I went to our country’s capital, Canberra (NOT Sydney, for all my international followers) for a few days. It was mainly to visit the touring Renaissance Exhibition at the National Gallery but I managed to fit in a few more museums and markets. Anyway, for those who do not know, Canberra was a planned city from its beginnings, ie not a small colonised area that grew and grew. So it does feel like you are walking around a large scale architectural model, except the trees aren’t fake and stuck down with blue-tac.
Because of this it doesn’t have the architectural heritage of the past centuries, eg Colonial, Gothic, Edwardian etc. but a lot of modern architecture, which probably in its time was quite impressive now looks more like the setting for a 1970s sci fi flick. Which is why I had to capture the bus stops in Canberra. They’re a bone coloured capsule-like structure with a bright retro orange window. They’re at most bus stops and surprisingly no one uses them anymore. I was too scared to enter one in case it transported me to another world. If you would like to see more of my Urban Sketches bus stop series click here.
I also visited the Australian War Memorial, which is one of the best museums in the country, and that’s a statement I make without having even seen the entirety of it. If you would like to see the colour sketches of my Canberra trip please visit my flickr site.
If you would like to see more from my travel sketch book, please click here.
I really like your sketches. People do still use those bus stops, but ol’ Canberra isn’t all that big on public transport, so you’d be lucky to see a lone traveller inside – propably, like you said, they’ve all be transported to a different dimension as soon as they walk in.
Did you manage to see Old Parliment House? It would be the most accurate portrait of how they architectually envisioned the city. The rest of the buildings make a lot more sense after stepping inside that museum.
Again, your sketches are super awesome!
Thank you for the comments. I’m glad they still use them, and yes we found bussing around was a bit frustrating. I have been to the Old Parliament since its been turned into a gallery but not this trip. I did get to the Portrait Gallery this time which was great. I know Aussies tend to write off Canberra as not much going on, but I never have enough time to see everything. Cant wait to go again. (Nice drawings on your blog too!)
Hello Meegan,
Another superb post.
I’m one of your international readers and guess what? I knew Canberra was the capital of Australia. More astoundingly…I’ve been there (gasp)!
The Australian War Memorial is as good as you say.
Anyway, must zip off to look at your Flickr pics now…bye!
Stew.
Hey Stew,
Nice to know you’ve made it to this part of the world! The portrait of your parents is incredible – the way you talk about my work its like you cant draw?! You under-acknowledge your talents my friend!
you really got the bus stops down pat! exactly what i thought when i first moved to canberra… so bizarre!
yes, they seem to be so iconic now of the canberra urban landscape. thanks for the comment.