By accident while at the Enlighten festival in Canberra I happened on the first few minutes of a curatorial talk at the newly opened (now closed) exhibition on the Griffins at the late night opening of the National Library.
Christopher Vernon is the curator and he walked us through the exhibition with a charming and insightful background to the Griffins and the exhibition.
Room one covered their practice pre Canberra in Chicago. In 1865 the great fire in Chicago led to a boom in building which led to a period of creativity in design and construction. In 1893 the Columbian exhibition celebrating the 400 anniversary of Columbus exposed the 17 year old Walter Burley Griffin to buildings and landscape that was fully planned. At that time it was all looking back to a classical era. The heady inspiration of the era led Frank Lloyd Wright to go strongly modern.
There was always a big competition between Chicago and New York City so Chicago wanted to lead the US in design. Burnham, Sullivan and others went for natural themes. Walter and Marion were keen on harmony in the landscape. They were in the circle of Frank Lloyd Wright and were impacted by Wright’s personal life which was like a soapie.
Marion Mahoney Griffin got the second architecture degree ever awarded to a woman and ended up working with Wright.
Frank Lloyd Wright got on with Walter Burley Griffin but Wright failed in his commitments in money to Walter.
1909 alienated by his affairs Wright moved to Europe
Room 2
The Cyclograph paintings of what they were given
Walter talented rush suission
137 entries judged in Melb
Theirs fit the site like a glove
There is some debt to DC
Landform was important to eng
Philippines Burnham called to redesign manilla and.does Bagio
Kim then picks bits and.pieces of lots of plans
Decade, upset writes protest
Local protest not 4 eng but against the kom plan.
Wbg comes to canb
Room 3
DH Lawrence kangaroo
They fall for the bush with native plants this was new
She cooled catelogues of native plants all sorts of bush wals to catelogue the nosh plants.
Lots of red over for Aust
They never lived here,
She DoD.renderings that were prep
Walter.had an.arboretum
Eng did the plantings.first cheap in a war.
Document it was part time jobs
Lots of.details of.their work.
Room 4
Their projects beyond Canberra were to earn money and to fulfill their artistic aims. They were involved in the Cafe Australia which was a stunningly beautiful interior space. It was destroyed but is preserved through photo and a could of bits of furniture.
Griffin also designed a mallet for the opening of parliament in 1927.
They stayed in Australia and emersed themselves in the commune type suburb called Castle Crag. It was a socially engineered settlement north of Sydney.