late 18th century).

Canberra's Old Parliament building is closer to the lake but is exactly in line with the modern Parliament House and War Memorial.

For many people from older countries, the idea of a planning to build a capital city from scratch, complete with boulevards stretching between important landmarks that are perfectly aligned with the compass, seems odd. Parliament buildings in places like London and Berlin are where they are because that's where the previous building was. And the one before that. And everything else will just jolly well have to fit around it! The German parliament building, the Reichstag, does have a boulevard stretching before it but Berlin does not have the same "obviously planned" layout as Canberra and Washington D.C.