Hilltop

In the late 1970s the Australian Parliament decided to build a new Parliament House in Canberra. Since 1927 it had been meeting in a building designated 'Provisional Parliament House'. The Parliament decided that the new building should be on a prominent hilltop, south of the provisional building. This departed from the intention of the original landscape architect for the city, Walter Burley Griffin, who had designated a more low-key site near the lake to the north. 

An international architectural competition was held to find the best building design. It was won by an American firm, led by Italian-American architect Romaldo Giurgola. His design nestled the building into the hill, rather than locating it grandly on the hilltop. It's a lovely story, which is told in this newspaper article about his death on 2016. And mentioned here in this website of the Parliament.

Mr Giurgola relocated from the USA to Canberra to oversight the building project. He became an Australian citizen, and lived out his days in Canberra. He was much loved.

I visited his, and our, building today, and was as impressed as always.