Category: Events

Saturday 4 May 2024

Morning tour: 10am to 12.30pm
Afternoon tour: 2pm to 4.30pm

Take a guided walk in the Griffins’ Castlecrag and visit the interiors of two beautifully restored homes designed by Walter Burley Griffin.

Both houses have fascinating and innovative architectural features.

The Felstead House built in 1924 has a central open courtyard, now an atrium, and is built of knitlock, an interlocking building tile developed by Griffin.

The Duncan House, as seen on ABC TV’s ‘Restoration Australia’ last year, has an unusual design combining sandstone corner piers with French doors and knitlock.

On the guided walk between the two houses discover this unique Middle Harbour peninsula and its distinctive walkway and reserve network where the guiding Griffin principle was for the buildings to be subordinate to the landscape.

All proceeds from the event will go towards the sculpture to honour Marion Mahony Griffin, to be installed at Castlecrag later this year. Designed by artist Sandra Pitkin, the sculpture has been commissioned by the Walter Burley Griffin Society.

Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring water.

Adults $80, Members $65

Tickets are strictly limited and essential for this special event. Book at Trybooking
https://www.trybooking.com/CPKCI

Note: Nearby on the same day, the Castlecrag Progress Association will be screening a short film The Paradise Plan which explores connections between Canberra and Castlecrag told through the gigante puppets of Walter and Marion. See National Trust Heritage Festival event The Paradise Plan, Castlecrag to book free tickets. The screenings will be at 12.30pm, 1.30pm and 4.45pm.

Castlecrag has two cafes: Ganache Patisserie Francaise and Walter Providore. The Incinerator Cafe at Willoughby is 2km away in a building designed by Walter Burley Griffin.

Sunday 13 August 2023
Time 10.30am to 11.30am

We are delighted to announce that Professor Anthony Burke, the presenter of “Restoration Australia” will give a talk on his discovery of Castlecrag and the Duncan House, and how he sees the Griffins’ work relate to Australian architecture, and behind the scenes stories of the filming of the Duncan House. 

Anthony Burke is Professor of Architecture and Course Director for the Master of Architecture in the Faculty of Design Architecture and Building at the University of Technology Sydney. He has been host and presenter of the ABC TV’s “Restoration Australia” since 2019.

Tickets are strictly limited and essential for this special event at the Marion Mahony Griffin Hall, Glenaeon Infants School, Castlecrag.

Adults $40, Members $30

Book at Trybooking

https://www.trybooking.com/1088873

Also on Sunday 13 August 2023

Special viewing of the Duncan House’s interiors and garden.

Designed by Walter Burley Griffin and built in 1934 with a unique combination of knitlock and sandstone corner piers this minimalist house was testament to the Griffin’s design philosophy of subordinating buildings in the landscape. As documented on ABC TV’s “Restoration Australia”, the Duncan House has been sensitively restored and the large 1990s addition transformed to be more sympathetic to the original Griffin house. Shoes will need to be removed before entering the house.

Landscape architect James Smallson will lead the 20 minute walk down to the Duncan House through a couple of reserves in this model suburb developed by the Griffins in 1921. Please wear sensible walking shoes suited to walking on uneven steps and dirt walkway.

Choose one of two guided walks to the Duncan House and then a special viewing of its interiors and garden.
1st tour time: 11.45am to 1.15pm
2nd tour time: 1.45pm to 3.15pm

Adults $50, Members $40

Tickets are strictly limited and essential for this special event. Book at Trybooking
https://www.trybooking.com/1088947

Note: People wishing to do both the talk at the hall in the morning, and one of these open house tours may wish to have lunch at Castlecrag café Walter Providore or at The Incinerator café, Small Street, Willoughby.

Museum of Sydney, Bridge Street, Sydney

To celebrate Marion Mahony’s sesquicentenary and the centenary of the Griffins’ Castlecrag, guest speaker Dr Anne Watson will give a talk titled

‘What made Marion’s Hair Stand on End?’ An exploration of Marion Mahony Griffin’s pioneering role as an environmentalist and urban planning advocate in Australia through her art, architecture and writing.

Tickets $30 and include FREE entry to the museum and Paradise on Earth exhibition. Tickets for members $20 and students $5. Bookings essential as seats at half capacity for covid social distancing
https://www.trybooking.com/BNFTF

Speaker Dr Anne Watson is curator of Paradise on Earth (Museum of Sydney, November 2020-April 2021) celebrating the sesquicentenary of Marion Mahony Griffin’s birth. Dr Watson has had a long association with the Griffins including as curator/editor of the 1998 Powerhouse Museum exhibition/catalogue Beyond Architecture: Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin in America, Australia and India, editor of Visionaries in Suburbia: Griffin Houses in the Sydney Landscape (2015). She has also written and lectured extensively on the history of the Sydney Opera House including as author of The Poisoned Chalice: Peter Hall and the Sydney Opera House (2017) based on her 2014 PhD thesis.

Celebrate the centenary of the Griffins’ Castlecrag and immerse yourself in its unique heritage. This is a rare opportunity to see the interiors, special design features and gardens of some of the Griffin designed houses built in the 1920s and early 30s in their “ideal suburb” that they created at Castlecrag.

There will be tickets to visit 4 houses or 2 houses. Tickets are strictly limited and will go on sale in March. Covid safe rules will apply.

All profits from the open house day will go towards funding an exciting contemporary sculpture to honour Marion Mahony Griffin (1871–1961) in her sesquicentenary, by a prominent artist that the Walter Burley Griffin Society is commissioning. The sculpture will take pride of place in a new community park being created by Willoughby City Council at Castlecrag village which is planned to be opened in late 2021.

2.00pm to 3.30pm History House auditorium, 133 Macquarie Street, Sydney

American architects, Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin had a dream of creating an “ideal suburb” in Sydney. They founded Castlecrag in the twenties and created a very different community from any other in Australia with their vision for community, their love of children, music and dance and their passion for the environment. They left in the thirties but their ideals meant the suburb continued to attract a unique group of people.

To celebrate History Week and its 2017 theme of ‘Australian popular culture’, the Walter Burley Griffin Society is organising a panel of former residents to discuss living in Castlecrag in the early years of the Griffin-inspired community, covering aspects such as entertainment, fashion, the motor car and public transport, play and toys. To accompany the discussion there will also be a slide show of photographs taken by Hermann Junge during the 1920s and 30s and further photographs from the 40s and 50s.

When: Sunday 10 September, 2.00pm to 3.30pm
Afternoon tea will be served afterwards in History House’s grand Victorian reception rooms.
Cost: Adults $20; Concession and Members (Walter Burley Griffin Society) $15; Child $0
Limited spaces, bookings essential
www.trybooking.com/QVRX

Further information: info@griffinsociety.org

10.00am to 12.30pm

To celebrate the Australian Heritage Festival and its 2017 theme of ‘Having a Voice’, the Walter Burley Griffin Society is organising a guided walk at Castlecrag.

The internationally renowned suburb of Castlecrag was designed by Walter Burley Griffin in the 1920s as a residential community inspired by the ecological and aesthetic qualities of the landscape of Middle Harbour and its foreshores.

You are invited to take a guided tour past Griffin houses and through some of the reserves and walkways at Castlecrag and hear, in Griffin’s own words, the special qualities and aspects he implemented at Castlecrag.

Please bring hat, walking shoes and water.

Cost: Adult $20; Concession/Student $15; Child $0
Member (Walter Burley Griffin Society and National Trust) $15

Bookings essential at
https://www.trybooking.com/OMYW

Further information: phone 02 9958 4516 or email info@griffinsociety.org

Meeting place for the walk – nature strip outside 136 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag.

National Archives of Australia – Queen Victoria Terrace, Canberra

The Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc. invites you to the 7th Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture.

The guest speaker Peggy Bang, visiting retired Visual Arts Professor from the USA will give an illustrated talk entitled The Melson House Revealed: An Owner’s Perspective which will detail the history of this highly significant and unusual house designed by Griffin and built in Mason City, USA in 1912.

Peggy served as president of Wright on the Park Inc and was instrumental in saving and restoring Frank Lloyd Wright’s Park Inn Hotel and Wright’s Stockman House in Mason City, Iowa. She and her husband Roger, businessman and former Mayor, own the historic Melson House in Mason City. Copies of her richly illustrated book about the Melson House will be available for sale on the night.

Cost: Adult $10; Members $5; Student/Concession $5
Bookings essential
Tickets: www.eventbrite.com

The talk will follow a specially designed coach tour of Griffin related sites in Canberra. The tour details will be finalised shortly. If you would like to take part, please contact info@griffinsociety.org

PARKING: The Main Entrance doors are not open after 5pm. There are two areas available for parking. There is an entry to a large carpark on the old Parliament House side of the NAA, off Queen Victoria Terrace. From that place there are some stairs down to the midway doors of the building. The other parking place is also off QVTerrace, but nearer Kings Ave, with a street level entrance midway along the building.

To celebrate the National Trust’s Heritage Festival and its 2016 theme of ‘Discovery and Rediscovery’, the Walter Burley Griffin Society is organising two events on 16 April.

1. Rediscovering the Griffins’ Castlecrag – guided walk Saturday 16 April 2016, 10.00am – 12.30pm

The internationally renowned suburb of Castlecrag was designed by Walter Burley Griffin in the 1920s as a residential community inspired by the ecological and aesthetic qualities of the landscape of Middle Harbour and its foreshores.

You are invited to take a guided tour past Griffin houses and through some of the reserves and walkways at Castlecrag and learn about their history and the special community that the Griffins fostered at Castlecrag.

Please bring hat, walking shoes and water.
Meet at 136 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag.
Cost: Adults $20; Children $10; Family $50; Concession $15
Members (Walter Burley Griffin Society and National Trust) $15
Come to this event and the Castlecrag talk in the afternoon to enjoy a $5 discount (Castlecrag has many cafés to enjoy lunch between the two events).
Bookings essential: www.trybooking.com/JZGG
Further information: info@griffinsociety.org

2. Rediscovering the Griffins’ Castlecrag: the people and places in the 1930s and 40s – Saturday 16 April 2016, 2.30pm – 4pm

A panel of former residents will discuss living in Castlecrag in the early years of the Griffin-inspired community, covering aspects including how the community evolved, children’s play, the landscape, memorable personalities, stories about the Griffins, knitlock, public transport; cars, houses, shops, army camps, street tree plantings. To accompany the discussion there will also be a slide show of photographs from the 1920s and 30s from a recently-discovered collection. Light refreshments provided.

Where: Marion Mahony Griffin Hall, Glenaeon Infants School
121 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag
Cost: Adults $20; Children $10; Family $50; Concession $15
Members (Walter Burley Griffin Society and National Trust) $15
Come to this event and also to the walk in the morning to enjoy a $5 discount
Bookings essential: www.trybooking.com/JZGG
Further information: info@griffinsociety.org

National Archives of Australia, Parkes Terrace, Canberra

The Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc invites you to the sixth Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture.

The guest speaker Dr Jennifer McFarlane will give an illustrated talk titled: A profession worked along (unorthodox) spiritual lines – Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin.
Brett Odgers of the Canberra Chapter of the Society will introduce the evening and speak briefly about recent planning changes and proposals for central Canberra.

Trevor Lee, Canberra architect and Griffin scholar, will also speak briefly on his Recent Finds: Marion Mahony Griffin’s personal esoteric library in Chicago.

Tickets: WBGS Members $5; Non-members $10; Students $5

Bookings for this event can be made through:
http://www.eventbrite.com

MMG Lecture 2015 preliminary talk by Trevor Lee. The assistance and co-operation of the Anthroposophical Society in Chiago and Sydney in this research is much appreciated.
Recent finds of MMG esoteric library 2015 presentation.

MMG Lecture 2015 by Dr Jennifer McFarlane

The Walter Burley Griffin Society’s new book Visionaries in Suburbia: Griffin Houses in the Sydney Landscape was launched on 17 September at the Art Space in Willoughby Incinerator, Sydney designed by Walter Burley Griffin and his partner Eric Nicholls in 1933 and recently restored by Willoughby City Council.

After more than three years of research, writing, sourcing images, designing, editing and publishing, we celebrated the launch with well over 100 members and guests. Mayor of Willoughby City, Cr Gail Giles-Gidney and heritage planner Sheridan Burke gave guest speeches and the Society’s Patron John McInerney, former deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney, officiated as MC.

Also present were the newly elected Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Cr Cheryl Szatow, and the former mayor Cr Jennifer Anderson, now the Chair of Ku-ring-gai Council’s Heritage Reference Committee. Attendees from Willoughby City Council included Cr Judith Rutherford and Cr Lynne Saville, Chair of the Willoughby Heritage Advisory Committee.

In her speech Mayor Gail stated that the book “celebrates and documents the unique legacy left to us by Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin, who worked hard to preserve the natural landscape, cultivate sustainable living and create a cohesive community … As a resident of Castlecrag, I am honoured to be able to experience this astounding legacy every day – from the physical environment of the incredible buildings, streetscapes, landscapes, reserves and walkways, to the great sense of community that Castlecrag fosters. The Walter Burley Griffin Society is a local community group that has grown from this ethos and their production of Visionaries in Suburbia is a monumental accomplishment – connecting us to our past and creating an understanding and appreciation of the roots of the Castlecrag community”.

The Society is most grateful to its many generous sponsors (listed in the front of the book) who made possible the task of printing a high quality book in Australia and retailing the book at a reasonable price, without having to compromise content, quality or price.

Heritage planner and guest speaker Sheridan Burke’s speech.

RRP: $59.95 available in good bookstores around Australia and online at: http://www.manic.com.au

10.00am to 3.00pm Castlecrag Shopping Village, Edinburgh Road and The Postern

The Walter Burley Griffin Society will once again have a stall at the biennial fair organised by the Castlecrag Progress Association.

The Society will have on display some knitlock tiles, a concrete building block developed by Walter Burley Griffin and David Charles Jenkins, patented in 1917. The segmental building system was used to build several Griffin designed houses in Castlecrag and a number in Melbourne.

A new book about the fascinating Melson house, designed by Griffin at Rock Crest Rock Glen, Mason City, Iowa, USA, will be for sale. It is titled The Melson House Revealed: An Owner’s Perspective and is by Peggy Bang. Also for sale will be greeting cards with two of Marion Mahony Griffin’s magnificent forest portraits.

10.30am to 1.00pm

A guided walking tour through some of the reserves and walkways at Castlecrag created by the Griffins based on their environmental and community ideals.
The internationally renowned suburb of Castlecrag was designed by Walter Burley Griffin in the 1920s as a residential community inspired by the ecological and aesthetic qualities of the landscape of Middle Harbour and its foreshores.

Learn about some of the creative forces Walter and Marion Mahony Griffin brought to their work at Castlecrag and the environmental ideals and community life they fostered here.

Please bring hat, walking shoes and water.

Cost: Adults $20; Children $10; Family $50; Concession $15
Walter Burley Griffin Society members and National Trust members $15
Bookings essential: info@griffinsociety.org or phone Kerry on 02 9958 4516
specific address given on booking.

The Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc. cordially invites you to its twenty sixth Annual General Meeting Sunday 19 October 2014 at 2.00pm at Greenwich Community Hall, 46–50 Greenwich Road, Greenwich, Sydney, Australia in the centenary year of when the Griffins arrived in Australia and first settled in Greenwich.

Light refreshments will be served, followed at 3.30pm by guest speaker Adrienne Kabos

‘Protecting the Griffin legacy in Australia and at Rock Crest/Rock Glen, USA’

On the centenary of Walter Burley Griffin’s arrival in Australia, the Walter Burley Griffin Society is celebrating the Griffins’ Canberra as part of the Canberra 100 program of events.
Join us to celebrate in the following events:

Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture 2013
The Magic of Australia
Thursday 15 August 2013, 6.00pm

The Shine Dome, Australian Academy of Science
Gordon Street, Canberra

The Walter Burley Griffin Society invites you to the fifth annual Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture to be given by architect Caroline Pidcock.

Program and biography

Proudly supported by the ACT Government Community Centenary Initiatives Fund.
Tickets: WBGS Members $20 (earlybird bookings $15 until 30 June);
Non-members $25; Students $10
Bookings essential: http://www.trybooking.com/CHPJ

Professor James Weirick will give this guided tour which will include looking at the Griffins’ land and water axes, their plans for a railway line and central station, urban centres and suburban ideals.

Tickets: WBGS members $35, non-members $45
Bookings essential: http://www.trybooking.com/CHSW

12.45pm – 4.30pm – The Shine Dome, Australian Academy of Science – Gordon Street, Canberra

Join three leading international experts on the Griffins as they talk about the influences and ideals that underpin the Griffin design for Canberra, and its international significance.

Professor Emeritus Paul Kruty
Professor Emeritus of Architectural History at the University of Illinois, USA
Walter Burley Griffin’s Ideas about Architecture, Landscape and Planning, 1901–1913

Professor James Weirick
Director of the Master of Urban Development and Design Course, Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales
100th anniversary of Walter Burley Griffin – Griffin and Canberra

Professor Dr. Karl Fischer
Acting director of the Master of Urban Development and Design Course, Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales; University of Kassel, Germany (2009 – 2012)
The Urbanism of the Griffin Plan – a 21st century international perspective

Program and biographies
Proudly supported by an Australian Government Your Community Heritage Grant.
Tickets: WBGS Members $75 (earlybird bookings $65 until 30 June);
Non-members $85; Students $30
Bookings essential: http://www.trybooking.com/CHQR

Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia, Canberra

The Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc invites you to the fourth annual Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture.

In the centenary year of the Griffins’ winning design for Canberra, join conservation planner Sheridan Burke as she reflects on Canberra in relation to recent listings of modern heritage places through the World Heritage Convention.

Sheridan’s commitment to the Griffins includes curating and conserving their first Castlecrag house for the Historic Houses Trust of NSW, and preparing the Heritage Assessment and Conservation Plan for Lake Burley Griffin for the National Capital Authority. She leads the Canberra office of heritage consultants Godden Mackay Logan and is the President of the International Council of Monuments and Sites Twentieth Century Heritage Scientific Committee, adviser to UNESCO.

Tickets: $20.00 (WBGS or NMA Members); $25.00 (Non-members)
Seating limited. Bookings essential: http://www.trybooking.com/BMNQ
Enquiries email info@griffinsociety.org

Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, Sydney

After a long gestation David van Zanten’s Marion Mahony Reconsidered is out. Authors include Americans David van Zanten, Alice Friedman and Paul Kruty, and Sydney academics James Weirick (UNSW) and Anna Rubbo (University of Sydney).

According to the book cover, “the essays take us on an ambitious journey from Mahony’s origins in the Chicago suburbs, through her years as Wright’s right-hand woman and her bohemian life with her husband here (US) and in Australia – whose new capital city, Canberra, she helped to plan – up until her golden years in the middle of the 20th century”.

Anticipating the lead up to Canberra’s 1913 centenary, Marion Mahony Reconsidered provides new insights into the co-designer of Canberra. The Sydney launch at Gleebooks will be hosted by the Walter Burley Griffin Society. Professor Alec Tzannes, Dean of the Faculty of the Built Environment at UNSW, will lead a conversation with James Weirick and Anna Rubbo.

Marion Mahony Reconsidered, David Van Zanten (ed.), Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011, 176pp.

There are two walk times: 10.00am and 10.45am

As part of the National Trust Heritage Festival 2011 and its theme of “Amazing Stories”, the Society will take two guided tours of the Griffins’ Castlecrag. They will go past Griffin houses and through walkways and reserves. Hear how the Griffins planned the ideal suburb where dwellings were subordinate to the landscape and the Middle Harbour foreshore was dedicated to the community.
Wear walking shoes, hat and bring water. Duration approx 2 hours.

Bookings essential: tel 9958 4516
info@griffinsociety.org
Cost: $10 WBGS members; $15 non-members. Meeting place provided on purchase of ticket.

The festival aims to celebrate the centenary of the creation of the ACT and of the designs of Canberra by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony (and the 50th anniversary of Marion’s death). The design of the city will be explored by performing concerts at the key nexus points with a strong program focus on groundbreaking American works.

A full and varied program of 34 concerts will be performed
over the two week period.

Further information: www.cimf.org.au
Bookings: www.canberraticketing.com.au
or (02) 6275 2700.

Canberra Business Event Centre, Regatta Point, Commonwealth Park, Canberra

The Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc invites you to the third annual Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture – a talk by Rosemarie Willett, B.Arch. M.B.Env.

Rosemarie’s presentation will engage with Marion as a person, architect and outstanding communicator of architectural ideas. A registered architect in Sydney, Rosemarie came to Canberra in 1983 to work on Parliament House for Mitchell Giurgola and Thorp. In undertaking extensive research on the planning of Canberra, she resurrected her dormant passion for the Griffins’ creative abilities and their connection with the ideas of Louis Sullivan.

Tickets: Members $10; Non-members $15 (seats limited, booking payments essential)
RSVP: 4 April. Enquiries phone 0416 249 002 or email WBGSinfo@gmail.com
Please send cheque or money order to The Treasurer, WBGS, 50 Gollan Street, Evatt ACT 2617

The Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture is an initiative of the Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc and organised by the Society’s Canberra Chapter with the support of the ACT Government. The lecture is part of the Canberra and Region Heritage Festival 2011 and is sponsored by the Canberra100 Taskforce.

34 Adderton Road, Telopea

Designed by Walter Burley Griffin and built in 1935, the Winter House is one of the most significant 20th century houses in western Sydney. This is the last opportunity to view the house before it is sold. The Walter Burley Griffin Society is grateful to the Winter family for kindly allowing it to have this event in the beautiful garden of their home.

‘High tea’ will be served in the garden, and you are invited to view the interior of the house with its carefully-conserved original interiors, finishes and details.

Cost: $20 WBGS members; $30 non-members.
Pay cash or cheque on the day.
RSVP for catering purposes to info@griffinsociety.org

The Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc. cordially invites you to its twenty second Annual General Meeting

Sunday 31 October 2010 at 2.00pm

at Castle Cove library hall, 8b Deepwater Road, Castle Cove, Sydney, Australia followed at 3.30pm by

guest speaker Professor James Weirick
‘The Solid Rock House: Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony in 1910 – innovation and inspiration’

The 2010 AGM address will explore the ideas behind the Griffins’ revolutionary flat-roofed, concrete house of 1910, innovative in itself and as precursor to the year of inspiration that culminated in the Griffin entry in the Australian Federal Capital Competition, 1911.

Light refreshments will be served.

The Castle Cove library is a five minute walk up the hill from the 207 bus stop in Eastern Valley Way. Alight near corner of Castle Cove Drive where there is a pedestrian crossing at traffic lights. Check Sydney Buses website for bus times. Parking available in Deepwater Road.

National Library of Australia Theatre, Canberra

The Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc invites you to the second annual Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture – a talk by Emeritus Professor Jill Roe who will focus on the association of Marion Mahony Griffin and Miles Franklin in Chicago and Australia, with particular reference to Progressivism, Anthroposophy and a glimpse of the Limestone Plains.

Jill Roe, AO, is Emeritus Professor of History at Macquarie University, Sydney. She is the author of the recent award-winning biography of Miles Franklin.

The Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture is an initiative of the Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc and organised by the Society’s Canberra Chapter with the support of the ACT Government. The lecture is part of the Canberra and Region Heritage Festival 2010 and is sponsored by the Canberra100 Taskforce.

FREE entry
MMG Lecture 2010_transcription.pdf

National Library of Australia Theatre, Canberra

Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc invites you to the inaugural Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture – an illustrated talk by Dr Anna Rubbo, Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Sydney.

The Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon. Bob Debus MP will be attending the Lecture and give a speech before introducing Dr Anna Rubbo.

The talk will be followed by light refreshments.

The Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture is an initiative of the Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc and organised by the Society’s Canberra Chapter with the support of the ACT Government. The Lecture is billed as the inaugural lecture as the Society is planning the Lecture to be an annual event.

Cost: Members $10; Non-members $15
RSVP: 9 February to 02 6286 4395; 0415 602 738; bjodgers@iinet.net.au
MMG Lecture 2009 summary.pdf

The Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc. invites members and their guests to its twentieth Annual General Meeting at 2.00pm in the garden of the Winter House.

Followed at 3.00pm by guest speaker Sydney heritage architect Ian Stapleton who will talk about the restoration work and history of the house.

Following the talk, you are invited to view the house.

Please bring a hat, and a rug or folding chair to sit on.

For further information contact the Secretary on info@griffinsociety.org

Adapted by Neil Bartlett. Directed by Bernard Teuben

Evening performances
November 28 and 29 at 8pm
December 5 and 6 at 8pm

Matinees
November 30 at 5pm
December 6 at 2pm
December 7 at 5pm

Cost: $25 adults, $20 Concession and $12 children
Bookings 9975 6780
www.epicentretheatre.org.au

More information
www.thehaven.biz

5.30 for 6.00 p.m at History House, 133 Macquarie Street, Sydney

To mark the centenary of the Federal Parliament’s selection of the Yass-Canberra area for the site of Australia’s national capital, a lecture by Professor Geoffrey Sherington (FRAHS)

Political compromise rather than national vision led to the selection of the Canberra area as the site for the national capital. New South Wales had entered federation only on the condition that the capital site would be located within its boundaries; while Victoria had then insisted that the site must not be subject to the influence of Sydney. It took eight years following Federation to resolve these tensions.
The Yass-Canberra area emerged as the capital site not only because it was suitable in terms of environment and topography, but because it also became associated with the growing re-alignment of national politics along new party lines that were no longer inhibited by the provincialism of 19th century colonial politics.

By the time the Griffins arrived in Australia, visions of nation-building and social experimentation were already collapsing under the new politics of social class that had helped to bring Canberra into being. A nation at war had little time for the ideal of a national capital and the opportunity to keep Australia in the world’s eye as an experiment of national and social planning was lost, seemingly forever.
Event organised by the Walter Burley Griffin Society and the Royal Australian Historical Society.

Cost: $7 members and non-members
Bookings: RAHS telephone 02 9247 8001

Cambridge University Press and the Walter Burley Griffin Society invite you to the Sydney launch of the new book titled The Writings of Walter Burley Griffin by Professor Dustin Hadley Griffin, on Sunday 3 August 2008 at 2.30pm at the Glebe Incinerator, corner Forsyth Street and Griffin Place, Glebe.

Councillor John McInerney of City of Sydney, guest speaker, will talk about the Griffin legacy and the continuity of the Griffins’ ideas.

Professor James Weirick, President of the Walter Burley Griffin Society, will give a scholarly background to Dustin Griffin’s book.

For those who have not yet visited the Glebe Incinerator, this is an opportunity to see the results of the restoration works to this important industrial building in its fine harbourside setting on Blackwattle Bay.

Parking is limited. The incinerator is just a 10 minute walk along Taylor Street from the Glebe light rail station. For further information about the light rail and a map of the stations go to:
http://www.metrotransport.com.au

For the event, Cambridge University Press is offering a discount of 25% off the retail price of $199, ie only $149.25 for the book for those attending the launch.

The Stella James House at Avalon was designed by Walter Burley Griffin as a weekender nestled into its steep bushland site for client Stella James in 1934. This is a rare opportunity to view the house and its open plan interior and hear architect Scott Robertson talk about the conservation of the house, now in the care of the National Trust.

Members $15, non members $20
Bookings essential, contact the Secretary
tel 02 9958 4516

You are invited to an illustrated talk – Sunday 30 March, 2.30pm, Albert Chowne Memorial Hall, Willoughby Park Centre, corner McClelland Street and Warrane Road, Willoughby, Sydney

Eric Milton Nicholls began work for Walter Burley Griffin in 1921 at the age of 19. After the Griffins left for India in 1935 Nicholls continued their practice.

This is an informal illustrated talk with architects of Nicholls’ office reminiscing about office practices and some of the projects ranging from residential to Caltex House, Sydney’s first high rise building.
Please join us for this unique event.

All welcome
Cost: $5 Members
$10 Non-members

For further information contact the Secretary
Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc
Tel 02 9958 4516

Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc. invites you to this talk at the outdoor Haven Amphitheatre corner, The Scarp and The Barricade, Castlecrag, Sydney, Australia.

Jack Perry Brown, Director, Ryerson & Burnham Libraries, Art Institute of Chicago will talk about the Art Institute of Chicago’s exciting project completed in August 2007 that publishes on the net The Magic of America that Marion Mahony Griffin wrote on her return to USA after Walter Burley Griffin’s death in India. It was in part intended as ‘a testament to their life and work together’. The website created to publish this important architectural document collates 1,400 pages of text with approximately 650 accompanying illustrations from the three known copies of The Magic of America. See it at www.artic.edu/magicofamerica

How to get to the Haven:

There is no parking at the Haven Amphitheatre so we suggest you leave your car in Rockley Street and walk the 500metres along The Bulwark to the Haven. Alternatively leave your car near The Citadel and walk about 300 metres down the steps between 17 and 19 The Citadel then follow the roads downhill to the Haven. Wet weather alternative venue: The Community Centre, Castlecrag.

Further information:
contact Kerry McKillop 02 9958 4516

This tour of Griffin’s Canberra will be led by Griffin scholar and Society President Professor James Weirick who will relate the exciting story of the development of Canberra from sheep paddock to the national capital, covering the international competition, the Griffins’ vision and plans, political intrigue and bureaucratic intervention.

Please print out and complete the Members bus tour booking form pdf (152KB), enclose with a cheque for the appropriate amount and mail to the Secretary (address on form).

The National Library of Australia has kindly offered a special viewing of the Nicholls Collection to members of the Walter Burley Griffin Society in the afternoon of Friday 4 May.

The Nicholls Collection acquired by the Library in early 2006 has over 3,300 items of astonishing scope and complexity. The Library has conserved Marion Mahony Griffin’s drawings on silk, and has been methodically cataloguing the entire collection, which is expected to be completed in April 2007. Already much has been digitised and can be viewed on the Library’s website.

Between 12.30pm to 4.30pm on 4 May, the Library will give members and friends of the Walter Burley Griffin Society a rare opportunity to see the Griffins’ drafting and architectural skills in sketches, presentation drawings, correspondence, renderings and photographs of their works. View on 4th floor.

Further information tel 02 6262 1370.
Free event but bookings essential: telephone Brett Odgers 02 6286 4395 or Kerry McKillop 02 9958 4516.

10.00am – 12.30pm

For Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin nature was their great source of inspiration. Professor James Weirick will take this guided tour of Castlecrag where the Griffins implemented their dream for an idealised urban community subservient to the landscape. This tour will take you through some of the community reserves and walkways, past some Griffin houses and to the outdoor Haven Amphitheatre.

Bring water, hat and good walking shoes for uneven ground.

Cost $25 per person
Bookings essential, contact info@griffinsociety.org

23 – 25 Feb and 2, 3, 4, Friday 9, Saturday 10, Sunday 11 March 2022

See Shakespeare’s most loved comedy the way he intended! Outdoors in the idyllic bush setting of The Haven Amphitheatre designed by the Griffins in Castlecrag.

There is no better backdrop for this magical and romantic tale of warring fairies, Athenian lovers and a group of bumbling actors in a moonlit forest as they fall under the magical spell of the summer solstice – Midsummer Night. For 9 performances only, delight in this uplifting adventure about love, chaos, marriage and dreams.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the first co-production between RAW-EM Theatre Co. and The Haven Amphitheatre Committee, Castlecrag. The start time for all performances is 7.30pm. As there is no parking at The Haven Amphitheatre, a FREE continuous shuttle bus operates from 6.30pm onwards from the corner of Raeburn Avenue and Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag.

Bookings tel 02 9958 0124 (business hours).

Adults are $30, concession cardholders $25, students $20 and children under 12 are free. Groups of 6, get 1 ticket free. A scrumptious supper is also available.For further information, please visit www.thehaven.com.au or contact Julie McKay at RAW-EM Theatre Co. on 0413 961165 or julie_mckay@optusnet.com.au.