Australian Architecture Trivia Quiz

Answer: Francis Greenway

Francis Howard Greenway was born in Bristol, England in 1777 and died in Newcastle, New South Wales in 1837. He was sentenced to 14 years transportation to Australia for the crime of forgery. Because of his skills, rather than being used for labouring jobs as was the case for most transported convicts, he worked for the Governor, Lachlan Macquarie, as Australia's first government architect. Greenway is commemorated on the Australian $10 note, and is thought to be the only convicted forger in the world so honoured.

Answer: USA

Griffin was born in 1876 in Maywood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. An architect and landscape architect, he initially worked in the USA, but is best remembered for designing Canberra (Australia's capital city) and the New South Wales towns of Griffith and Leeton. He also designed a number of buildings in India.

Answer: Granite

There are two 89-metre-high (292 feet) concrete pylons at each end of the bridge's arch. They are faced with granite and were designed by the Scottish architect Thomas Tait.

Answer: Incinerators

During the the Great Depression, Griffin designed incinerators in collaboration with the Reverberatory Incinerator and Engineering Company, assisted by his friend and business partner, Eric Nicholls. Seven of the twelve incinerators built survive. The incinerator located at Willoughby, New South Wales, has been listed by the National Trust of Australia and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects as a building of significance and is listed in the New South Wales State Heritage Register.

Answer: A tram shed

The Fort Macquarie Tram Depot - housing what Americans call streetcars - was built on Bennelong Point on the site of an old military station called Fort Macquarie. The depot was constructed in the style of a fortress with ramparts in in reference to the history of the site.

The depot closed on 22 October 1955 and was demolished in 1958 to make way for the construction of the Sydney Opera House.

Answer: Jørn Utzon

The Sydney Opera was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, following his selection as winner of an international design competition. Work began in 1958 under Utzon's direction but a series of disagreements and arguments between architect and government led to his resignation, and the building was completed by an Australian architectural team headed by Peter Hall.

Answer: Queen Elizabeth II

The Sydney Opera House was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia on 20 October 1973.

Answer: The Sirius Building

The Sirius Building is an apartment complex in The Rocks district of Sydney. It was designed for the Housing Commission of New South Wales in 1978-1979 by architect Tao Gofers, and is one of the best known examples of Brutalist architecture in Australia.

Answer: Southern Cross

Redevelopment of Spencer Street station commenced in October 2002 and was completed in late 2006, in time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The design featured an undulating wave-shaped roof, a new entrance and concourse, a new coach interchange, new food court, a bar and restaurant, retail outlets inside the station and a connection to the shopping complex between Bourke and La Trobe Streets.

Answer: Eureka Tower

At just under 300 meters in height, Eureka Tower was the tallest building in Melbourne and the second highest in Australia at the time of its construction, an accolade it still held in 2021. It was also at one time the tallest residential building in the world. Named after the Eureka Stockade rebellion of 1854, it contains 556 apartments spread over 84 floors and has an observation deck on the 88th floor.