Episode 43: Marion Mahony Griffin
Marion Mahony was born on February 14, 1871 in Chicago, Illinois. When she was just 10 months old, her mother carried her away from the Great Chicago Fire in a laundry basket. The Mahony family relocated to Winnetka where Marion and her four siblings spent their childhood exploring the nature of the area. When Marion was around 11 or 12, her father died, and the family moved back to Chicago. Marion attended MIT and was the second woman to graduate with a Bachelors of Architecture in 1894. Marion was hired as the first employee of Frank Lloyd Wright. She worked for Frank for 14 years and was responsible for many of the iconic renderings of Frank’s work throughout the years and for helping develop the Prairie style architecture he became so famous for. In 1898, Marion took and passed the new Illinois’ architects’ licensing exam making her the first woman licensed in Illinois. While working at Frank’s office, Marion met Walter Burley Griffin whom she married in 1911. Walter and Marion entered the competition to design Australia’s new capital city Canberra in 1912 and won. In 1914 the Griffins moved to Australia to oversee the design and open their own firm there. They worked on several projects and made a life for themselves in Australia. Walter received a commission for work in India and they opened a second office there in 1935. Walter died suddenly of peritonitis in 1937, and Marion closed the India and Australia offices before returning to Chicago. She spent her remaining years lecturing and doing some design work in addition to writing an unpublished memoir. Marion passed away on August 19, 1961 at 90 years old. She is buried in the Chicago architect’s cemetery, Graceland.
Caryatid: Lindsay Clare
Lindsay Clare is one half of Clare Design. She and her husband Kerry started their firm in 1979 on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. They worked there for about 20 years before they got asked by the New South Wales Government Architect to be the very first Design Directors of the governmental department.
They moved to Sydney and worked in that role for 2 years. They were also adjunct professors at University of Sydney from 1998-2005. In 2000, Lindsay and Kerry founded Architectus Sydney and were the Design Directors for 10 years. They currently have offices in Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, and Sydney. Lindsay and Kerry were joint recipients of the Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 2010.
References
Bernstein, Fred A. “Marion Mahony Griffin - Architecture.” The New York Times, 1 Jan. 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/arts/design/01maho.html.
Griffin, Marion Mahony. The Magic of America: Electronic Edition. August 2007. The Art Institute of Chicago and The New-York Historical Society. 29 October 2008 <http://www.artic.edu/magicofamerica/index.html>
Lewis, Anna M. “Marion Mahony Griffin” Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers. 42-51. United States: Chicago Review Press, 2017.
“Marion Mahony Griffin.” Pioneering Women of American Architecture, pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/marion-mahony-griffin. Accessed 3 Dec. 2021.
Zulkey, Claire. “Meet Marion Mahony Griffin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Best Frenemy.” Curbed, 8 June 2017, archive.curbed.com/2017/6/8/15755858/marion-mahony-walter-burley-griffin-wright-drawings.
