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It is the Canberra that could have been, but never was, when 100 years ago a competition was held to design the new capital of Australia.
To coincide with Canberra's centenary, the winning entry and some of the rarely seen finalists have gone on show at the National Archives of Australia.
But 'Design 29: creating a capital' will display the turn of the century designs in a whole new light, thrusting them into the digital era.
Digital age
"We have iPads that visitors can collect and take around the exhibition with them and they unfold and unlock a whole new layer of content," National Archives curator Jane Macknight said.
"It's not been done this way before in Australia."
Ms Macknight says the technology allows you to see what Canberra could look like if the Griffins' design had not been selected.
"You can read a story about something, you can look at photos from our collection, films, you can look at documents from our collection," she said.
"We also enable you to layer a contemporary Canberra map over one of the design maps so you can get a real feel for how the two relate to each other or not as the case may be."
Ms Macknight says visitors can also explore aspects of the Griffin plan which were never implemented.
"One of the lesser-known aspects of Griffins' design was a planting scheme to cover different hills with pink cherry blossom, red bottle brush or yellow broome," she said.
Archives director-general David Fricker says the technological aspect is a great way to celebrate Canberra's 100th birthday.
"Not only do we have some precious designs from 100 years ago on display, we're also combining the exhibition with cutting-edge augmented reality technology to give visitors a 21st century viewing experience," he said.
Design 29
In 1911 designers from around the world were invited to share their vision for a truly planned city.
Though just like the decision of where to locate the new capital, the city's final form was also controversial.
"The Royal British Institute of Architects attempted to boycott the competition," Ms Macknight said.
"Because they didn't like the control that the Federal Government was retaining over the result."
Despite the controversy, 137 entries were lodged from across the globe.
A century on, those that made the shortlist are back on display.
Ms Macknight says despite attempts to look forward, these designs are a reflection of their time and place.
"It's easy to look back and think how could a city be like that," she said.
"But at the time they didn't imagine the populations that we have or the dominance of the motor vehicle."
Even the winning entry, design 29 by Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion never really came to fruition.
"There's a lot of debate about whether we've brought Griffin's design to Canberra or whether we've effectively destroyed it," Ms Macknight said.
Nonetheless, Mr Fricker says it is a rare chance to see some of the designs.
"Some of the works haven't been on display since the competition itself 100 years ago," he said.
"It's a real centenary experience.
"Others like the Marion Mahony Griffin works might be more familiar, but they haven't been on display for the past 10 years just because they're so fragile."
The Griffin's original design and others shortlisted for the competition will go on display at the National Archives from Friday 1 March.
A reminder of a city's beginnings as it heads into a second century.
Topics: library-museum-and-gallery, history, act, canberra-2600
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