Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00437:body:0:p45
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L00437
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Character Range: 124342–127183

the major planning 'land axis' of Anzac Parade, from AWM towards Parliament House. (Source: GML, 2016)

 Figure 3.2 View of the AWM and Mount Ainslie from Anzac Parade. (Source: GML, 2016)

   Figure 3.3 View of the AWM and Anzac Parade from the summit of Mount Ainslie. The Reid Conservation Area is in the middle ground, to the right of the photograph. (Source: GML, 2016)

   Figure 3.4 Site map of the AWM showing key areas. (Source: AWM with GML overlay, 2020)

   3.2.1 The Main Memorial Building

   The main Memorial building was designed with reference to the Art Deco style and displays Byzantine and Egyptian motifs in its modelling with interpenetrating masses and pylons marking the front entrance (refer to Figure 3.6). Egyptian architectural motifs were popular during the nineteenth century for monuments, memorials and mausoleums. During the twentieth century, aspects of the style merged with the Art Deco and were regarded as Modern. The adoption of this style for the building reflected CEW Bean's desire for the building to be at once museum, monument, memorial, temple and shrine. The long, low, plain lines and dome of the structure did not reflect classical architectural traditions but rather the great monuments of the east (refer to Figure 3.7). The use of face sandstone block for the building's exterior is also important in evoking the monumentality and longevity suggested by Egyptian architecture. The Art Deco features displayed by the building include the strong horizontals of the stepped skyline contrasted with the vertical features of a centralised tower, monumental entrance and a concentration of ornamentation on the upper part of the building.

   3.2.2 The Commemorative Area

   The Commemorative Area, including the Hall of Memory, is located in the core of the main Memorial building, immediately within the main entrance on the southern façade.

   Visitors enter directly into the Commemorative Area from the building's public entry on its main, south façade, passing through a small vestibule, flanked by the Menin Gate lions. Symbolically, the entrance commands the grand vista of Griffin's land axis, directly connecting with Parliament House. All visitors to the Memorial enter through the Commemorative Area, providing a solemn introduction to the place as not only a museum, but also the national memorial to Australia's war dead.

  Figure 3.6 The entrance of the main Memorial building with heavy massed pylons.

  Figure 3.7 View of the main Memorial building dome from the Eastern Precinct.

  Figure 3.8 The entrance area of the main Memorial building and one of the Menin Gate lions.

  Figure 3.9 The Pool of Reflection with the Roll of Honour on each side and the Hall of Memory at the far end.

  Figure 3.10 The courtyard and Roll of Honor behind the cloisters.