Walter Burley Griffin

Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876 - February 11, 1937), American architect, gained fame for his role in designing Canberra, Australia's capital city.

Canberra

In 1911, Griffin won the design competition for Australia's new capital Canberra. In 1914, Griffin and his wife Marion moved to Australia, where they stayed for the next 21 years. He was appointed the Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction.

Related Topics:
1911 - 1914

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Griffin oversaw the design of North and South Canberra, though he had to struggle with politics and bureaucracy. Several parts of his basic design underwent change. For instance, plans to create a Westbourne, Southbourne and Eastbourne Avenue to complement Canberra's Northbourne Avenue came to nothing, as did a proposed railway that would have gone from South Canberra to North Canberra, and then in a northwest direction to Yass. A market area that would have been at Russell Hill in North Canberra was moved southwards to what is now Fyshwick, next to South Canberra.

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The pace of building was slower than expected, partly because of the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and partly because a dispute between Griffin and Federal government bureaucrats. In 1917, a Royal Commission determined that they had undermined Griffin's authority by supplying him with false data which he had used to carry out his work. Ultimately, Griffin resigned from the Canberra design project in 1920, when he discovered that several of these bureaucrats had been appointed to an agency that would oversee Canberra's construction.

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He spent much time in Melbourne and, in 1918, became a founder, with Royden Powell, of the Henry George Club. An organisation devoted to providing a home for the Single Tax movement. (See http://www.hgclub.com.au.)

Related Topics:
Melbourne - Single Tax

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