The Walter Burley Griffin Society website went ‘live’ on 27 June 2006. The beautifully presented site provides Internet access to educational material about the lives and works of Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin. The pages have been prepared on a voluntary basis by various members of the Society and with the assistance of a grant under the Federal Government’s ‘Sharing Australian Stories’ Program to access material and to contract professional assistance with technical aspects.

The project’s goals have been to create a greater understanding and appreciation of the work of Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin and thereby encourage the conservation of their extensive work. The site provides a user-friendly hierarchy that accommodates the Griffins’ extensive and diverse projects in Australia and also the United States and India. There are 35 sections or pages for the website. This covers sections about the Griffins’ urban planning, architecture, landscape architecture and interior design by a team of writers with expertise in the various fields. It also has included a chronology of their work, selected publications for further reading, films and videos, news and events, the Society’s past newsletters as downloadable pdfs.

The wonderful images on the website have been sourced from the Avery Library at Columbia University, New York; Block Museum of Art at the Northwestern University; and the New-York Historical Society in the United States; the National Library of Australia; the National Archives of Australia; the State Library of NSW; the State Library of South Australia; and from professional and amateur photographers in Australia and the USA.

The searchable Photo Gallery has nearly 300 images, including the magnificent Melson House in the USA, Marion Mahony’s design for Henry Ford’s house, some of their Melbourne work including Newman College, the stunning interiors of the Capitol Theatre and also Café Australia, some of their Sydney work including the two Pratten houses at Pymble, early photos of the Castlecrag houses, and ones taken by Max Dupain in 1965, plus some of the truly remarkable Indian work. In addition there are three short movies on the website, including one produced specially for it on the Griffin walkways and reserves.

The new website is a wonderful educational source on the lives and works of the Griffins. Check it out at www.griffinsociety.org – or you can also access it via a link from the Castlecrag Progress Association website.

Adrienne Kabos