I'm back in Canberra, so a snap of Parliament House in Canberra, which was opened in 1927. It is now known as Old Parliament House. It has a modest but dignified presence and is the definitive symbol of the nation's political heritage:

Gary Sauer-Thompson, Old Parliament House, 2007

The building, which is the work of John Smith Murdoch (the Commonwealth's first government architect), sits in the cultural landscape known as the "Parliamentary Triangle" reflecting the design for Canberra by Walter Burley Griffin, in which Kurrajong Hill - now Capital Hill -was the focal point. From it, the main avenues of the city radiated outward, as did the city's principal axis - the Land Axis - to Mount Ainslie.

Lying astride the Land Axis, Griffin's Government Group of buildings occupied one corner of the triangle formed by Commonwealth and King's Avenues and the central basin of his ornamental lake. The apex of the triangle rested on the Hill. The position of Old Parliament House near the apex symbolises the primacy of the parliament over the executive and judiciary.

The internal courtyards and open gardens between the building and Lake Burley Griffin uphold the "garden city" ideal.