Walter Burley Griffin
Encyclopedia
Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876 – February 11, 1937) was an American
architect
and landscape architect
, who is best known for his role in designing Canberra
, Australia
's capital city. He has also been credited with the development of the L-shaped floor plan, the carport
and an innovative use of reinforced concrete
.
Influenced by the Chicago
-based Prairie School
, Griffin went on to develop a unique modern style
. For much of his career Griffin worked in partnership with his wife Marion Mahony Griffin
. In the 28 years of their architectural partnership, the Griffins designed over 350 buildings, landscape and urban-design projects as well as designing construction materials, interiors, furniture and other household items.
, Illinois
, a suburb of Chicago. He was the eldest of the four children of George Walter Griffin, an insurance agent, and Estelle Griffin. His family moved to Oak Park
and later to Elmhurst
during his childhood. As a boy he had an interest in landscape design and gardening, and his parents allowed him to landscape the yard at their new home in Elmhurst. Griffin completed high school at Oak Park High School
. He considered studying landscape design but was advised by the landscape gardener O. C. Simonds to pursue a more lucrative profession.
Griffin chose to study professional architecture
, and in 1899 he completed his bachelor's degree in architecture at the University of Illinois
. The University of Illinois program was run by Nathan Clifford Ricker
, a German-educated architect, whose teaching emphasized the technical aspects of architecture. During his studies, Griffin also took courses in horticulture
and in forestry
.
, Robert C. Spencer, Jr., and H. Webster Tomlinson in "Steinway Hall". Griffin's employers worked in the distinctive Prairie School
style. The school's style is marked by horizontal lines, flat roofs with broad overhanging eaves, solid construction, craftsmanship, and strict discipline in the use of ornament. Louis Sullivan
was highly influential amongst Prairie School and Griffin was a great admirer of his work, and also of his philosophy of architecture which stressed that design should be free of historical precedent. In addition to Sullivan, influential identified with the Prairie School architects include , George Grant Elmslie
, George Washington Maher, William Gray Purcell
, William Drummond
and most importantly, Frank Lloyd Wright
.
In July 1901, Griffin passed the new Illinois architects' licensing examination, and this permitted him to enter private practice as an architect. He began to work in Frank Lloyd Wright
's famous Oak Park, Illinois
, studios. Although he was never made a partner, Griffin oversaw the construction on many of Wright's noted house
s including the Willits House
in 1902 and the Larkin Administration Building
built in 1904. From 1905 he also began to supply landscape plans for Wright’s buildings. Wright allowed Griffin and his other staff to undertake small commissions of their own. The William Emery house
, built in Elmhurst, Illinois, in 1903 was such a commission. While working for Wright, Griffin fell in love with Mr. Wright's sister, Maginel Wright. He proposed marriage to her, but his affections for her were not returned, and she refused
Early in 1906 Griffin resigned his position at Wright's studio and established his own practice at Steinway Hall. Griffin and Wright had fallen out over events following Mr. Wright's trip to Japan in 1905. While Wright was away for five months, Griffin ran the practice. When Wright returned, he told Griffin that he had overstepped his responsibilities -- since Griffin had completed several of Writght's jobs, and he sometimes substituted his own building designs. Fruthermore, Mr. Wright had borrowed money from Griffin to pay for his travels abroad, and then he tried to pay off his debts to Griffin with prints he had gotten in Japan. It became clear to Griffin then that Wright would not make Griffin a partner in his business.
Griffin's first independent commission was a landscape design for the State Normal School at Charleston, Illinois
, now known as the Eastern Illinois University
. In the autumn of that year, 1906, he received his first residential job from Harry Peters. The Peters' House was the first house designed with an L-shaped or open floor plan. The L-shape was an economical design and rather easily constructed. From 1907, 13 houses in this style were built in the Chicago neighborhood now known as Beverly-Morgan Park. Seven of these houses are on W. 104th Place in Beverly, Chicago
. This street is now known as Walter Burley Griffin Place, and it forms a municipal historical district within the national Ridge Historic District, as this block contains the largest collection of small scale Griffin designs in existence.
In 1911 Griffin married Marion Lucy Mahony
, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in architecture. She had been employed first in Wright's office, and then by the architect Hermann V. von Holst
, who had taken over Wright's work in America when Wright abruptly left for Europe
in 1909 -- eloping with a woman. Marion Mahony recommended to von Holst that he hire Griffin to develop a landscape plan for the area surrounding the three houses on Milliken Place for which Wright had been hired in Decatur, Illinois
. Mahony and Griffin worked closely on the Decatur project immediately preceding their marriage. After their marriage, Mahony went to work in Griffin's practice. A Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony-designed development with several homes, Rock Crest Rock Glen in Mason City, Iowa
, is seen as their most dramatic American design development of the decade and remains the largest collection of Prairie Style homes surrounding a natural setting.
From 1899 to 1914, Griffin created more than 130 designs in his Chicago office for buildings, urban plans and landscapes; half of these were built in mid-western states of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. In 1981, the city of Chicago granted landmark status to the Prairie-style bungalows designed between 1909 and 1914 by Griffin in the 1700 block of West 104th Place (also known as the Griffin Place Historic District), as well as 12 blocks on Longwood Drive and three blocks along Seeley Avenue between 98th and 110th Streets.
The relationship between Walter Burley Griffin and Frank Lloyd Wright cooled in the years following Griffin's departure from Wright's firm in 1906. With Walter and Marion's wedding, Wright started to feel they were "against him". After Griffin's win in the Canberra design competition, and resultant front page coverage in the New York Times, Wright and Griffin never spoke to each other again. In later years, whenever Griffin was brought up in conversation Wright would downplay his achievements and refer to him as a draftsman.
In April 1911, the Australian Government
held an international competition to produce a design for its new capital city. Griffin produced a design with impressive renderings of the plan produced by his wife. They had only heard about the competition in July, while on honeymoon, and worked feverishly to prepare the plans. On May 23, 1912 Griffin's design was selected as the winner from among 137 entries. The win created significant press coverage at the time and brought him professional and public recognition. Of his plan, he famously remarked:
In 1913, he was invited to Australia to inspect the site. He initially left Marion in charge of the practice and travelled to Australia in July. (His Chicago practice was soon taken over by Barry Byrne
.) His letters home reveal his appreciation for the Australian landscape. While in Australia, Griffin was offered the position of head of the department of architecture at the University of Illinois. At the same time he was negotiating a three-year contract with the Australian Government to remain in Australia and oversee the implementation of his plan, which to his dismay he felt had already been compromised. He was appointed the Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction. In this role, Griffin oversaw the design of North and South Canberra, though he struggled with political and bureaucratic obstacles. With the outbreak of World War I
in 1914, Griffin was under pressure to reduce the scope and scale of his plans due to the Government diverting funds towards the war effort. Several parts of his basic design underwent change. For instance, plans to create Westbourne, Southbourne and Eastbourne Avenues to complement Canberra's Northbourne Avenue
came to nothing, as did a proposed railway that would have gone from South Canberra to North Canberra, and then in a northwesterly direction to Yass
. A market area that would have been at Russell Hill in North Canberra was moved southwards to what is now Fyshwick
, next to South Canberra.
The pace of building was slower than expected, partly because of a lack of funds and partly because of a dispute between Griffin and Federal government bureaucrats. During this time, many of Griffin's design ideas were attacked by both the architectural profession and the press. In 1917, a Royal Commission determined that they had undermined Griffin's authority by supplying him with false data which he had used to carry out his work. Ultimately, Griffin resigned from the Canberra design project in December 1920 when he discovered that several of these bureaucrats had been appointed to an agency that would oversee Canberra's construction. The Commonwealth Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Hughes
had removed Griffin as director of construction at Canberra after disagreements over his supervisory role, and in 1921 created the Federal Capital Advisory Committee
, with John Sulman
as chair. Griffin was offered membership, but declined and withdrew from further activity in Canberra.
Griffin designed several buildings for Canberra, none of which were ever built. The grave of General Bridges
on Mount Pleasant was the only permanent structure designed by Griffin to be built in Canberra.
The Griffins' office in Chicago had closed in 1917; however, they had successful practices in Melbourne
and Sydney
, which were a strong motivation for their continuing to live in Australia. The Griffins had received commissions for work outside Canberra since Walter first arrived in the country in 1913, designing town plans, subdivisions, and one of his highly regarded buildings, Newman College
, the Catholic residential college of the University of Melbourne
while employed in Canberra. While supervising activities in Canberra, Griffin spent much time in Melbourne
and, in 1918, became a founder, with Royden Powell, of the Henry George Club, an organisation devoted to providing a home for the Single Tax movement. The Griffins' first major commission after leaving Canberra was the Capitol Theatre
in Melbourne
; it opened on November 7, 1924. In 1964 architectural writer Robin Boyd described the Capitol as "the best cinema that was ever built or is ever likely to be built".
In 1916 and 1917 Griffin developed a patented modular concrete construction system known as “Knitlock” for use in the construction of Canberra. No Knitlock buildings were ever built in Canberra, although several were built in Australia. The first were built on Griffin's property in Frankston
in 1922, where he constructed two holiday houses called "Gumnuts". The best examples of Knitlock include the S.R. Salter House in Toorak
and the Paling House. Frank Lloyd Wright
designed a similar system and used Griffin's design to support the arguments for his design.
In 1919 the Griffins founded the Greater Sydney Development Association (GSDA), and in 1921 purchased 259 ha of land in North Sydney
. The GSDA's goal was the development of an idyllic community with a consistent architectural feel and bushland setting. Walter Burley Griffin as managing director of the GSDA designed all the buildings built in the area until 1935. Castlecrag
was the first suburb to be developed by the GSDA. The Redding House and several others in Castelcrag were also built in Knitlock. Almost all the houses Griffin designed in Castlecrag were small and had flat roofs, and he included an internal courtyard in many of them. Griffin used what was at that time the novel concept of including native bushland in these designs.
Other work the Griffins did during this time included the Melbourne
subdivisions of Glenard and Mont Eagle at Eaglemont
. Prior to 1920 the Griffins also designed the New South Wales
towns of Leeton
and Griffith
.
The Griffins participated in the celebrated Chicago
Tribune Tower
Competition in 1922. Having won one famous international competition, as architects who were both well acquainted with Chicago and recognized as practical visionaries, they offered a solution that was positive, forward-looking and elegant. Indeed their entry appears to be about a decade ahead of its time, with emphatic verticality along the lines of the Art Deco
or Art Moderne. It anticipated and would have been a near neighbor of Chicago's 333 North Michigan
by Holabird & Roche
(1928); with stylistic echos in John and Donald Parkinson's Bullocks Wilshire
, in Los Angeles
(1929), as well as Adah Robinson and Bruce Goff
's Boston Avenue Methodist Church
, Tulsa (1929).
In the 1920s they prepared plans for the Milleara Estate (also known as City View) at Avondale Heights, and the Ranelagh Estate at Mount Eliza, in conjunction with surveyors Tuxen and Miller. During the financial hardship of the Depression in the 1930s Griffin was commissioned to design incinerators; Willoughby Incinerator in the Sydney suburb of Willoughby
is a good example of this work. Another example was built in the suburb of Pyrmont, not far from the centre of Sydney.
, and in 1935 through contacts in the movement Griffin won a commission to design the library at the University of Lucknow
in Lucknow
, India
.
Although he had planned to only stay to complete the drawings for the library, he soon received more than 40 commissions, including University of Lucknow Student Union building; a museum and library for the Raja
of Mahmudabad
; a zenana
(women’s quarters) for the Raja of Jahangirabad
; Pioneer Press building, a bank, municipal offices, many private houses, and a memorial to King George V
. He also won complete design responsibility for the 1936–1937 United Provinces Exhibition of Industry and Agriculture. His 53 projects for the 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) site featured a stadium
, arena
, mosque
, imambara, art gallery, restaurant, bazaar
, pavilions, rotundas
, arcades
, and towers, however, only part of his elaborate plans were fully executed. Griffin was inspired by the architecture and culture of India, modifying forms as "he sought to create a modern Indian architecture... Griffin was able to expand his aesthetic vocabulary to create an exuberant, expressive architecture reflecting both the 'stamp of the place' and the 'spirit of the times'". While in India, Griffin also published numerous articles for the Pioneer, writing about architecture, in particular about ventilation
design improvements. His wife Marion traveled to Lucknow
in April 1936 to assist and contributed to several projects.
Griffin died of peritonitis
in early 1937, five days after gall bladder surgery at King George's Hospital in Lucknow, and was buried in Christian Cemetery in Lucknow. Marion Mahony Griffin oversaw the completion of the Pioneer Building that he had been working on at the time of his death. She closed down their Indian offices, then left their Australian practice in the hands of Griffin's partner, Eric Milton Nicholls, and then returned to Chicago.
Robert Menzies
declined to have the lake named after himself, and he instead named it Lake Burley Griffin
, and this became the first monument in Canberra dedicated to the city's designer ("Burley" was included in the name because of the misconception that it was part of the Griffins' surname
). Architectural drawings and other archival materials by and about the Griffins are held by numerous institutions in the United States, including the Drawings and Archives Department of Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
at Columbia University
; the Block Gallery at Northwestern University
; the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries
at the Art Institute of Chicago
; and the New York Historical Society, as well as in several repositories in Australia, including the National Library of Australia
, National Archives of Australia
, and the Newman College Archives of the University of Melbourne.
From The New York Times, Sunday, June 2, 1912
National Library of Australia:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
, who is best known for his role in designing Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's capital city. He has also been credited with the development of the L-shaped floor plan, the carport
Carport
A carport is a covered structure used to offer limited protection to vehicles, primarily cars, from the elements. The structure can either be free standing or attached to a wall. Unlike most structures a carport does not have four walls, and usually has one or two...
and an innovative use of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
.
Influenced by the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based Prairie School
Prairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
, Griffin went on to develop a unique modern style
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
. For much of his career Griffin worked in partnership with his wife Marion Mahony Griffin
Marion Mahony Griffin
Marion Griffin was an American architect and artist. She was one of the first licenced female architects in the world, and is considered an original member of the Prairie School.-Biography:...
. In the 28 years of their architectural partnership, the Griffins designed over 350 buildings, landscape and urban-design projects as well as designing construction materials, interiors, furniture and other household items.
Early life
Griffin was born in 1876 in MaywoodMaywood, Illinois
Maywood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It was founded on April 6, 1869 and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 26,987 at the 2000 census.-Overview:...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, a suburb of Chicago. He was the eldest of the four children of George Walter Griffin, an insurance agent, and Estelle Griffin. His family moved to Oak Park
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
and later to Elmhurst
Elmhurst, Illinois
Elmhurst is a suburb of Chicago in DuPage and Cook Counties, Illinois. The population is 46,013 as of the 2008 US Census population estimate.-History:...
during his childhood. As a boy he had an interest in landscape design and gardening, and his parents allowed him to landscape the yard at their new home in Elmhurst. Griffin completed high school at Oak Park High School
Oak Park and River Forest High School
Oak Park and River Forest High School, or OPRF, is a public four-year high school located in Oak Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the only school of Oak Park and River Forest District 200....
. He considered studying landscape design but was advised by the landscape gardener O. C. Simonds to pursue a more lucrative profession.
Griffin chose to study professional architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, and in 1899 he completed his bachelor's degree in architecture at the University of Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. The University of Illinois program was run by Nathan Clifford Ricker
Nathan Clifford Ricker
Nathan Clifford Ricker, D.Arch was a professor and architect known for his work at the University of Illinois. He was born on a farm near Acton, Maine June 24, 1843. In 1875, he was married to Mary Carter Steele of Galesburg, Illinois. His only child, Ethel, was born in 1883...
, a German-educated architect, whose teaching emphasized the technical aspects of architecture. During his studies, Griffin also took courses in horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
and in forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
.
His career in Chicago
Following the completion of his studies Griffin relocated to Chicago and was employed as a draftsman for two years in the offices of progressive architects Dwight H. PerkinsDwight H. Perkins
Dwight Heald Perkins was an American architect and planner.Perkins was born in Memphis, Tennessee and moved to Chicago with his family at age 4. His mother was widowed a few years after his family completed their move....
, Robert C. Spencer, Jr., and H. Webster Tomlinson in "Steinway Hall". Griffin's employers worked in the distinctive Prairie School
Prairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
style. The school's style is marked by horizontal lines, flat roofs with broad overhanging eaves, solid construction, craftsmanship, and strict discipline in the use of ornament. Louis Sullivan
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...
was highly influential amongst Prairie School and Griffin was a great admirer of his work, and also of his philosophy of architecture which stressed that design should be free of historical precedent. In addition to Sullivan, influential identified with the Prairie School architects include , George Grant Elmslie
George Grant Elmslie
George Grant Elmslie was an American, though born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Prairie School architect whose work is mostly found in the Midwestern United States...
, George Washington Maher, William Gray Purcell
William Gray Purcell
William Gray Purcell was a Prairie School architect in the Midwestern United States. He partnered with George Grant Elmslie. The firm of Purcell and Elmslie produced designs for buildings in twenty two states, Australia, and China...
, William Drummond
William Eugene Drummond
William Eugene Drummond was a Chicago Prairie School architect.-Early Years and Education:He was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of carpenter and cabinet maker Eugene Drummond and his wife Ida Marietta Lozier...
and most importantly, Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
.
In July 1901, Griffin passed the new Illinois architects' licensing examination, and this permitted him to enter private practice as an architect. He began to work in Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
's famous Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
, studios. Although he was never made a partner, Griffin oversaw the construction on many of Wright's noted house
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
s including the Willits House
Willits House
The Ward W. Willits House is a building designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Designed in 1901, the Willits house is considered the first of the great Prairie houses. Built in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, the house presents a symmetrical facade to the street. The plan is a...
in 1902 and the Larkin Administration Building
Larkin Administration Building
The Larkin Building was designed in 1904 by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1906 for the Larkin Soap Company of Buffalo, New York. The five story dark red brick building used pink tinted mortar and utilized steel frame construction. It was noted for many innovations, including air conditioning,...
built in 1904. From 1905 he also began to supply landscape plans for Wright’s buildings. Wright allowed Griffin and his other staff to undertake small commissions of their own. The William Emery house
William H. Emery, Jr. House
William H. Emery, Jr. House is a historic residence in the Prairie School in Elmhurst, Illinois. It was designed by renowned architect Walter Burley Griffin for his friend William H. Emery, Jr. The house was completed in 1903. William Emery, Sr. moved to Chicago and purchased the Seth Wadhams farm...
, built in Elmhurst, Illinois, in 1903 was such a commission. While working for Wright, Griffin fell in love with Mr. Wright's sister, Maginel Wright. He proposed marriage to her, but his affections for her were not returned, and she refused
Early in 1906 Griffin resigned his position at Wright's studio and established his own practice at Steinway Hall. Griffin and Wright had fallen out over events following Mr. Wright's trip to Japan in 1905. While Wright was away for five months, Griffin ran the practice. When Wright returned, he told Griffin that he had overstepped his responsibilities -- since Griffin had completed several of Writght's jobs, and he sometimes substituted his own building designs. Fruthermore, Mr. Wright had borrowed money from Griffin to pay for his travels abroad, and then he tried to pay off his debts to Griffin with prints he had gotten in Japan. It became clear to Griffin then that Wright would not make Griffin a partner in his business.
Griffin's first independent commission was a landscape design for the State Normal School at Charleston, Illinois
Charleston, Illinois
Charleston is a city in and the county seat of Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,838 as of the 2010 census. The city is home to Eastern Illinois University and has close ties with its neighbor Mattoon, Illinois...
, now known as the Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University is a state university located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a comprehensive university with a...
. In the autumn of that year, 1906, he received his first residential job from Harry Peters. The Peters' House was the first house designed with an L-shaped or open floor plan. The L-shape was an economical design and rather easily constructed. From 1907, 13 houses in this style were built in the Chicago neighborhood now known as Beverly-Morgan Park. Seven of these houses are on W. 104th Place in Beverly, Chicago
Beverly, Chicago
Beverly is one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago, Illinois. It is located on the South Side on the southwestern edge of the city. Beverly Hills was built by English engineers as an exclusive streetcar suburb and the homes and large lots reflect this historic distinction...
. This street is now known as Walter Burley Griffin Place, and it forms a municipal historical district within the national Ridge Historic District, as this block contains the largest collection of small scale Griffin designs in existence.
Marion Mahony Griffin
Marion Griffin was an American architect and artist. She was one of the first licenced female architects in the world, and is considered an original member of the Prairie School.-Biography:...
, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in architecture. She had been employed first in Wright's office, and then by the architect Hermann V. von Holst
Hermann V. von Holst
Hermann V. von Holst was an American architect practicing in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida, from the 1890s through the 1940s, best remembered for agreeing to take on the responsibility of heading up Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural practice when Wright went off to Europe with Mamah...
, who had taken over Wright's work in America when Wright abruptly left for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1909 -- eloping with a woman. Marion Mahony recommended to von Holst that he hire Griffin to develop a landscape plan for the area surrounding the three houses on Milliken Place for which Wright had been hired in Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
. Mahony and Griffin worked closely on the Decatur project immediately preceding their marriage. After their marriage, Mahony went to work in Griffin's practice. A Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony-designed development with several homes, Rock Crest Rock Glen in Mason City, Iowa
Mason City, Iowa
Mason City is the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 28,079 in the 2010 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Gordo and Worth counties....
, is seen as their most dramatic American design development of the decade and remains the largest collection of Prairie Style homes surrounding a natural setting.
From 1899 to 1914, Griffin created more than 130 designs in his Chicago office for buildings, urban plans and landscapes; half of these were built in mid-western states of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. In 1981, the city of Chicago granted landmark status to the Prairie-style bungalows designed between 1909 and 1914 by Griffin in the 1700 block of West 104th Place (also known as the Griffin Place Historic District), as well as 12 blocks on Longwood Drive and three blocks along Seeley Avenue between 98th and 110th Streets.
The relationship between Walter Burley Griffin and Frank Lloyd Wright cooled in the years following Griffin's departure from Wright's firm in 1906. With Walter and Marion's wedding, Wright started to feel they were "against him". After Griffin's win in the Canberra design competition, and resultant front page coverage in the New York Times, Wright and Griffin never spoke to each other again. In later years, whenever Griffin was brought up in conversation Wright would downplay his achievements and refer to him as a draftsman.
Canberra
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
held an international competition to produce a design for its new capital city. Griffin produced a design with impressive renderings of the plan produced by his wife. They had only heard about the competition in July, while on honeymoon, and worked feverishly to prepare the plans. On May 23, 1912 Griffin's design was selected as the winner from among 137 entries. The win created significant press coverage at the time and brought him professional and public recognition. Of his plan, he famously remarked:
"I have planned a city that is not like any other in the world. I have planned it not in a way that I expected any government authorities in the world would accept. I have planned an ideal city - a city that meets my ideal of the city of the future."
In 1913, he was invited to Australia to inspect the site. He initially left Marion in charge of the practice and travelled to Australia in July. (His Chicago practice was soon taken over by Barry Byrne
Barry Byrne
Francis Barry Byrne was initially a member of the group of architects known as the Prairie School. After the demise of the Prairie School about 1914-16, Byrne continued as a successful architect by developing his own personal style.-Biography:Francis Barry Byrne was born and raised in Chicago...
.) His letters home reveal his appreciation for the Australian landscape. While in Australia, Griffin was offered the position of head of the department of architecture at the University of Illinois. At the same time he was negotiating a three-year contract with the Australian Government to remain in Australia and oversee the implementation of his plan, which to his dismay he felt had already been compromised. He was appointed the Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction. In this role, Griffin oversaw the design of North and South Canberra, though he struggled with political and bureaucratic obstacles. With the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914, Griffin was under pressure to reduce the scope and scale of his plans due to the Government diverting funds towards the war effort. Several parts of his basic design underwent change. For instance, plans to create Westbourne, Southbourne and Eastbourne Avenues to complement Canberra's Northbourne Avenue
Northbourne Avenue, Canberra
Northbourne Avenue is a major road in Canberra, Australia. It extends from City Hill in the south to the Federal Highway in the north.It is a north-south running road which has three lanes for motorised traffic, and one lane for bicycles running in each direction, with a large median strip with...
came to nothing, as did a proposed railway that would have gone from South Canberra to North Canberra, and then in a northwesterly direction to Yass
Yass, New South Wales
Yass is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Yass Valley Shire. The name appears to have been derived from an Aboriginal word, "Yarrh" , said to mean 'running water'....
. A market area that would have been at Russell Hill in North Canberra was moved southwards to what is now Fyshwick
Fyshwick, Australian Capital Territory
Fyshwick is an industrial suburb of Canberra, located east of the South Canberra district. On Census night 2006, Fyshwick had a population of 54 people....
, next to South Canberra.
The pace of building was slower than expected, partly because of a lack of funds and partly because of a dispute between Griffin and Federal government bureaucrats. During this time, many of Griffin's design ideas were attacked by both the architectural profession and the press. In 1917, a Royal Commission determined that they had undermined Griffin's authority by supplying him with false data which he had used to carry out his work. Ultimately, Griffin resigned from the Canberra design project in December 1920 when he discovered that several of these bureaucrats had been appointed to an agency that would oversee Canberra's construction. The Commonwealth Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Hughes
Fifth Hughes Ministry
The Fifth Hughes Ministry was the sixteenth Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 4 February 1920 to 9 February 1923.Nationalist Party of Australia*Rt Hon Billy Hughes, MP: Prime Minister...
had removed Griffin as director of construction at Canberra after disagreements over his supervisory role, and in 1921 created the Federal Capital Advisory Committee
Federal Capital Advisory Committee
The Federal Capital Advisory Committee was a body of the Australian government which oversaw the construction of Canberra from 1921 to 1924 following the termination of the contract of architect Walter Burley Griffin....
, with John Sulman
John Sulman
Sir John Sulman was an Australian architect. Born in Greenwich, England, he emigrated to Sydney, Australia in 1885. From 1921 to 1924 he was chairman of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee and influenced the development of Canberra.-Early life:Sulman was born in was born at Greenwich, England...
as chair. Griffin was offered membership, but declined and withdrew from further activity in Canberra.
Griffin designed several buildings for Canberra, none of which were ever built. The grave of General Bridges
William Throsby Bridges
Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges KCB, CMG served with Australian forces during World War I, and was the first Australian to reach general officer rank...
on Mount Pleasant was the only permanent structure designed by Griffin to be built in Canberra.
Later career
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, which were a strong motivation for their continuing to live in Australia. The Griffins had received commissions for work outside Canberra since Walter first arrived in the country in 1913, designing town plans, subdivisions, and one of his highly regarded buildings, Newman College
Newman College (University of Melbourne)
Newman College is a Roman Catholic, co-educational residential college affiliated with the University of Melbourne. During the university year it houses about 235 undergraduate students and about 55 postgraduate students and tutors...
, the Catholic residential college of the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
while employed in Canberra. While supervising activities in Canberra, Griffin spent much time in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and, in 1918, became a founder, with Royden Powell, of the Henry George Club, an organisation devoted to providing a home for the Single Tax movement. The Griffins' first major commission after leaving Canberra was the Capitol Theatre
Capitol Theatre, Melbourne
Opened in 1924, The Capitol Theatre is a spectacularly designed single screen cinema located in Melbourne, Australia . On 20 May 1999, it was purchased by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology , and is currently used for both university lectures and cultural events such as film and comedy festivals...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
; it opened on November 7, 1924. In 1964 architectural writer Robin Boyd described the Capitol as "the best cinema that was ever built or is ever likely to be built".
In 1916 and 1917 Griffin developed a patented modular concrete construction system known as “Knitlock” for use in the construction of Canberra. No Knitlock buildings were ever built in Canberra, although several were built in Australia. The first were built on Griffin's property in Frankston
Frankston, Victoria
Frankston is a suburb within the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area in Victoria, Australia. It is located 40 km southeast of the state capital Melbourne at the southernmost edge of Greater Melbourne, near the beginnings of the Mornington Peninsula...
in 1922, where he constructed two holiday houses called "Gumnuts". The best examples of Knitlock include the S.R. Salter House in Toorak
Toorak, Victoria
Toorak is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district located on a rise on the south side of a bend in the Yarra River. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington...
and the Paling House. Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
designed a similar system and used Griffin's design to support the arguments for his design.
North Sydney, New South Wales
North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. North Sydney is located 3 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney...
. The GSDA's goal was the development of an idyllic community with a consistent architectural feel and bushland setting. Walter Burley Griffin as managing director of the GSDA designed all the buildings built in the area until 1935. Castlecrag
Castlecrag, New South Wales
Castlecrag is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Castlecrag is located 8 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby....
was the first suburb to be developed by the GSDA. The Redding House and several others in Castelcrag were also built in Knitlock. Almost all the houses Griffin designed in Castlecrag were small and had flat roofs, and he included an internal courtyard in many of them. Griffin used what was at that time the novel concept of including native bushland in these designs.
Other work the Griffins did during this time included the Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
subdivisions of Glenard and Mont Eagle at Eaglemont
Eaglemont, Victoria
Eaglemont is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Banyule...
. Prior to 1920 the Griffins also designed the New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
towns of Leeton
Leeton, New South Wales
Leeton is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Leeton is situated approximately 550 km west of Sydney and 450 km north of Melbourne in the productive Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Leeton is administered by Leeton Shire Council...
and Griffith
Griffith, New South Wales
Griffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
.
The Griffins participated in the celebrated Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Tribune Tower
Tribune Tower
The Tribune Tower is a neo-Gothic building located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Company. WGN Radio also broadcasts from the building, with ground-level studios overlooking nearby Pioneer Court and Michigan Avenue. CNN's...
Competition in 1922. Having won one famous international competition, as architects who were both well acquainted with Chicago and recognized as practical visionaries, they offered a solution that was positive, forward-looking and elegant. Indeed their entry appears to be about a decade ahead of its time, with emphatic verticality along the lines of the Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
or Art Moderne. It anticipated and would have been a near neighbor of Chicago's 333 North Michigan
333 North Michigan
333 North Michigan is an art deco skyscraper located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. Architecturally, it is noted for its dramatic upper-level setbacks that were inspired by the 1923 skyscraper zoning laws...
by Holabird & Roche
Holabird & Roche
The architectural firm of Holabird & Root was founded in Chicago in 1880. Over the years, the firm's designs have changed many times — from the Chicago School to Art Deco to Modern Architecture to Sustainable Architecture.-History:...
(1928); with stylistic echos in John and Donald Parkinson's Bullocks Wilshire
Bullocks Wilshire
Bullocks Wilshire, located at 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, is a 230,000-square foot Art Deco building.-Design:...
, in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
(1929), as well as Adah Robinson and Bruce Goff
Bruce Goff
Bruce Alonzo Goff was an American architect distinguished by his organic, eclectic, and often flamboyant designs for houses and other buildings in Oklahoma and elsewhere.-Early years:...
's Boston Avenue Methodist Church
Boston Avenue Methodist Church
The Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, located in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma and completed in 1929, is considered to be one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical Art Deco architecture in the United States, and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places...
, Tulsa (1929).
In the 1920s they prepared plans for the Milleara Estate (also known as City View) at Avondale Heights, and the Ranelagh Estate at Mount Eliza, in conjunction with surveyors Tuxen and Miller. During the financial hardship of the Depression in the 1930s Griffin was commissioned to design incinerators; Willoughby Incinerator in the Sydney suburb of Willoughby
Willoughby, New South Wales
Willoughby is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Willoughby is located 8 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby....
is a good example of this work. Another example was built in the suburb of Pyrmont, not far from the centre of Sydney.
India
During their time at the GSDA, the Griffins became more involved in anthroposophyAnthroposophy
Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
, and in 1935 through contacts in the movement Griffin won a commission to design the library at the University of Lucknow
University of Lucknow
The University of Lucknow is a university in the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is affiliated to University Grants Commission; Association of Commonwealth Universities ; Association of Indian Universities ; Distance Education Council...
in Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Although he had planned to only stay to complete the drawings for the library, he soon received more than 40 commissions, including University of Lucknow Student Union building; a museum and library for the Raja
Raja
Raja is an Indian term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna...
of Mahmudabad
Mahmudabad, India
Mahmudabad is a city and a municipal board in Sitapur district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.-Demographics: India census, Mahmudabad had a population of 41,911. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Mahmudabad has an average literacy rate of 49%, lower than the national...
; a zenana
Zenana
Zenana , refers to the part of a house belonging to a Muslim family in the Middle East and South Asia reserved for the women of the household. The Zenana are the inner apartments of a house in which the women of the family live...
(women’s quarters) for the Raja of Jahangirabad
Jahangirabad
Jahangirabad is a city and a municipal board in Bulandshahr district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.it is said that once emperor jahangeer stayed here for a couple of days,,,,since then it is named so...-Geography:...
; Pioneer Press building, a bank, municipal offices, many private houses, and a memorial to King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
. He also won complete design responsibility for the 1936–1937 United Provinces Exhibition of Industry and Agriculture. His 53 projects for the 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) site featured a stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
, arena
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
, mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, imambara, art gallery, restaurant, bazaar
Bazaar
A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...
, pavilions, rotundas
Rotunda (architecture)
A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, sometimes covered by a dome. It can also refer to a round room within a building . The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda. A Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome...
, arcades
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
, and towers, however, only part of his elaborate plans were fully executed. Griffin was inspired by the architecture and culture of India, modifying forms as "he sought to create a modern Indian architecture... Griffin was able to expand his aesthetic vocabulary to create an exuberant, expressive architecture reflecting both the 'stamp of the place' and the 'spirit of the times'". While in India, Griffin also published numerous articles for the Pioneer, writing about architecture, in particular about ventilation
Ventilation (architecture)
Ventilating is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality...
design improvements. His wife Marion traveled to Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
in April 1936 to assist and contributed to several projects.
Griffin died of peritonitis
Peritonitis
Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the serous membrane that lines part of the abdominal cavity and viscera. Peritonitis may be localised or generalised, and may result from infection or from a non-infectious process.-Abdominal pain and tenderness:The main manifestations of...
in early 1937, five days after gall bladder surgery at King George's Hospital in Lucknow, and was buried in Christian Cemetery in Lucknow. Marion Mahony Griffin oversaw the completion of the Pioneer Building that he had been working on at the time of his death. She closed down their Indian offices, then left their Australian practice in the hands of Griffin's partner, Eric Milton Nicholls, and then returned to Chicago.
Legacy
Griffin was largely under-appreciated during his time in Australia, but since his death there has been a growing recognition of his work. In 1964 when Canberra finally got its central lake (as Griffin had intended), Prime MinisterPrime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
declined to have the lake named after himself, and he instead named it Lake Burley Griffin
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...
, and this became the first monument in Canberra dedicated to the city's designer ("Burley" was included in the name because of the misconception that it was part of the Griffins' surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
). Architectural drawings and other archival materials by and about the Griffins are held by numerous institutions in the United States, including the Drawings and Archives Department of Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
The Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library is one of twenty-five libraries in the Columbia University Library System and is located in Avery Hall on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University in the City of New York. It is the largest architecture library in the world...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
; the Block Gallery at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
; the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries
Ryerson & Burnham
The Ryerson & Burnham Libraries are the art and architecture research collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The libraries cover all periods with extensive holdings in the areas of 18th, 19th and 20th century architecture and 19th century painting, prints, drawings, and decorative arts...
at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
; and the New York Historical Society, as well as in several repositories in Australia, including the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
, National Archives of Australia
National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia is a body established by the Government of Australia for the purpose of preserving Commonwealth Government records. It is an Executive Agency of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and reports to the Cabinet Secretary, Senator Joe Ludwig.The national...
, and the Newman College Archives of the University of Melbourne.
In his own words
...."I am what may be termed a naturalist in architecture. I do not believe in any school of architecture. I believe in architecture that is the logical outgrowth of the environment in which the building in mind is to be located"....From The New York Times, Sunday, June 2, 1912
United States
- Alfred W. Hebert House Remodeling, 1902, Evanston, IllinoisEvanston, IllinoisEvanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
- W.H. Emery HouseWilliam H. Emery, Jr. HouseWilliam H. Emery, Jr. House is a historic residence in the Prairie School in Elmhurst, Illinois. It was designed by renowned architect Walter Burley Griffin for his friend William H. Emery, Jr. The house was completed in 1903. William Emery, Sr. moved to Chicago and purchased the Seth Wadhams farm...
, 1903, Elmhurst, Illinois - Adolph Mueller House, 1906
- Mary H. Bovee Apartment, 1907
- John Gauler HouseGauler Twin HousesThe Gauler Twin Houses are two identical Prairie style houses located at 5917 and 5921 North Magnolia Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The houses were built in 1908 by Walter Burley Griffin. They were designated a Chicago Landmark on June 28, 2000....
, 1908, Chicago, Illinois - William S. Orth House, 1908, Winnetka, IllinoisWinnetka, IllinoisWinnetka is an affluent North Shore village located approximately north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. Winnetka was featured on the list of America's 25 top-earning towns and "one of the best places to live" by CNN Money in 2011...
- Edmund C. Garrity House, 1909
- Ralph Griffin House, 1909, Edwardsville, IllinoisEdwardsville, IllinoisEdwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,293. It is the county seat of Madison County and is the third oldest city in the State of Illinois. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois...
- Edmund C. Garrity House, 1712 W. 104th Place, Chicago, Illinois, 1909
- William B. Sloan House, 1910
- Harry N. Tolles House, 10561 S. Longwood Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 1911
- Harry G. Van Nostrand House, 1666 W. Griffin PIace, Chicago, Illinois, 1911
- Russell L. Blount House I, 1724 W. Griffin Place, Chicago, Illinois, 1911
- Joshua Melson House, 1912, Mason City, IowaMason City, IowaMason City is the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 28,079 in the 2010 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Gordo and Worth counties....
- Russel L. Blount House II, 1950 W. 102nd Street, Chicago, Illinois, 1912–1913
- Jenkinson House, 1727 W. Griffin Place, Chicago, Illinois, 1912–1913
- Walter D. Salmon House, 1736 W. Griffin PIace, Chicago, Illinois, 1912–1913
- Newland house, 1737 W. Griffin Place, Chicago, Illinois, 1913
- Ida E. Williams House, 1632 W. Griffin Place, Chicago, Illinois (based on the Von Nostrand plans, built by Blount), 1913
- William R. Hornbaker House, 1710 W. Griffin Place, Chicago, Illinois, (based on the Von Nostrand plans, built by Blount), 1914
- James Frederic Clarke House, 1731 W. Griffin Place, Chicago, Illinois, (based on the Von Nostrand plans, built by Blount), 1913
- Harry C. Furneaux House, 1741 W. Griffin Place, Chicago, Illinois, (based on the Salmon House plans, built by Blount), 1913
- James Blyth House, Mason City, IowaMason City, IowaMason City is the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 28,079 in the 2010 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Gordo and Worth counties....
- Stinson Memorial Library, Anna, IllinoisAnna, IllinoisAnna is a city in Union County, Illinois, United States. Located in Southern Illinois, the population was 5,136 at the 2000 census. The city is known for being tied to its close neighbor Jonesboro, together known as Anna-Jonesboro. Anna is well renowned for the Anna State Mental Hospital or the...
Australia
- CanberraCanberraCanberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
plan, 1914–1920 - LeetonLeeton, New South WalesLeeton is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Leeton is situated approximately 550 km west of Sydney and 450 km north of Melbourne in the productive Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Leeton is administered by Leeton Shire Council...
town plan, 1914 - GriffithGriffith, New South WalesGriffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
town plan, 1914 - EaglemontEaglemont, VictoriaEaglemont is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Banyule...
town plan, 1915 - Newman CollegeNewman College (University of Melbourne)Newman College is a Roman Catholic, co-educational residential college affiliated with the University of Melbourne. During the university year it houses about 235 undergraduate students and about 55 postgraduate students and tutors...
, University of MelbourneUniversity of MelbourneThe University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, 1916–1918 - Café Australia, MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, 1916 - Capitol TheatreCapitol Theatre, MelbourneOpened in 1924, The Capitol Theatre is a spectacularly designed single screen cinema located in Melbourne, Australia . On 20 May 1999, it was purchased by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology , and is currently used for both university lectures and cultural events such as film and comedy festivals...
, Melbourne 1924 - Palais de danse, St KildaSt Kilda, VictoriaSt Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
1925 (destroyed by fire) - Leonard House, Elizabeth Street MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
1925 (demolished) - CastlecragCastlecrag, New South WalesCastlecrag is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Castlecrag is located 8 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby....
, suburb plan, 1925 - Willoughby Incinerator, 1932
Further reading
- Brooks, H. Allen, Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School, Braziller (in association with the Cooper-Hewitt Museum), New York 1984; ISBN 0-8076-1084-4
- Brooks, H. Allen, The Prairie School, W.W. Norton, New York 2006; ISBN 0-393-73191-X
- Brooks, H. Allen (editor), Prairie School Architecture: Studies from "The Western Architect", University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Buffalo 1975; ISBN 0-8020-2138-7
- Brooks, H. Allen, The Prairie School: Frank Lloyd Wright and his Midwest Contemporaries, University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1972; ISBN 0-8020-5251-7
- Griffin, Dustin (editor), The Writings of Walter Burley Griffin, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne 2008; ISBN 978-0-521-89713-6
External links
- Walter Burley Griffin Society (Australia)
- The Griffin Legacy, National Capital Authority
- Imagining Canberra in Chicago from the ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
- Reading the past in the Walter Burley Griffin Incinerator and Fishwick House at Willoughby, NSW (educational resources)
- Castlecrag Progress Association
- Great Buildings Online: works of Walter Burley Griffin (includes links to W.H.Emery House, 1903; Ralph Griffin House, 1909; Adolph Mueller House, 1906; Joshua Melson House, 1912; and Stinson Memorial Library, 1913)
- Walter Burley Giffiin, The Prairie School Of Architecture
- Stinson Memorial Public Library (includes history of Stinson Library construction)
- The Walter Burley Griffin Society of America
- Mary Mahoney Griffin's Manuscript, The Magic of America: Ryerson & Burnham Libraries: Archives Collection
National Library of Australia:
- Eric Milton Nicholls collection
- Papers of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony collected by Eric Nicholls, 1900-1947
- The Donald Leslie Johnson collection of Walter and Marion Griffin documents, 1901-1988
- The work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin in Melbourne, 1975 a collection of photographs by Wolfgang Sievers of works by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin taken in 1975
Online exhibitions
- Walter Burley Griffin: in his own right, Public Broadcasting Service
- An Ideal City? The 1912 Competition to Design Canberra an online exhibition developed by the National Archives of AustraliaNational Archives of AustraliaThe National Archives of Australia is a body established by the Government of Australia for the purpose of preserving Commonwealth Government records. It is an Executive Agency of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and reports to the Cabinet Secretary, Senator Joe Ludwig.The national...
, National Library of AustraliaNational Library of AustraliaThe National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
and the National Capital AuthorityNational Capital AuthorityThe National Capital Authority is a body of the Australian Government that was established to manage the Commonwealth's interest in the planning and development of Canberra as the capital city of Australia....