Page 516 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 February 2020
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exceptional contribution made to our national capital by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. The vision, the dedication, that they put into their vision for Canberra is something that we are all still benefiting from. That we today enjoy a vibrant and livable city is in no small measure a direct consequence of the work that they put in so long ago.
I also note Mr Gupta’s interest in the special relationship between Canberra and Lucknow, as the final resting place of Walter Burley Griffin and the work that Mr Gupta has done to improve the final resting place of Walter Burley Griffin. I support Mr Gupta’s view that we need to acknowledge the contribution of both Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. Of course, the most obvious examples of that already in place are Lake Burley Griffin and the Marion Mahony Griffin view on Mount Ainslie. I am particularly pleased that in more recent times we have seen good and proper recognition being given to Marion Mahony Griffin’s role. I put on the record my appreciation of the often understated and under-rated contribution made by Marion Mahony Griffin in the creation of our great city.
Marion was born in 1871 in Chicago, Illinois. After graduation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Marion returned to Chicago, where she became the first woman licensed to practise architecture in Illinois. In 1895 Marion was the first employee hired by Frank Lloyd Wright and she went to work designing buildings, furniture, stained glass windows and decorative panels. Her beautiful watercolour renderings of buildings and landscape became known as an integral part of Wright’s style, although she was not usually given credit by that famous architect.
Marion Mahony Griffin’s watercolour perspectives of Walter Burley Griffin’s design for Canberra, the new Australian capital, were instrumental in securing the first prize in the international competition for the plan of the city. In 1914 the couple moved to Australia to oversee the building of Canberra, and Marion Mahony Griffin managed the Sydney office and was responsible for the design of their private commissions.
Walter Burley Griffin was invited to design a library for the University of Lucknow in India and travelled there in September 1935. Marion arrived in April 1936 and soon took charge of the office, where she oversaw the design of many buildings. Less than a year later, in 1937, Walter died and Marion then wound up the office and returned to Australia. Later she returned to the United States and largely retired from her architectural career. She died in 1961, aged 90.
I am delighted to have this opportunity to recognise both Walter’s but especially Marion’s contribution to Canberra but more broadly to architecture and the broader pioneering role of women in professional life. Marion’s example has been an inspiration to women for a century.
Finally, I appreciate Mr Gupta’s suggestion that we should acknowledge the contribution made by both Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin by naming locations in Canberra and, in particular, the motion today making that suggestion. But I would suggest Mr Gupta contact the ACT Place Names Committee, the committee which provides advice to establish policies for the naming of divisions or suburbs and public places on territory land in the Australian Capital Territory.
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