The FUTURE as seen from the past
The Queensway
It's like they saved the best for last: the two clover Maitland Queensway interchange, pride of the city! And isn't that the National Library? Another banal concrete box, 40 years on it is woefully inadequate.
And there you have it, urban renovation NCC-style. The NCC c.1964: frighteningly similar to today's NCC. But the real insight to be gained is this: the NCC's plans in the 60's were no different than similar plans in cities all over North America at the time: tear up railways, build freeways, erect monumental office parks at the edge of town and surround them with free parking, and bulldoze the inner city to replace it with more monumental architecture. The NCC loves to talk about its plans and planners, but it didn't have a crystal ball then, and it doesn't have one now. Beware.