The Royal Exhibition Building is a 19th Century "Palace of Industry" which was constructed for the International Exhibition of 1880. Indeed, it's the only one still surviving which is why it is on the UNESCO heritage listing. It was used again for an exhibition in 1888 (the centenary of the founding of Australia), and also held the first meeting of the Australian Parliament on 9 May 1901. (Canberra was still nothing but a sheep station and some topographical maps at the time.)

The 1880 exhibition attracted over a million visitors (the 1888 one even more) which were impressive numbers for the time. It showcased technology such as pianos, typewriters (oooh!) lawnmowers (aaah!), electric lights (gasp!). And before you think that I'm being too cynical I'm well aware of how someone (actually, quite possibly me) will be extracting the Michael over the offerings in a 2009 Apple store a hundred and thirty years from now.

No, it's still an impressive and well constructed building. Here its dome is illuminated by a shaft of sunlight on an otherwise bleak day.


Addendum: My personal opinion is that Facebook is a sociopathic organisation that steals other peoples' intellectual property (including the images in this gallery) despite being explicitly denied permission to do so.