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Paul Kruty, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, discusses the works of Walter Burley Griffin, often considered the most international of the early 20th century American modernist designers.
When historians count down the truly great architectural designers of the 20th century, a cluster of familiar names always dominates the list.
Frank Lloyd Wright, I.M. Pei, Frank Gehry and Pierre Koenig are among the individuals whose merits propel them to the top.
Scholars in the new millennium now also recognize the achievements of another designer, Walter Burley Griffin, whose works were often eclipsed by a former colleague and employer.
Early in his career, Griffin worked in Wright’s office, where he was the office manager and construction supervisor for many of Wright’s early designs. Also working in that office was Marion Mahony, renowned for her talents as an artist and architectural delineator. The couple eventually married and were celebrated the world over for their innovative designs.
“As young architects, Griffin and Mahony could claim large responsibility for some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most important prairie school designs such as the Ward Willetts house,” USC architectural historian Diane Ghirardo said. “They went on to produce widely published milestones in 20th century design, including the celebrated Australian capital in Canberra.”
It is said that after Griffin won an international design competition for Canberra, he and Wright never spoke again to each other and that Wright referred to his former associate as “a draftsman who went to Australia.” But that draftsman established an enviable career in architectural design.
Griffin is now credited with developing the L-shaped floor plan (for which Wright took credit), the carport (which did not see common use until the 1950s) and the first use of reinforced concrete. He developed his own personal style that emphasized harmony between buildings and their surroundings and featured strong, elemental shapes, the experimental use of new materials, and simple, open floor plans.
He also pioneered the development of vertical space. Although confined, his interiors provided a sense of spatial variety and interest through their manipulation of multilevel space. Griffin maintained successful design careers in the United States, Australia and India until his death in 1937.
Kruty’s lecture will focus on several of Griffin’s career-defining accomplishments, including his unification of architecture, landscape and urban planning into a single discipline, and his melding of arts and crafts materials with modern technology.
Kruty teaches the history of modern and American architecture at the University of Illinois. He is co-author of “Walter Burley Griffin in America” and “Two American Architects in India: Walter B. Griffin and Marion M. Griffin 1935-1937,” available through the USC Pertusati Bookstore.
The Gamble House, a National Historic Landmark owned by the City of Pasadena and operated by USC, is open for public tours.
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