Commonwealth Place is located on the southern shore of

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Walte ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. It lies along the ‘water axis’ running along the lake from Black Mountain. Commonwealth Place is the location of the Gallery of Australian Design,

Reconciliation Place Reconciliation Place is an urban landscape design in the Parliamentary Triangle Canberra, Australia dedicated to reconciliation between Australia's Indigenous peoples and the mainly European settler population. Reconciliation Place was opened by ...

, a restaurant and ''Speakers Square''.

Walter Burley Griffin Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He is known for designing Canberra, Australia's capital city and the New South Wales towns of Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith and ...

, the architect who designed

, envisaged that the area would be the site of a "water gate" which would have a terrace above it, providing a "forum for the people". Griffin's vision was for a long time left unrecognised but as of 2005 the area was being developed to reflect the original plan. ''Speakers Square'', at the centre of Commonwealth Place is a concave shaped grassed area with a paved mural in the middle which was a gift to Australia from the Government of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to mark the Centenary of

Australian Federation The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...

. A display of

international flags International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

lines the lake shore, one flag for each nation with a

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

in the capital. Flags include those of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

References

{{coord, 35, 17, 49, S, 149, 8, 3, E, display=title Parks in Canberra Canberra urban places National squares