An Unfinished Masterpiece traces the 170-year history of Victoria's Parliament House — one of Australia's most significant public buildings — through the vision of its architect Peter Kerr, whose design has come to embody the aspirations of a founding democracy.
About This Book
Conceived in the early 1850s and still incomplete today, Victoria's Parliament House occupies a singular place in Australian civic architecture. This book examines the building through the work of Peter Kerr, the architect who spent four decades shaping its form with tenacity and sophistication. Intended to evoke the grandeur of imperial Rome, the building represents the highest ideals of 19th-century public architecture — monumental in scale, meticulous in detail. Gideon Haigh brings his forensic sensibility to a story of architectural ambition, political turbulence, and institutional endurance, while Peter Elliott contributes specialist architectural insight. Essential reading for those interested in Australian architectural history and heritage.
Key Features
- 277 pages of architectural history, analysis, and drawings documenting one of Australia's most significant civic buildings
- Written by Gideon Haigh with contribution by Peter Elliott
- Published by Library Parliament of Victoria, ISBN 9780645261912
What You'll Discover
- How Peter Kerr's design for Parliament House expressed the political and cultural aspirations of colonial Victoria at the very foundation of Melbourne as a city
- The architectural language of 19th-century civic grandeur — drawing on imperial Roman precedent — and how Kerr deployed it with innovative thinking and meticulous detailing
- The human story behind the building: Kerr's 40-year tenure, his extraordinary draughtsmanship, and the political crises that repeatedly interrupted construction
- Why, as architectural historian George Tibbits observed, the great spaces of Parliament House satisfy not only the eye but the intellect and spirit
About the Author
Gideon Haigh is an acclaimed Australian writer known for his forensic research and distinctive prose. This volume also features contributions from Peter Elliott, bringing specialist architectural expertise to the study of one of Victoria's most enduring public buildings.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 277
- Dimensions: 327 x 240 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780645261912
- Publisher: Library Parliament of Victoria
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects and historians with an interest in Australian civic and heritage architecture, students of 19th-century public building, and those researching Melbourne's architectural and political foundations.