Equal partners: Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. Photo: National Archives.
Marion and Walter should be looking out over their handiwork by this time next year.
The National Capital Authority (NCA) has selected the team to design and construct a monument commemorating the designers of the national capital, architects Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin.
Led by Oculus Landscape Architecture, the team includes Monash University’s Monash Art Projects (MAP), artist and director Callum Morton, and Canberra builders Eifer.
The NCA selected the team via an open tender process; a contract worth $605,000 was awarded in July.
It will soon start work on a preliminary design; the project is expected to take 12 months to complete.
The commemoration will consist of two full-body, life-size cast bronze figurative sculptures, placed within a purposely designed landscaped setting.
It will be located on the north side of Lake Burley Griffin, on the eastern edge of Commonwealth Park.
The NCA says it will be visible and accessible from the R.G. Menzies Walk and look out over key aspects of the Griffin design for Canberra, including the Land Axis, Lake Burley Griffin, and the backdrop of the Brindabellas.
As well as recognising the Griffins’ Canberra work, the commemoration will acknowledge their broader contribution to city planning, architecture and landscape design.
In keeping with the NCA’s objective to address the underrepresentation of women in commemorative works on the National Estate, Marion and Walter are to be recognised equally for the contribution they made to their professional partnership, and given equal prominence.
In the tender announced in February, the NCA said it was seeking a design and construction contractor with demonstrated capability in delivering thoughtfully considered, high-quality art or commemorative works within the public realm.
It said the delivery team should include a sculptor with experience in the design and fabrication of full-body, life-size cast bronze statues, and a designer (landscape architect or architect) with skills in placemaking/urban design to design a setting to suit the sculptures.
A construction team was also sought to coordinate and deliver the works.
Former NCA chief executive Sally Barnes told Region last year that after the 150th anniversary of Marion’s birth in 2021, the architect could disappear into history if nothing was done. So the idea emerged of a commemoration in line with NCA’s objective to address the underrepresentation of women.
But after talking to the Walter Burley Griffin Society, the NCA accepted its recommendation the proposed work should be of both architects, a couple who worked together and were trailblazers of their times.
NCA project manager, Capital Works, Vicki McLean said because they were genuine partners, this decision seemed fairer than plucking out Marion as a woman.
“This sort of recognises that back then, women did get recognition working in a partnership, and that appears to be a very equal partnership,” she said.
“And he [Walter] acknowledged her when they won the competition by saying her drawings were really important to winning the competition, so it does seem appropriate to recognise both of them.”
