|
|
ISSUE 82 July 2025
|
|
News
Feature
- Stinson Memorial Library in Anna, Illinois, USA
|
|
|
|
Welcome!
Welcome to the latest Walter Burley Griffin Society’s biannual newsletter.
|
This issue contains many articles of interest, including information about forthcoming talks and events, the Draft NSW Heritage Strategy currently on public exhibition for comment, the centenary of the gazettal of the Griffin plan for Canberra, and a review of an excellent guide to the Griffins' architecture and design work in Melbourne. Enjoy!
Your membership is important to us and allows us to produce this newsletter, host events and fund major projects, such as activities to celebrate Walter Burley Griffin's sesquicenteanary in 2026!
|
Click here to join the Society or renew your membership. Membership will entitle you to receive future newsletters and priority notification of, and discounts to the Society’s events.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Coming events
The Griffins & Art Deco: From the Prairie School to Art Deco
Friday 11 July 2025, 2pm to 3pm
Leeton, NSW
An illustrated talk presented by the Walter Burley Griffin Society’s Vice President Michael Thomson as part of the Australian Art Deco Festival – Leeton.
|
Take a fascinating journey into the design legacy of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, exploring how their distinctive architectural motifs—across the US, Australia, and India—echo themes later embraced by the Art Deco movement. This illustrated talk will highlight the decorative details that defined their work: art glass windows, custom furniture, lighting, and furnishings, with a special focus on Melbourne’s iconic Capitol Theatre. Presented in the intimate setting of Peddler’s Corner, this event offers rich insight for lovers of architecture, history, and design.
|
|
Your ticket includes refreshments (coffee & cake).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Playground Project Melbourne
28 June - 12 October 2025
Incinerator Gallery, Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds, Melbourne.
|
The interactive, international exhibition The Playground Project Melbourne has opened at the Incinerator Gallery, located in the repurposed Griffin and Nicholls designed Essendon Incinerator.
|
Large-scale playground installations, inside and outside the Incinerator’s gallery space, will provide an immersive experience for young visitors. This Australian-first exhibition will delight audiences by bringing to life the history of the humble playground, from the 1930s until today.
|
The Ringtales Playground, one of the extensive installations, was inspired by the Griffins’ work.
|
|
|
|
The Ringtails Playground. Image reproduced from https://incineratorgallery.com.au
|
|
|
|
|
|
Incinerators at Newcastle in the 1930s
Monday 28 July 2025, 10 am
Engineer Jim Happ will present a talk titled “Incineration of municipal garbage in Newcastle in the 1930s” about the Griffin-designed RIECo Waratah Incinerator (now demolished) and one other incinerator (with RIECo-supplied furnaces) designed by F. A. Scorer (Chief Architect, Greater Newcastle City Council) to the Newcastle Industrial History Association, at Delprat Cottage, 133A Ingall St, Mayfield North.
|
The talk will be about the history of the introduction of these incinerators at Waratah and Hamilton, Newcastle in the 1930s, how they were built, how they performed, and their eventual fate. Finishing off, he will talk about the new generation of garbage incinerators gaining favour, as Councils run out of land for garbage dumps and become more concerned about environmental impacts of garbage disposal.
Bookings with Bob Cook 0419 241731, email nihanewcastle@gmail.com
|
|
|
Waratah incinerator at the official opening, 1 August 1931. National Library of Australia, Eric Milton Nicholls Collection.
|
|
|
|
Walter Burley Griffin’s houses at Rock Crest / Rock Glen
in Mason City, USA to be opened to members of the WBGS of America
|
A wonderful program of talks and open houses is to be held at this incredible enclave of early twentieth-century modern American architecture in Mason City.
|
The Walter Burley Griffin Society of America will hold its 24th Annual Meeting this year in Mason City, Iowa, on Friday 3 and Saturday 4 October 2025. The meeting will include visits to the five Griffin houses of Rock Crest/Rock Glen and a host of additional local sites. This is only the Society’s third visit to Mason City in 22 years. The entire Historic Park Inn Hotel (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) has been reserved for the Griffin Society for 2, 3, & 4 October and rooms are now available as first come first served. https://www.historicparkinn.com/
|
|
|
Melson House at Rock Crest / Rock Glen, Mason City, Iowa. Photograph Adrienne Kabos, 2014.
|
|
|
As stated on the WBGS of America website - Both Friday and Saturday lectures will begin at 9am and will last until noon. They will take place in the Salsbury room in the MacNider Museum. The Tudor-styled museum building itself is of historic and architectural interest and features many interesting displays of Mason City’s rich brick-and-tile heritage circa 1920. The museum’s collection focuses on American art.
|
Tours of the houses in Rock Crest/Rock Glen, including five residences by Griffin, others by Frank Lloyd Wright, Barry Byrne, and William Drummond, will be held from 1:00 to 5:00 on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Friday evening is free to spend as you wish, while Saturday evening will conclude with a reception at the Griffin designed Blythe house. An informal reception is being considered for those who arrive on Thursday afternoon/evening, as well as an additional site-visit for Sunday morning.
|
Speakers include Kathryn Hund, director of Cedar Rock Lowell Walter House, Wright’s Usonian house on an 11-acre Iowa State park; Glenda Korporaal, author of “Making Magic,” a biography of Marion Mahony Griffin; Lonnie Lovness, author of “Growing up Wright,” an account of the creation of her parents’ Wright house in Stillwater, Minnesota; Paul Kruty on the genesis of Rock Crest/Rock Glen; master-printer Peter Kruty, who created the stunning posters for the last ten meetings; and Nick Mutchler, craftsman restoring the Melson and Blythe houses in Mason City.
|
Registration fee of $70 covers both days, including tours of the FLW's Historic Park Inn and Stockman House. Optional boxed lunches at $15 per day will be served following lectures at the museum/museum grounds.
Membership/Registration Form for the meeting.
Registration is limited to 150 people and is required by 15 September 2025.
You must be a member of the Griffin Society to register for the conference
http://www.wbgriffinsociety.org/membership2.html
For further announcements:
http://www.wbgriffinsociety.org/index.html
|
|
|
1. Rock Glen's parkland and the Page House;
2 and 3. Blythe House fireplace and windows;
4. Blythe House, Mason City, Iowa, USA. Photographs Adrienne Kabos 2014
|
|
|
|
Castlecrag Community Fair
The Castlecrag Progress Association’s (CPA) biennial fair is on again! Celebrating the CPA’s centenary this year, the fair “promises to be a once-in-a hundred years extravaganza”!
|
An exciting and engaging program of events and attractions is being planned, led by volunteer coordinator and local resident Lisa Andrews. The Walter Burley Griffin Society information stall will sell books and greeting cards, and the popular CPA book stall will be a feature.
|
|
Don’t miss out - mark this date in your diary!
|
|
|
Just a few of the stalls at the Castlecrag Community Fair 2023
|
|
|
|
Recent Events
Guided tours celebrating International Women’s Day 2025
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2025 four special guided tours of the Griffins’ Castlecrag were held with the Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) collaborating with the Walter Burley Griffin Society. The focus of the tours were three women architects - Marion Mahony Griffin, Eva Buhrich and Ruth Lucas. The tours booked out very quickly well prior to the tour date of 8 March.
|
|
Two houses were open for viewing as part of the tours. They were the Griffin designed Duncan house, the home of the new director of MHNSW Annette Pitman and her husband Michael, and also the “glass house” designed by Bill Lucas and architect wife Ruth Lucas.
|
|
|
TOP: Michael and Annette Pitman explaining the knitlock and sandstone construction of
the Duncan house completed in 1934.
|
|
ABOVE: Michael Pitman shows the restored kitchen cupboards and plate rack above the twin-bowl steel sink. Photographs Adrienne Kabos
|
|
|
The tours wound through some of the Griffin roads, walkways and reserves of Castlecrag, led by tour guides James Smallson and Adrienne Kabos from the Walter Burley Griffin Society. A highlight on the walk was the Cheong House with its modernist 1946 suntrap and laundry wing extension designed by Eva and Hugh Buhrich. Eva Buhrich also designed a bedroom extension for the Duncan house three years earlier in 1943.
|
The recently restored Lucas designed “glass house” was also visited with its all-glass external walls supported below by a steel framework touching the earth very lightly.
|
Following that the tour walked to the nearby Haven Amphitheatre situated in a bushland glen with Sydney Red Gums and tree ferns, conceived by Marion Mahony Griffin, and with Walter Burley Griffin overseeing construction, and local resident Bim Hilder undertaking the stonework to create the seating. The first performance was in September 1934 directed by Marion.
|
|
|
"Glass House" designed by Bill and Ruth Lucas, built in 1957 used modern engineering techniques, touching the earth lightly on a rugged site. Photographs Adrienne Kabos
|
|
|
|
Recent guided tours of the Griffin Conservation Area
February: As reported in Willoughby City Council’s GM’s update: “Staff from the library, planning, design, and infrastructure teams took part in a guided tour of Castlecrag, gaining a deeper appreciation for the suburb’s unique heritage and design. The tour was led by Adrienne Kabos from the Walter Burley Griffin Society, who shared insights into the distinctive planning principles used by Walter and Marion Griffin. Along the way, staff viewed Griffin-designed homes and stopped at the amphitheatre for morning tea …
Adrienne highlighted the subtle yet deliberate techniques that make Castlecrag such a special place – setbacks between houses, bushland walkways, open space pockets, the absence of fences, and carefully selected colours and materials that ensure homes blend into the landscape rather than dominate it. Preserving views to the harbour was also a key consideration in Griffin’s vision.
"The tour provided valuable insights into why Castlecrag is heritage-listed and the importance of planning controls in maintaining its character for future generations …”
|
March: Organised by Willoughby City Council’s Bushland Community Officer Emma Hayes and promoted on the Council’s website, twenty Willoughby residents joined this walk on 28 March 2025. Led by Adrienne Kabos, participants enjoyed learning about the architecture, reserves and walkways that make the Griffins’ Castlecrag so special.
|
|
May: To celebrate the National Trust’s Heritage Festival two tours of the Griffin Conservation Area were held on 4 May 2025. The first tour booked out quickly and so a second tour was organised. Landscape architect James Smallson took the first guided tour group followed by a group led by the Society’s Vice President Michael Thomson. The tours revealed how the Griffins created a unique neighbourhood that celebrated the beauty of the Australian bush. The participants were lucky enough to see not only the garden but also interior of the Felstead House.
|
|
|
|
One of the tour groups in Lookout Reserve learning about the many Griffin reserves and walkways from tour guide Michael Thomson. Photograph Adrienne Kabos
|
|
|
June: Members of the Expatriate Club enjoyed a special guided tour through Castlecrag led by the Society’s President Akky van Ogtrop, admiring and learning about the legacy of Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin. Held on 18 June, it was one of the club’s monthly outings, sharing friendship, culture, and connection in their adopted home of Sydney.
|
|
|
Tour participants from the Expatriate Club with tour guide Akky van Ogtrop at centre below the sculpture of Walter Burley Griffin at Castlecrag. Photograph courtesy Bep Kleiberg 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
News
Further delays to installation of the sculpture to honour
Marion Mahony Griffin at Castlecrag
|
In our February newsletter, we informed readers that Willoughby City Council had rescheduled the installation of the sculpture honouring Marion Mahony Griffin for April/May 2025, following the delay from the installation that had originally been planned for August 2024.
|
We regret to have to now inform members that the project has been delayed yet again.
|
The delays have been caused by two major factors. Firstly, due to the location being moved by Council from the planned parklet to the new adjacent site, a new geotechnical survey and also underground services survey were required to inform the revision of the engineering drawings for the plinth and footings of the sculpture.
|
Secondly, and compounding the delay, three Council staff members previously responsible for the project have recently left their roles. The absence of a clear handover had left the project without continuity, stalling progress at a critical stage, which has now been rectified.
|
On 24th June, two Society representatives met on site with Council’s newly appointed Curator and Visual Arts Coordinator. Following this, the Society wrote to the General Manager and the Mayor, noting that 30 June had been the end date agreed to by Council for the final installation of the sculpture.
|
In light of these delays, the Society's letter also has proposed that:
- a new completion date of 30 September 2025 is to be set by agreement;
- Council ensures funding for the installation is carried over into the 2025–2026 financial year;
- immediate steps are taken to prioritise the project which includes the required stone masonry, concrete plinth construction, and landscaping;
- Council recognises the frustration and hurt felt by donors, the sculptor, and Society members who collectively raised $70,000 to realise this long-overdue recognition of Marion Mahony Griffin’s contribution to Castlecrag and the broader Willoughby community;
- Council completes the project now without further delay.
|
Once the sculpture is installed, the Society looks forward to inviting all generous donors to an unveiling event.
|
|
|
|
Draft Heritage Strategy for NSW
While the New South Wales Government introduced heritage protection with the Heritage Act 1977, now in 2025 the draft of the first ever NSW Heritage Strategy has been released. The Draft Strategy is currently on public exhibition until 13 July.
The Society has submitted feedback on the draft document which you can find on the News webpage at www.griffinsociety.org
|
|
|
|
In brief, the Society has called for the Draft Strategy to be further developed and refined with clear tools to achieve the aim of protecting NSW heritage. The Draft Strategy as exhibited now identifies that “The NSW Government has committed to a 5-year target of delivering 377,000 new dwellings across the state by 2029 as part of its commitment to the National Housing Accord.” The way on how to balance heritage protection with the need for extensive urban renewal to provide more housing has not been clearly expressed in the document.
|
The Draft Strategy assures that state and local heritage items will continue to be protected. However as the Society points out in its submission, to create appropriate protection the neighbouring properties of the heritage items need to be zoned to prevent medium and high rise development, so that there is an appropriate and sympathetic buffer around the heritage items.
|
For example the single storey Griffin-designed Cameron House at 33 Marian Street, Killara designed by Walter Burley Griffin would be unacceptably impacted if a development of three stories or more was allowed to be built on any of its boundaries.
|
Also it is of great concern that Heritage Conservation Areas (HCA) are not mentioned in the Draft NSW Heritage Strategy. HCAs have been created in previous decades with significant council resources, extensive independent and professional expertise and thorough community engagement. They are a very important tool to conserving NSW heritage.
|
A heritage strategy for NSW needs to inform the urban renewal policy to ensure that new housing will be located in “the right places”. The right places should under no circumstances disregard the existing conservation areas, as may be interpreted by omitting HCAs from the Draft Strategy.
|
In addition, resources in the last decade have slowed to such an extent that now just a handful of buildings are assessed for heritage listing per year. This puts at risk the hundreds of heritage properties not yet listed due to the huge backlog in the assessment processing at the NSW Heritage Office.
|
The Government must deliver a more strategic approach and protection for our heritage with practical, feasible and well-funded actions.
|
The NSW government needs to invest in this. It needs to budget for a best practice approach that does justice to heritage, the state and its people. Given that $14 billion is spent by cultural and heritage visitors in NSW (as stated on page 3 of Draft Strategy) this should not be difficult to achieve.
|
It is of great concern that the draft strategy lacks tools for implementation of its vision and is a long way short of best practice. It is incomplete. It compromises all heritage items by not requiring a buffer zone around them, and it threatens all conservation areas by opening them up to unsympathetic development.
|
The Society objects to the Draft NSW Heritage Strategy in its current form, as its simplistic approach poses a threat to NSW’s heritage.
_____________________________________
The NSW Government is seeking feedback on this draft heritage strategy.
https://www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/nsw-heritage-strategy
The public exhibition period is open until 13 July via the Have Your Say website at haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/nsw-heritage-strategy.
Everyone is invited to provide feedback via the website, by filling out the survey, contributing an idea or making a written submission.
Following public exhibition, the strategy will be revised to incorporate feedback provided.
|
|
|
|
A century since the gazettal of Griffin’s plan for Canberra
2025 is the centenary of the gazettal of the Griffin street plan layout for Canberra. The Society thanks Brett Odgers for the article and its extensive research that was published in the Canberra Historical Journal, new series no 69, September 2012 titled “What happened to Griffin’s plan for Canberra in 1925?”
|
To commemorate this significant centenary, below is an edited version of that article updated by Brett Odgers in May 2025. Read the full article at https://www.griffinsociety.org/news/
|
|
The year 1925 was significant for Griffin’s plan. … Stanley Melbourne Bruce was Prime Minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929 and a constant supporter of the development of Canberra as a national cultural centre and exemplar of Australia’s aspirations, achievements and nationhood.
|
In 1921 Minister Groom had given clear directions to John Sulman’s Federal Capital Advisory Committee (FCAC) to work ‘on the basis of acceptance of the plan of the layout of the Federal Capital by Mr W.B. Griffin’. Yet even before their first formal meeting the FCAC members ‘departed from the Government’s direction’ by determining that aspects of Griffin’s Plan were too expensive and variations would be necessary. (1) They worked instead for the restoration of the infamous Board Plan of 1913, made significant changes to Griffin's design, abandoned his Market Centre, downgraded Constitution Avenue (Capital Terrace), continued to focus development in the 'Initial City' at Manuka/Kingston and initiated Garden City 'Australian cottages' suburban development - Sulman's 'picnics' rather than urban life - at odds with Griffin. (2)
|
… Groom was also determined that Griffin's Plan for the National Capital should be reaffirmed and safeguarded. (3) Groom was supported by Prime Minister Bruce … (4)
|
As Attorney General 1921-25 Groom pressed for a Washington model for the planning of Canberra, in two basic respects: firstly an independent, well resourced and powerful commission, …; secondly ,… he wanted statutory and procedural protection for the Griffin design for the National Capital. (5)
|
Thus the Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1924 established the Federal Capital Commission (FCC), which started operation on 1 January 1925, without any further reference to the FCAC, and enshrined the Griffin Plan by gazettal of 19 November 1925. Amendments to the Plan required submissions to the Minister and approval by both Houses of Parliament.
|
Walter Burley Griffin's era as Director of Planning and Construction had been terminated by the Government in 1920 when he returned full time to his practices in Melbourne and Sydney. …
|
The NCA's 2004 publication The Griffin Legacy: Canberra the Nation's Capital in the 21st Century assessed the sources of Griffin's Plan, its enduring elements and unrealised potential. … (7)
|
.... The Griffins' Canberra was, moreover, envisaged as an 'ideal city' exemplifying their command of organic architecture, a concept derived from progressive architects in Chicago, described aptly by Paul Reid as 'based on careful observation of nature, buildings should appear to grow easily from their site, but each part should conform to the pattern of the whole of a design'. (9)
|
… Griffin developed a unique synthesis of City Beautiful and Garden City elements. He provided a host of grand boulevards, from the central city to the periphery and terminal landscape features. The axial lines, principal avenues, urban densities and mixed land uses were designed to facilitate communication, accessibility, transport and connectedness. The civic aspects of his 'ideal city' extended to community cohesion and development. His suburban plans provided for safe spaces for children and housing affordability …
|
In 1918 Griffin produced his last comprehensive design…. A second version of his 1918 Plan emphasised the urban densities along the main avenues.
|
The finally gazetted Plan was authorised by Senator Pearce on 19 November 1925. It has of course the great merit of preserving the sustainable core framework of National Triangle, the Land and Water Axes and central avenues or boulevards, while allowing future flexibility. …
|
|
|
|
Photo of Pandora’s Box, Marion Mahony, watercolour and ink on paper, 506 x 890 mm
|
|
|
The 1925 gazetted plan has been amended, through the statutory procedures, 98 times over the years – Draft Amendments 99 (Molonglo New Town Centre) and 100 (Knowles Place/University Avenue/Courts Precinct) issued in 2024 are extant.
|
The Walter Burley Griffin Society has consulted and contested many of the Draft Amendments that have challenged the Griffin principles for Canberra, especially the NCA’s Griffin Legacy Amendments 56-61 (2004-2007) and also subsequent Development Proposals and Projects.
|
The submissions have always been written out of concern to get the best outcomes for the broad community, and have been in response to the rapid development of Canberra and the increasing power of private sector developers. …
|
… The 1925 gazetted National Capital Plan was a far cry from the 1912 Plan but Griffin remained the most prescient of his contemporary Canberra believers in seeing the potential for ultimate realisation of his vision and design framework. In spite of enormous changes during the Griffins' twenty years in Australia, it became apparent in due course that fundamental elements of their vision and Plan would survive … in part due to that modest inscription on the statute book. … [and] there remains significant and unrealised potential in Griffin’s winning Plan.
|
|
1. Peter Harrison, Walter Burley Griffin, Landscape Architect, Canberra, National Library of Australia, 1995.
2. Paul Reid, Canberra Following Griffin: a Design History of Australia's National Capital. Canberra. National Archives of Australia, 2002, chapters 7 and 8.
3. David Carment, 'Sir Littleton Groom - Forgotten Founder', Canberra Historical Journal, new series no.1, March 1978.
4. Jim Gibbney, Canberra 1913-1953, Canberra, AGPS 1988, p.74.
5. Charles Daley, As I Recall, Canberra, CDHS, 1994, p.52; C.S. Daley in Canberra - A Nation's Capital, H.L. White (ed.), Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1954; Alasdair McGregor, Grand Obsessions: the Life and Work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, Camberwell, Vic., Penguin Lantern, 2009, p. 343.
7. National Capital Authority, the Griffin Legacy - Canberra, the Nation's Capital in the 21st Century, Canberra, NCA, 2004.
9. Reid, p.43.
|
|
|
|
Walter Burley Griffin in Melbourne - A Guide
This is an extremely helpful guide, authored and self-published by Steven Barlow, listing buildings designed by Walter Burley Griffin, some of his employees and others (who are identified as “followers” by Donald Leslie Johnson in his Griffin biography), who all share Griffin and Prairie School influences.
|
The 26 page booklet has a two-and-a-half-page introduction with relevant notes on Griffin’s career in Melbourne, eight pages of coloured images, and a well-laid-out table with the buildings grouped by city regions, such as Central, West and North-East etc.
|
|
|
|
ABOVE: Cover and page 6 from "Walter Burley Griffin in Melbourne - A Guide" that is packed full of helpful information.
|
|
The table itemises the suburb, building name, address, architect and dates, comments, visibility (from the street) and the author’s star rating of the building’s significance and visual accessibility, ranging from 4 (the highest) down to a half star.
|
The booklet provides a concise but highly recommended guide, suitable for both Melbournites or visitors alike, that will reveal quite a few stunning buildings that could otherwise only be discovered by hours of individual research. Routes can then be planned via Google maps or similar navigation Apps.
|
The guide sells for $10 and is available, while stocks last, from the Heidelberg Historical Society (HHS), either by calling into the HHS Museum, corner of Jika Street and Park Lane, Heidelberg VIC 3084, on a Sunday, between 2pm and 5pm, or by emailing them at:
history@heidelberghistoricalsociety.com.au
|
There is a $4.60 postage and handling charge with eft payment via:
Account name: Heidelberg Historical Society Inc
Bank: Bendigo & Adelaide Bank Ltd
BSB: 633-000
Account number: 126561299
Transfer reference: (Your initial and surname)
Please note, as emphasised in the book, most of the listings are private homes, so visitors should only view from the footpath unless otherwise indicated. There are tips for accessing the public and commercial buildings.
Review by Michael Thomson
|
|
|
|
Marion and Walter Living Lab co-operative:
the North Arm Cove Initiative
|
For the past seven years Tatjana Djuric-Simovic and Dejan Simovic have led the North Arm Cove Initiative – an informal community group established via social media. The Initiative recognises the existing landowners' community whilst aiming to preserve and develop the historic subdivision on the shores of Port Stephens, at today’s North Arm Cove, originally planned by Walter Burley Griffin in 1918. The largest part of the planned settlement has been vacant land without dwelling entitlement since 1963, with only a narrow, waterfront area set aside for houses by local government.
|
In late 2024, the Initiative facilitated the establishment of the Marion and Walter Living Lab registered as a not-for-profit co-operative. The Living Lab will facilitate further work to advance building a sustainable community in North Arm Cove, following Marion and Walter's planning and design principles.
|
In recent years the Initiative has worked tirelessly to secure public recognition of Griffin's work on Port Stephens City (today's North Arm Cove). At the end of 2022, North Arm Cove was recognised as a Planning Priority in the Hunter Regional Plan 2041. In early 2024, this led to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure instructing MidCoast Council to rezone the area to C4 (Environmental Living) in their Local Environmental Plan (LEP), the same zoning that currently applies to Castlecrag, Sydney. Additionally, the LEP has a special local provision that identifies how this land, with original small urban lots, can accommodate requirements of 'low environmental impact' through the preparation of a detailed Development Control Plan (DCP).
|
The Living Lab will aim to facilitate the preparation of this DCP, based on the principles of circular economy, through community participation and collaboration between industry, research and community. The Living Lab's approach is based on a research paper by Dejan Simovic, ''City as a Living Lab - Alternative Town Planning Framework for Circular Economy", which was presented at the International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality (CONVR), hosted by Western Sydney University in November 2024. The framework aligns with the NSW State and Federal Governments' planning policies, but also, in large parts, with Marion and Walter's philosophy, principles and practical implementation evident in their numerous projects.
|
Walter's idea for a new planning framework was to give landowners key roles and responsibilities in the planning process, as expressed in his letter to Marion from his voyage to India:
“My objectives for New South Wales Town Planning Legislation especially empowering private owner groups to become Responsible Town Planning Authorities independent of and as a protection against demoralizing Municipal Councils”.
|
Further quotes from Marion's unpublished manuscript, The Magic of America, reveal that the essence of town planning as leading to environmental living was crucial in Marion and Walter's work:
“The Purpose of Town Planning is to get rid of dirt and noise. To do so restores Health and Sanity which calls for close contact with Nature”.
|
The Griffins also anticipated the concept of the circular nature of planning:
“The laws of planning can be derived only from all the finished plans and are always being varied as fresh plans are always being created”.
|
At the same time taking care of measuring the outcomes and basing planning on evidence:
“Any who are in doubt can study the results already obtained in comparison with the current practice on all grounds economic, social or aesthetic, to find the justification for the expectation”.
Their expectation was of a uniquely Australian planning approach:
“That idea is that it is absurd for Australians to keep following in the gouty footsteps of old John Bull or to ape Uncle Sam. They must think out a new civilization and begin to draw up the ground plan of the new institutions. The idea may be summed up in a phrase; Life is a fine art”.
|
That new 'civilization' the Griffins were contemplating, definitely included respect and recognition for indigenous knowledge and experiences:
“Contact with the ancient peoples should awaken us to the fact that they use a different kind of thinking from ourselves - an experience which, if we were open minded, would lead us on to the investigating and mastering of that kind of thinking, to take as much pains as we have taken in the mastery of rational thinking in these modern times.”
|
|
|
|
ABOVE: AI generated artwork created by using a ‘Midjourney’ platform and providing as an input a passage from Marion’s Magic of America (see the quote below)
|
|
|
It is right there, in Port Stephens, while working on the land subdivision, that Walter first encountered Aboriginal people and got familiar with these ancient traditions in stewardship of the land.
|
"When he (Walter) was up there he made the acquaintance of King Billy, an aboriginal who worked with the surveyors. Finding Griffin sympathetic King Billy talked freely with him and gave him much interesting information about the native plants. Through him Griffin learned how precise was their knowledge, for King Billy could identify at a distance even a dead tree. The aboriginals were interested, as Griffin was, in the character of the form rather than in the minute distinctions which the botanists as a whole center on which, in fact, gives them the ability to attach names but does not give them real knowledge of the plants they are listing".
|
Recent floods in the Hunter region provide further evidence of Walter's skills in selecting the suitable location for the new town to be the 'New York of Australia' or 'Port Stephens City'. The area of North Arm Cove has stayed out of major flooding and devastation while lot of the previous investment in the region's urban infrastructure was impacted.
|
|
|
|
ABOVE: NSW Flood Watch warning for Hunter Region, May 2025.
|
|
The approaching 150th anniversary of Walter's birth, in November 2026, represents an additional motivation and opportunity to recognise his extraordinary work in Australia. The Living Lab will endeavour to mark this anniversary by progressing further new development control plans for North Arm Cove. The plans, based mainly on the Griffins' urban living principles, aim to preserve Walter's subdivision pattern and create a socially conscious community. As described by Marion:
"Immediately surrounding Castlecrag are no less than three thousand inhabitants in a square mile in which there is neither church nor hall, school nor club nor lodge nor social consciousness of any sort.
|
"Yet in contrast here within this group of but a score or more homes there have been continuously living literary, sociological, dramatic, philosophic, musical, folk dancing or ballet, as well as social groups, tennis and golf clubs and kindergartens, all independently recruited and carried on independently giving scope to individual expression and activity other than as mere witness".
|
The Walter Burley Griffin Society supports the Living Lab’s approach and looks forward to the possibility of North Arm Cove being enhanced by the Griffins’ principles.
|
Dejan Simovic
Director, Marion and Walter Living Lab
|
|
|
|
Correction
News Update Issue 81, the feature article about Lucknow and W. B. Griffin was reprinted from Rhetorica Quarterly Vol 2, Summer 2021 (not 2012).
|
|
|
|
Feature
Stinson Memorial Library – “one of America’s greatest architectural treasures”
Described as “one of America’s greatest architectural treasures” by Prairie School scholar the late Professor Emeritus Paul E. Sprague (1) the Stinson Memorial Library was designed by Walter Burley Griffin, located in Anna, Illinois, USA, and completed in 1914.
Walter Burley Griffin began work on the design of the library in September 1912, less than four months after winning the international competition for the design of Australia’s National Capital.
|
Sprague declared “From the point of view of the aesthetic quality, originality of design, importance in the evolution of modern architecture, and uniqueness of plan, this small library at Anna has a significance for America vastly exceeding its modest physical dimensions”.
|
|
|
|
Stinson Memorial Library, Anna, Illinois, USA. Photograph Michael Thomson 2018.
|
|
|
Despite its relatively small size, the library has a monumental presence with its lower walls of large limestone blocks with jagged rough outer edges, randomly coursed that rise up from the ground and are capped with a slab-like form that contains stained glass clerestory windows.
|
As described by Professor Emeritus Paul Kruty, Griffin produced “a clear and functional plan … A striking difference between this design and previous libraries lay in the lighting of the library spaces on the entrance level. In place of the usual large openings cut into the lower walls, Griffin proposed a high clerestory – a band of upper windows – surrounding the whole building, which would light the entire space. Walls between rooms were to end just above head height, with huge sheets of plate glass continuing to the ceiling to separate the study and the librarian’s office from the public spaces”. (2)
|
Last year the Library celebrated its 110th anniversary. As the Director Sarah Watkins wrote in the WBGS of America’s The Griffin Newsletter Fall 2024 Vol 25. No.3 last year the Library began extensive restoration works funded by several grants and a generous donation. These enabled a major roof replacement, plaster repairs on the main floor, restoring exposed exterior rebar and cleaning the limestone exterior.
|
To guide the Library’s long-term preservation efforts, a Historic Structure Report is being prepared by an Illinois architectural firm White and Borgognini. As the Library’s director stated this report “will cover everything from structural assessments to lighting and painting analyses, and even historical landscaping research. With this roadmap, we’re ensuring that Stinson will stand proud and true for generations to come”. The report is partially funded through the Jeffris Family Foundation, whose mission is to help restore historic architecture.
|
|
In June 2025, Sarah Watkins told us that the report was about 80% complete. She said that “Suggestions from architectural professionals and direction of the Stinson board of Trustees has placed importance on keeping the integrity of the original design. What that means is that instead of updates or replacement, we look at restoration and preservation”. (3)
|
|
|
|
Stinson Memorial Library. Photographs Michael Thomson 2018.
|
|
(1) Paul Kruty. Walter Burley Griffin and the Stinson Memorial Library: Modernism comes to Main Street, Walter Burley Griffin Society of America, 2010: p. viii.
(2) Paul Kruty. p.11
(3) Sarah Watkins email to A.Kabos dated 4 June 2025
|
|
|
|
Two incinerators at Newcastle, one designed by Walter Burley Griffin
Newcastle was home to two incinerators for municipal garbage from the 1930s onwards. From the early 1900s, bubonic plague, typhoid, gastro, cholera and other epidemics swept through Australia’s major cities. Since the source of these diseases was thought to be vermin such as rats and flies around the garbage dumps, health authorities in all states recommended that Councils should stop open dumping of garbage, and to render it safe by incineration.
|
The bulk of incinerators first installed in the larger cities were fashioned from Industrial Revolution era coal-fired boiler systems, then used extensively in factories, coal mines, smelters etc to generate steam to drive the machinery, workshops etc needed for these industries.
|
Instead of wood or coal as the fuel, the heating value of the garbage was used to fire the boilers and render the garbage safe, as an inert ash/cinder which could be used as a clean fill in swamps, sporting grounds, parks etc.
|
|
|
|
LEFT: Official unlocking the Waratah Incinerator door, Waratah, NSW. National Library of Australia, Eric Milton Nicholls Collection. ABOVE: Waratah incinerator, designed by W. B. Griffin at the official opening, 1 August 1931. National Library of Australia, Eric Milton Nicholls Collection.
|
|
|
The two RIECo incinerators built in Newcastle were radically different to the boiler-style incinerators. Invented by a duo of Melbourne Sanitation Engineers in the late 1920s, they removed the boiler system and replaced it with a shell-and-tube heat exchanger, which used the residual heat of the flue gases from the reverberatory furnace incinerator recycling the heat by transferring it to the incoming air which dried out and then burnt the garbage travelling slowly down inclined grates.
|
Successful installations in Melbourne and Sydney suburbs produced a flood of inquiries from other Councils for proposals for installations in their communities. To cope with this work, a new company (RIECo) was set up, with a sound footing of engineering /operating / management and design talents. The design talents were supplied by the Griffin studios in Melbourne and Sydney, employing the remarkable talents of Walter Burley Griffin, Eric Nicholls and Marion Mahony Griffin.
|
|
|
|
Hamilton Incinerator, designed by F. A. Scorer, viewed from the air, probably about 1940. University of Newcastle, Cultural Collection.
|
|
On 28 July at Delprat Cottage, Newcastle, Jim Happ will talk about the history of the introduction of incinerators at Waratah (designed by Walter Burley Griffin) and Hamilton, (designed by the City Architect, but using RIECo furnaces) in the 1930s; how they were built, how they performed, and their eventual fate. Finishing off, he will talk about the new generation of garbage incinerators gaining favour, as Councils run out of land for garbage dumps and become more concerned about environmental impacts of garbage disposal.
Jim’s background is in Metallurgical Engineering. After graduating from the University of Newcastle, he worked mainly in smelter development at Mount Isa, Port Pirie, Kalgoorlie, Olympic Dam and overseas smelters.
Jim Happ
You can read further information about the RIECo incinerators designed by Griffin and Nicholls at https://www.griffinsociety.org/australia-incinerators/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vales
Vale Andrew Kirk 1942 – 2025
|
|
|
Andrew Kirk at the book launch of 'Visionairies in Suburbia'. Photograph Bob McKillop 2015
|
|
Remembered by the President, Walter Burley Griffin Society:
It is with deep respect and affection that we remember Andrew Kirk, a long-standing member, past Chair, and treasured friend of the Walter Burley Griffin Society.
Andrew joined the Society in the mid-1990s and quickly became an active committee member, later serving as Treasurer and then President from 2002 to 2004. During his term, Andrew brought energy, clarity, and a collaborative spirit that strengthened the Society in lasting ways. He initiated our first strategic review, and helped shape our communications.
|
Andrew’s dedication to Griffin’s vision was most beautifully realised in his meticulous restoration of the Fishwick House in Castlecrag. This extraordinary home, designed by Griffin, became a labour of love for Andrew, his wife Sue and his family. “The house is full of these magical things,” he once said—and he was right. Thanks to their care, the house became both a private sanctuary and a source of public fascination. We remember fondly the times Andrew and Sue so generously opened their home for numerous fundraising events. Curious visitors often arrived unannounced, drawn by the house’s unique charm. In true Kirk fashion, they responded graciously—creating a detailed website and even placing a QR code on their letterbox to share the story more widely. In 2000, the Fishwick House was honoured with a Willoughby City Heritage Award, presented by Mrs Hazel Hawke—fitting recognition of Andrew’s exceptional stewardship.
|
Beyond the Society, Andrew gave generously to the Castlecrag community, particularly during the 1980s and ’90s, when local environmental and heritage issues were at the forefront. He was a strong advocate for protecting the character of the Griffin Conservation Area, and he took his passion further afield by helping establish the Society’s Canberra Chapter.
|
Andrew will be remembered not only for his commitment to Griffin’s legacy but for the warmth, generosity, and quiet determination he brought to everything he did. His work lives on in the places he helped preserve and the community he helped build.
His passion and commitment will always be remembered.
___________________________________
Andrew remembered by his wife Sue Kirk:
Andrew was raised in Northbridge, a stone’s throw from Castlecrag where he would spend more than half his life in one of Griffin’s houses, the 1929 Fishwick house. We lived there for 47 years, raising our two children, Stuart and Fiona.
|
Andrew attended North Sydney Boys High School and gained an Economics degree at Sydney University. The day after our marriage in 1965 we headed for the USA where Andrew completed an MBA at the University of Chicago.
|
It was at this institution that he first became interested in architecture as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House was part of the campus. Chicago itself has a rich architectural history which stirred our curiosity about modern architecture and the Prairie School architects. We also learnt of the Griffins’ time in that city. An omen of things to come?
Returning to Australia in 1972 we lived in a cottage in Neutral Bay until a very small real estate ad caught our attention. The Fishwick house was for sale by Nancy Deans, the widow of Rawson, the younger brother of Edgar Deans who was employed by Griffin as company secretary of the GSDA.
|
Andrew wanted to have a 'sticky beak' at the house, given what he had learned in Chicago. To his surprise he recognised Nancy as his French teacher from high school. The stars were aligning.
|
We moved in in 1976 and the priorities were to make the house suitable for a young family and to attack the very many leaks that needed lots of buckets and beach towels to be handy. Of course, in owning a Griffin house, we soon learnt that having at least one unsolvable leak problem was part of the deal. There were then no thoughts of the heritage importance of the house or its restoration.
|
Our family moved to Singapore in the late 1980s and then on to London. The house was rented during that period. On our return in 1996 we decided a complete restoration was needed to preserve the house for the future. This was a pivotal moment as it brought Griffin’s visionary design into sharp relief. The meticulous process addressed critical structural issues such as failing waterproofing and outdated services while preserving the house’s architectural integrity. Innovative features were very carefully considered to balance practicality with historical authenticity.
|
The restoration extended beyond the building itself and included the regeneration of the native garden and surrounding bushland to align with Griffin’s philosophy of harmonising architecture with nature.
|
Andrew was very proud of the award-winning restoration which took about two years to complete. The house received significant attention from architectural professionals, heritage bodies and the media, positioning the Fishwick house as a celebrated example of early 20 th century residential design. Its unique features and the quality of the restoration have been extensively documented, contributing to its recognition as a landmark of modern architecture in Australia.
|
Andrew loved the house and was meticulous in everything he did to it. He kept a record of all the work done over 47 years called the “Yellow Book” which was passed on to the new owners in 2023.
|
He was very pleased that he had achieved his goal of ensuring that the Fishwick house is now regarded as one of the most important houses in Australia. This house is Andrew’s legacy.
|
|
|
|
Vale Dee Street (Dianne Horsley) 1933 – 2025
|
|
|
Dee Street. Photograph courtesy Adrienne Kabos 2023
|
|
|
Dee Street is remembered fondly for her passionate and feisty advocacy for Castlecrag working with, and sometimes against, the authorities in order to get the best possible result for Castlecrag, its Griffin legacy and its residents.
|
Dee and her husband John Street built a house in The Barbican, Castlecrag and moved there in 1958 where they raised their three children. She described Castlecrag at that time as “a very neglected bush suburb”, explaining that the Griffin road islands, the outdoor Haven amphitheatre and the bushland tracks and walkways down to the harbour, were lost, overgrown or used as rubbish dumps!! The street trees growing close under the power lines were, in Dee’s words, “regularly brutally hacked by the electricity authority”.
|
So Dee became very active in the community, working to get the Griffin legacy appreciated and admired. She was involved in the Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Fountain Committee formed to raise money to build a fountain to commemorate Walter Burley Griffin, designed by Bim Hilder and unveiled in 1965.
|
In the early 1970s the Griffin-designed Willoughby Incinerator was threatened with demolition. In 1975 to bolster support for the retention and restoration of the building, Alderman John Crew with a group of residents and prominent architects established the Walter Burley Griffin Trust (NSW) with architect David Don Turner as its Chairman, and Dee Street as its Treasurer. They commissioned an engineer’s report which supported the view that the building was not in imminent danger of collapse, agitated the NSW Government for heritage listing and launched a funding appeal.
|
|
In early 1977 the Australian Heritage Commission gave notice that the incinerator would be placed on the Register of the National Estate, and two years later the NSW Heritage Council provided a $100,000 loan towards the restoration work.
|
In Dee’s words “an unexpected invitation came from the Australian American Association” to open Castlecrag to the pubic in conjunction with their Bicentenary in 1976, to highlight Walter and Marion Griffin’s work and celebrate the centenary of Walter Burley Griffin’s birth. The “Castlecrag Heritage Festival” opened on 3 April 1976 and ran across two weekends, with six Griffin houses open to the public.
|
In September 1977 Dee was elected an alderman for Willoughby Council’s Middle Harbour Ward. “As an energetic supporter of heritage issues, Alderman Street was appointed as council’s coordinator of the incinerator restoration project. By August 1980, 23 tradesmen were putting finishing touches to the restored building…” ( Managing Our Waste: An environmental history of Flat Rock Creek and the Willoughby Incinerator 1900 – 2011 by Robert F McKillop).
|
As Alderman (1977 – 1980), she fought for a better development of 100 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag (The Quadrangle site, that at the time had two petrol stations and a real estate agent Jim White’s small office on the land), than what had been approved by WCC under delegated authority. She took her own Council to the Local Government Appeals Tribunal in early 1978, winning significant improvements but at great personal cost and expense.
|
In the early eighties, Dee was instrumental in having the Neighbourhood Watch scheme set up at Castlecrag, as it was being introduced around New South Wales.
|
In 1981, Dee stood in the NSW Parliament elections for the seat of Balmain. She was an unknown Liberal candidate but had the strong support of Carla Zampatti, who Dee reported gave her inspiration and courage to take on many controversial issues in the Party.
|
In 2001 Dee gave the Society a collection of wonderful documents and materials, an invaluable historical resource that helped the Society in its research to put together a history of the Castlecrag community’s appreciation of the legacy of the Griffins, including a copy of the 1920s promotional film Beautiful Middle Harbour produced by GSDA (which has since been given to the National Library of Australia), accompanying letters about it from Edgar Deans and also the program from the 1976 festival.
|
Even into her nineties and fighting cancer, Dee’s passion for Castlecrag and the Griffin legacy remained unabated. She wrote letters to the NSW Premier and WCC Mayor and addressed a large CPA meeting, advocating with characteristic vigour and passion for high quality development at The Quadrangle, urging that residents “should not settle for second best!!”.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Membership renewal for 2025 / 2026 is due in July 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Postal address
c/- 140 Edinburgh Road
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
