An architect claimed that while Canberra was a fantastic and well-planned city, its individual pieces of architecture were not up to standard, the front page of The Canberra Times revealed on this day in 1987.
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Mr Thorp, partner of the firm Mitchell, Giurgola and Thorp, which designed Parliament House, said the quality of buildings in the ACT was questionable, and the state's standards for buildings were not high.
Mr Thorp had been one of the judges for some architectural awards in the ACT, and said one building that was entered in a competition had been "falling apart".
"Its floor was deflecting and I wondered how it even got to be considered for the competition," he said.
Mr Thorp said that there needed to be more regulatory control of developers, who needed to take more responsibility for the quality of the buildings.
"Why do you continue to believe that cheaper is better?" he asked. "Why is the low bid the best one to take? Who looks at the community interest?"
Mr Thorp said he was troubled by the fact that Canberra's buildings were not of better quality, even if he might not be very popular for saying it.
