Project INFORMATION

The Magna Carta Monument in Canberra, was Alastair Falconer’s winning entry in an international design competition for a monument commemorating Australia's legal principles.

Location

Adjacent to Old Parliament House, Langton Crescent, Parks ACT

Interesting elements

The monument creates a sense of place and engages both symbolic and literal representations of time and history in its design. Integral with the form of the monument is the visual and text information linking the relevance of the Magna Carta to recent political and legal history.

Role and responsibilities

Alastair Falconer – was responsible for the project from concept design through to construction supervision.

Company – Falconer Architecture 2001

SYMBOLISM

The symbolism of the Magna Carta Monument is established in the sequence of experiences perceived as visitors take the path from behind the monument into the centre. This follows a wall that feels increasingly carved into the ground, creating a sense of time, like the sedimentary strata of rock that become exposed, with the images and a time line set in the wall leading visitors to the centre. The wall height increases towards the dome as if in a descent underground to the centre of an ancient burial mound. The walls and floor have the key ideas of the Magna Carta set into the surface that lead to a central stone, set in the ground with unpretentious solidity and simplicity setting a seminal value.

Under the dome the visitor then becomes aware of the huge size of the cast dome above, with its slot penetrations casting shadows on the walls and floor like a sun dial, expressing the passage of time as shadows change throughout the day. The large central ocular in the dome provides an exaggerated view of the clouds passing overhead and a relief from the weight of the dome, while the echo from the dome and walls create the sensation of being in an underground chamber.

A ring hovers a metre beyond the edge of the dome encircling the visitor. Cut through the solid cast bronze panels of the ring is a part of the text from the Magna Carta that establishes our freedom under law.

The two large curved panels set into the wall show scenes in the history of the principles established by the Magna Carta both from Britain and Australia.