A Special Presentation on Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin.

Speaker: Steven Barlow

8 PM, Tuesday 13 December 2016

Uniting Church Community Centre, Seddon Street, Ivanhoe.

Most Australians know Walter Burley Griffin as the American who designed the Federal capital, Canberra, but fewer would know how short its slow realisation fell from the brilliance of the original plan and that an equal contribution to the winning design and its presentation was due to his talented new wife, the architect Marion Mahony.

Steven Barlow's illustrated talk looks at the influences on this distinguished pair whose formative years were spent in the architectural and intellectual ferment of Chicago at the turn of the century. These influences - political, religious and artistic - included, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry George, Louis Sullivan and Jane Addams, as well as two defining events: The World's Columbian Exhibition and the Great War.

The talk presents images of houses, subdivisions and commercial buildings, including in Heidelberg where the Griffins lived for several years, as well the remarkable designs done in the highly productive last year of Walter's life in India.

Heidelberg Historical society member, Steven Barlow, grew up in the shadow of the Essendon City Council’s incinerator, one of a dozen curious such buildings designed by Walter Burley Griffin. He has maintained a life-long interest in the Griffins and in architectural history.

Steven will give an illustrated talk on the breadth of the work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, including that in Heidelberg, and the influences on their remarkable lives and beliefs.

Places of Interest Brochure

Click on the image to the left to download a brochure showing places of interest to visit in the Heidelberg area. These include our museum, the old Heidelberg Courthouse, St John's Anglican Church, Heidelberg and places of relevance to Walter Burley Griffin and Harold Desbrowe Annear, the Heidelberg artists, the Glenard Estate and Mount Eagle Estate.

Our current exhibition at the Heidelberg Historical Society Museum, Jika Street, Heidelberg, provides further ideas for those interested in visiting places of historical interest in the area.
"A Brush with Heidelberg" comprises a collection of illustrations, including paintings, prints and photographs, with information about the original locations depicted.

The Home Page provides further information.

Banyule Homestead Still Here - But What Next?

On Monday 6th June 2016, Banyule House is still here, but it seems that a lot of trees have disappeared from its surroundings. No one knows what plans have been submitted to the Banyule Council or to any other authority. The following articles show some of the earlier developments at Banyule House.

Banyule Homestead Still Under Threat - Nothing New Here.

On Monday 6th June 2011, Banyule Council addressed an application for sub-division of the Banyule Homestead to allow the building of three 2-storey town houses on southern one-third of the land. There were about 80 objectors present and several spoke against the proposal. Heidelberg Historical Society President, Graeme Speers, did so on behalf of the Society, concentrating on the claims re the severely degraded views of the homestead and its setting from across the Banyule Flats and the allegedly discreet treatment of the proposed construction.

Quite misleading photos were presented for consideration by the developer, so Graeme had taken a further series himself looking west from the Flats to correct the impression given to Council. He also adressed the unsupported claims of the developer regarding discrete positioning and screening of the three dwellings. Basically there were no contour plans presented to sustain claims of screening by land slope. The greatest interest for both seller and prospective buyers would be the magnificent views to the east across the flats from the dominating bluff, and through the floor to ceiling glass construction indicated on the building plans. Why would anyone block the views by screening them with foliage as the submission from the developer states?

Many other questions were raised including whether particular conditions set on the previous sale of the property had ever been met by the present owner.

The result was that Councillor Tom Melican moved a 4 part motion opposing the application to go to Heritage Victoria. The motion was seconded by Councillor Jenny Mulholland and passed unanimously. A submission on behalf of the Society along the lines already outlined has been forwarded to Heritage Victoria.

Click "More" to read about the VCAT decision of 23 September 2013, which turned out to be better than we expected. more

Click on the second "More" to read about an earlier threat to Banyule House and its surroundings in 1958.more