Friday, January 18, 2013

Fellows Garden Australian National University House

Greetings from Australian National University House at ANU in Canberra. University House is the original accommodation on campus, opened in 1954, now an boutique hotel. It is a 1950's interpretation of an English "Oxbridge" college (a better interpretation than many of the modern colleges at Oxford and Cambridge). There is a peaceful green "quad" (you are allowed to walk on the grass) with a reflecting pond. The "Fellows Garden" has long tables for scholars to sit with a drink. There is a magical atmosphere at twilight, on graduation day, with all the new graduates. Under the building next to the garden is a bar and restaurant (for when the garden is too hot or cold).

The construction of ANU University House and other original buildings for ANU academics were discussed at the highest levels of the Australia government, intended to attract world class academics to accelerate the economic development of the nation and were influenced by cold war politics, as detailed in Milton Cameron's book "Experiments in Modern Living: Scientists’ Houses in Canberra 1950–1970".

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