Walter Burley Griffin and the design of Canberra – Fact sheet 95
Walter Burley Griffin was the original designer of Canberra. He won the Federal Capital Design Competition, launched by King O’Malley, Minister for Home Affairs, in May 1911.
Burley Griffin had developed in a professional environment of radical European and North American architects. He was greatly influenced by the City Beautiful and Garden City movements which dominated town planning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Scholars have also detected a strong classical influence permeating Burley Griffin’s design of Canberra.
Burley Griffin’s wife, Marion Mahony Griffin, also an architect, collaborated with him on the design competition entry, and is known to have prepared the design drawings that accompanied the Burley Griffin entry.
The design for Canberra
Burley Griffin (entrant 29) was one of 137 entrants in the Federal Capital Design Competition. His original design drawings (on cotton cloth) as well as those of three other entrants noted by the judges – D Alf Agache (rated third); Griffiths Coulter and Caswell, an Australian firm (rated first in a minority report of the chairman); and Eliel Saarinen (rated second) – are held by the Archives in record series A710. Photographic copies of some of the other unsuccessful competition entries received are also held in series A763.
Images of Burley Griffin's design and those of shortlisted competition entrants can be seen at An Ideal City? – The 1912 Competition to Design Canberra.
Director of Design and Construction
King O’Malley, as Minister, appointed a Departmental Board to oversee construction of the National Capital, based on the winning design. Disapproving of adaptations made to his design, Burley Griffin lobbied for his engagement to personally oversee construction. He was appointed Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction in October 1913 and the Departmental Board disbanded.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, which first met in 1915, had regular references to examine aspects of the early construction of Canberra, and Burley Griffin frequently appeared as a witness. Committee reports and transcripts of evidence of hearings for the 1915–20 period are in the bound volumes of Parliamentary Papers. A typed transcript of evidence given by Burley Griffin to the Committee hearings on Grading and Survey of Canberra Streets (which is annotated, probably in his hand) is held by the Archives as series AA1964/71.
Opposition to Burley Griffin
Burley Griffin’s position as Director of Design and Construction was challenged by his critics. Accusations of poor administration and delays in construction led to the Royal Commission on the Federal Capital Territory. The Royal Commission, which reported in February 1917, confirmed Burley Griffin’s appointment.
With the decline in wartime spending, work on the capital slowed. Burley Griffin’s contract was due to expire in December 1919, however it was extended monthly until December 1920. Changes in government administration led to the establishment of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee, from which Burley Griffin was excluded because he rejected the conditions of appointment.
Records held in Canberra
Federal Capital Design Competition
| Series title | Date range | Series number | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Drawings submitted in the Federal Capital Design Competition | 1911–12 | A710 |
| Photographic copies of designs submitted in the Federal Capital Design Competition | 1912 | A763 |
| Design of the lay-out of the Federal Capital as projected by the Departmental Board | 1912 | A767 |
Appointment as Director of Design and Construction
| Series title | Date range | Series number | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Proposed appointment of Commission to control FCT | 1910–51 | CP487/6, 10 |
| Agreement between Minister of State for Home Affairs and Walter Burley Griffin | 1913 | A110, FC1913/2427 |
| Walter Burley Griffin – letter dated January 1913 re his plan | 1913–16 | A110, FC1916/186 |
Design maps and plans
| Series title | Date range | Series number | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Burley Griffin's plan of an arboretum | 1915 | AA1966/33 |
| Plan of city and environs | 1918 | A9332 |
| Contour map of Canberra, dated and signed by Burley Griffin | 1919 | AA1964/66 |
Administrative records from Burley Griffin's period
| Series title | Date range | Series number | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Correspondence files, Federal Capital series | 1910–17 | A110 |
| Correspondence files, Federal Capital Office | 1913–17 | A214 |
| Correspondence files, administrative works | 1915–16 | A784 |
| Correspondence files, Federal Capital Office, first system | 1916–17 | A791 |
| Correspondence files, Federal Capital Office, second system | 1917–21 | A792 |
Appearances before Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works
| Series title | Date range | Series number | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typed Transcript of Evidence given at Committee hearing on Grading and Survey of Canberra Streets | 1916 | AA1964/71 |
| Correspondence and other papers of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works | 1915–62 | A11960 |
| Canberra streets – grading and survey | 1915–16 | A11960, 1916/263 |
Royal Commission on Federal Capital Administration
| Series title | Date range | Series number | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Commission on Federal Capital Territory | 1902–17 | A1, 1917/13695 |
| Federal Capital Administration – report of Royal Commission | 1917–20 | A192, FCL1922/736 |
Creation of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee
| Series title | Date range | Series number | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Correspondence with Walter Burley Griffin in regard to his position on the Federal Capital Advisory Commission | 1918–21 | A199, FC1921/76 |
| Walter Burley Griffin – agreement with Australian Government | 1920 | A6006, 1920/12/31 |
