Understand
[edit]| “ | 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. | ” |
—Walter Burley Griffin, New York Times (June 1912) | ||
Australia
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Cities and suburbs
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There are three main cities designed by Burley Griffin – Canberra, Griffith and Leeton. Although much of what the cities are today deviated significantly from what Burley Griffin proposed, it is very much visible that these cities were planned from the get-go.
- 1 Canberra. The most prominent planned city and capital of Australia, designed by Griffin and Mahony in a way where the core landmarks perfectly match with the geometrix axes of the nearby mountain peaks but with a core "garden city" concept, centred around a lake (which is now Lake Burley Griffin). By creatively working with the Canberra's natural features such as the hills and valleys, Burley Griffin set a new standard for sustainable, thoughtful city planning. His approach showed how to strike a balance between the built environment and the natural world was one of the first in the New World.
Although planning for the capital came with many hurdles along the way – including the Great Depression, World War II, the advent of the automobile and a lot of bureaucratic interference – the core components of Burley Griffin's plan were implemented, even if didn't reflect the original plans. You can see a model of Griffin's proposal at the National Capital Exhibition at Commonwealth Park and some interactive displays behind the early modern history of Canberra.
- 2 Griffith. Griffith was the second largest of the three core Burley Griffin cities, designed in 1914. Griffith features an unusual geometric layout centred on a series of circular streets around the theatre (with the innermost being the B87 Kidman Way, one of the two major highways through town), with broad avenues radiating outward in an octagonal arrangement. The rest of the streets were surveyed largely in accordance with Griffin's plan. The main highway to Griffith is also conveniently named Burley Griffin Way (B94).
- 3 Leeton. A much smaller town not too far away from Griffith, but specifically planned as an irrigation town in 1914. The town design of Leeton centres around a roundabout and follows a rough octagonal street layout.
In addition to the cities, Burley Griffin also designed three suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. However, unlike the cities above, it isn't nearly as obvious that such suburbs were planned, let alone designed by Burley Griffin and have been incorporated into their respective cities.
- 4 Castlecrag, Lower North Shore, Sydney. Castlecrag was initially proposed to be a suburb that blended in with the natural environment and ensured that most houses had a view of Sydney Harbour. Much of this is the case today with the older homes, but later developments from the council somewhat ignored Burley Griffin and Mahony's envisions – although it's hard to grasp from it as a visitor. Willoughby Council later tried to rectify this, but it isn't the same as it once was.
- 5 Castle Cove, Lower North Shore, Sydney. A similar suburb to Castlecrag down south, though much of the suburb no longer follows Burley Griffin's original plan made in 1930.
- 6 Eaglemont, Northern Suburbs, Melbourne. A garden suburb in northeastern Melbourne. The curvature of the streets is largely designed in a way to match the contour of the landscape with more private parklands than a usual suburb to reflect the garden suburb vibe.
Buildings
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Burley Griffin may only be known for Canberra, but after a career of designing cities, Burley Griffin moved onto individual buildings, largely within Sydney and Melbourne. More have also been designed by Burley Griffin, but many of these were demolished and are thus not listed here.
- 1 Duncan House, Castlecrag, New South Wales. One of the few houses that were entirely designed by Burley Griffin in 1929 in Castlecrag, a suburb he planned. It led to the the founding of the Walter Burley Griffin Society to preserve the works of Burley Griffin as this remains one of the best preserved of his works.
- 2 Eric Pratten House, Pymble, New South Wales.
- 3 Fishwick House, Castlecrag, New South Wales. A privately owned residence in Castlecrag, but one of the few houses in the suburb that were designed by Griffin and Mahony themselves.
- 4 Newman College, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria. A residential college of the University of Melbourne, Australia's highest-ranked uni, but specifically Roman Catholic (and the architecture reflects that). Burley Griffin and Mahony even went on to also design the chairs, tables and bookshelves, in addition to a few of the original bedrooms.
- 5 Pholiota, Eaglemont, Victoria. The residence of Griffin and Mahony whilst they were designing the suburb of Eaglemont in 1920.
- 6 The Capitol, Swanston St, Melbourne CBD. Designed in 1924 by both Griffin and Mahony, The Capitol is a heritage-listed theatre known for its stunning geometric plaster ceiling. The theatre – originally built as a cinema – is an awesome example of blending Art Deco with Prairie School influences. Today, it serves as a multi-purpose venue for events, screenings, and performances at RMIT. Critic Robin Boyd even went onto say that The Capitol was "the best cinema that was ever built or is ever likely to be built".
Incinerators
[edit]Burley Griffin was behind 12 different incinerators during the Great Depression. Although only seven remain today, they all largely had a similar purpose of the disposal of some material (the specifics varied, but wasn't directly related to Burley Griffin and much has changed since Griffin and often Mahony designed them) and as such are not described in detail here.
- 7 Canberra Incinerator, Westbourne Woods, South Canberra (next to 10th fairway of golf course).
- 8 Incinerator Gallery (Essendon Incinerator), Essendon, Victoria.
- 9 Glebe Incinerator, Glebe, New South Wales.
- 10 Hindmarsh Incinerator, Hindmarsh, South Australia.
- 11 Ipswich Incinerator, Ipswich, Queensland.
- 12 Thebarton Incinerator, Thebarton, South Australia.
- 13 Willoughby Incinerator, Willoughby, New South Wales.
United States
[edit]Prior to Burley Griffin moving to Australia, he designed several buildings in Chicago. Most of these buildings are neither prominent nor famous, however.