Aerial view of Canberra High School, Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
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2004-02-25T22:42:44Z
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Aerial view looking south that shows Childers Street as it comes off University Avenue and leads to a loop of lawn at the front entrance of the school. In the top right of the picture are various buildings, including those of the former Canberra Community Hospital, which were on land that was to become part of the Australian National University campus. On the left of Childers Street boys play on the football oval, while on the right, students are using other sports facilities including a hockey field and tennis courts. Trees planted along University Avenue include populus alba (white poplars), cedrus atlantica (atlantic cedars), prunus and oak species. Canberra High School was designed by Department of Works architect, Charles Whitley in Art Deco style. It features a central clock tower and semi -circular projections at both ends of the long façade. Decorative relief elements include the vertical panel between the tower windows and horizontal streamlining around the front entrance and above the windows. When it was opened in 1939 it was regarded as one of the most modern high schools in Australia. Over 300 students attended at the time the picture was taken. In the 1960s the school vacated the Acton site and occupied a new building in Macquarie. Over a number of years the old premises came to be used as an art school. In 1981 major additions to the building won the Royal Australian Institute of Architects first National award for architectural excellence.The Canberra Institute of the Arts, as it was now called, amalgamated with the ANU in 1992.This photograph is from an album that was held at the London office of the ANU over the period 1949 to 1952. The album was used to inform prospective staff about Canberra. These images are part of the series produced by the Department of Information and kept at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. National Archives holdings in this series have gaps and some images may be held only at the ANU Archives.
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Photograph album comprising 41 images of Canberra from the period January 1945 to March 1950, ANUA 13
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1945-1950
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