The history of Australia's capital city is fascinating and filled with many a twist and turn. There was a great deal of pressure to locate the capital in one of the existing cities of Australia, but that would have favored one over the other. The compromise solution was that the NEW capital city would be located at least 100 miles from any existing city. After much consideration the site where Canberra was to built was selected. (See the Cycloramic view of the site, below).
Once that was resolved, the next step was to answer the question, just what would be built? The approach was to announce an international Federal Capital Design Completion to offer architects and urban planners the opportunity to design the new city.
Response came from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, South Africa, Italy, Hungary, Sweden, India, Paraguay, Mexico, New Zealand, and Finland. There were 137 entries (three were either duplicates or unknown submissions, so the assigned numbers go up to 140), about whom research is ongoing.
Rather famously, the winning entry was from an American husband and wife team whose names are familiar to aficionados of prairie school architecture: Walter Burley Griffin (1876-1937) and Marion Mahony Griffin (1871-1961).
You can see a drawing of their plan of part of the city in the second illustration, above. Much of the credit for their success in the competition has been attributed by architectural historians to the delineating artistry of Marion Mahoney Griffin. (Below, see her perspective drawing, and a city plan hinting at her subtle use of color).
The Griffins not only won, but also Walter was engaged by the Australian government to leave the US and go to Australia to oversee the work of creating the new capital city. His time in that role was somewhat brief and contentious. Thereafter, they were quite successful in creating stunning architecture in a practice they established once Walter was no longer in charge of Canberra. To this day, the Griffins are deeply appreciated - one would say lionized - as national heroes by the people of Australia. Rightly so.
Both architects had worked alongside Frank Lloyd Wright in the Oak Park Studio. (Please NEVER use the word "apprentice" when referring to them, they were architects in their own right and contributed greatly to the success that was credit mostly to Wright). When Wright ran off to Europe with his paramour Mamah Borthwick Cheney (1869-1914), While Wright was incommunicado in Italy, Walter and Marion were independent contractors, working alongside those who cleaned up the mess Wright left behind, finishing the commissions Wright had abandoned, alongside the studio's staff architectural designers Isabel Roberts (1871-1955) and John S. Van Bergen (1885-1969), all supervised by architect Hermann V. Von Holst (1874-1955).
Some important commissions were lost, notably residential commissions for Chicago plutocrat Harold McCormick and his wife, Edith Rockefeller McCormick; and automotive giants Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford. Presumably these worthies wanted the cachet of working with the great man himself, rather than others. While Wright passed his time luxuriating in a picturesque villa overlooking Florence, the Oak Park team completed many other commissions before they shut down the Oak Park Studio forever.
Walter and Marion went on to do good work in the prairie school idiom in the USA, and they were married June 29, 1911. While on their honeymoon they learned about the Canberra competition (launched in May 24, 1911, although some references say April 1911), and became so excited about the unique project, that they worked feverishly to meet the deadline for submissions.
Entries were judged by a board consisting of: Chairman John Montgomery Coane (a licensed surveyor), John Kirkpatrick (a Sidney architect), and James A Smith (a Melbourne engineer). Judging took place in Melbourne.
On May 23, 1912, from a worthy field of accomplished architects worldwide (more on that below), their submission was chosen as the winner.
The board broke open the sealed envelope containing the chosen entrant's name and announced that Competitor No. 29 was the winner: W. B. Griffin of Chicago. Further they announced Second Place, E. Saarinen, of Finland; Third Place, D. Agache, of Paris; Fourth Place, Coulter and Caswell, of Sidney.
Before long, the Griffins were off to Australia, Walter, never to return to the USA to live; Marion, to come back only late life, as a widow.
You might wonder what the reaction was from their American architectural colleagues. And well you might. Their success drew international interest, including front page coverage in the "New York Times", in response to which coverage, Wright never spoke to Griffin again.
Frank Lloyd Wright was overwhelmed by professional jealousy, that the Griffins should win. Which is typical of Wright, who found little to like in the designs of others unless he was taking credit for them, and little to praise in the later work of those architects whom he had once employed. By winning the contest, Walter and Marion had proven their architectural genius beyond any possible detractors, even someone as notable as Wright.
You may wonder, as I have, who else submitted plans for Canberra in this international competition. As I say, my research is ongoing. However I find several things notable. Among the finalists was the great Finnish architect, Eliel Saarinen (1873-1950) father of architect Eero Saarinen of St Louis Arch fame. You can see the birds-eye-view of his entry as the first photo accompanying this article. Saarinen's design was not only a Finalist, it was the Second Place choice of the judges.
Another noteworthy entry came from architect Bernard Maybeck (1862-1957) with several California colleagues. Maybeck is known for creating highly distinctive and personal spaces that are a treasured part of the San Francisco Bay Area. I have not yet seen the drawings of that entry, but I am sure it would have had much that was innovative and set it above conventionality.
I am in the early days stage of finding out who all of the other competitors were, and their back stories. But here is what I know so far:
There was a "Mystery Entry" - unidentified then, and still unidentified today, Competitor No. 39. The Competitor No. 39 submission drawings exist (See the illustration below for a birds-eye-view of part of that plan).
But the accompanying sealed envelope revealing the name of this submitter somehow became separated from the drawings, and more than a century later, has yet to be discovered.
Fascinating possibility, right?
Furthermore, there seems to be no name or submission material associated with Entry No. 68. It does not appear in Prof. John W. Reps' definitive book on the competition. Does this mean that number was never assigned, or that the entry was somehow misplaced, overlooked, or disqualified? "No Name No. 68" is another mystery yet to be solved.
And, what was Frank Lloyd Wright doing in 1911? Back from his stay in Europe he was reestablishing himself in the world of Chicagoland architecture, albeit without the office or staff he once enjoyed in Oak Park. He also claimed he was trying to make his family life work, "for the sake of the children". It didn't work out that way. That year, he designed unbuilt projects that we know of: The Harry Adams House (I) in Oak Park (not the same as the house later built); Sherman Booth House and Cottage (Not the same as the houses later produced for Booth), in Ravine Bluffs; the Avery Coonley Greenhouse and Kindergarten (different from the Playhouse conducted later); the E. Esbenshade House in Milwaukee Wisconsin; the Madison Hotel in Madison Wisconsin; the Andrew T. Porter House in Spring Green, Wisconsin; the Edward Schroder House in Milwaukee; and the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Chicago. All of these were unrealized. He also designed and completed: the Herbert C. Angster House in Lake Bluff, Illinois; the O. B. Balch Hose in Oak Park; Banff Pavilion in Alberta, Canada; the Geneva Inn on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; and Taliesin I, the love nest he was creating in the Wisconsin of his childhood as a refuge for himself and Mamah away from the scandal mongers of Chicago.
Would Wright have had time (and inclination) to put pencil to paper to enter an international competition? Quite possibly. You heard it here, first.
I am pursuing these and additional lines of research. I will update this article as I learn more.
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Canberra
Entry 29. Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin.
On May 23, 1912, the Griffins' design was selected as the winner from among 140 entries.
Known Competitors:
1 W J Gilroy, St Kilda, Melbourne
2 F V Tuxen, Melbourne, Australia
3 Edward Pullman, Brighton, Australia
4 Hubert Donat "Alf" Alfred Agache, Paris (1875-1959), worked in Brazil; see Wikipedia article for "Alfred Agache".
5 Albert Faron, Sydney
6 George Parsons & Son, Melbourne Australia
7 Harold Van Buren Magonigle (1867-1935), New York. American, did the McKinley Memorial among others. See Wikipedia article about him.
8 W Powries, Albury, NSW
9 AJ Macdonald, Elsternwick, VIC (also listed as JJ MacDonald)
10 W Scott Griffiths (1864-1929), Robert Charles Gibbon Coulter (1864-1956) and Charles Henry Caswell (1865-1940)
11 Thomas Nisbit Roberts, Capetown, S Africa
12 Henry O'Connor, Edinburgh, Scotland
13 H W Lundberg, Adelaide, Australia
14 Christe L Waite, Castleford, Yorkshire
15 Ernest W Gimson (aka Ginson, Gunson), West Cirencester, England
16. A R Sennett, Melbourne
17 Henry Musgrave Robinson, Manly, Sydney (1854-)
18 Eliel Saarinen - Finalist - Second Place (1873-1950)
19 J F Jodrell Reynolde & Eric Byron, London, Eng
20 Herbert J Kellaway, Boston, Mass (1867-1947)
21 Robert Lawrence Stables, Silverstown, Essex, Eng
22 Henry Hartford, Tidworth, Eng
23 Walter Schulz, Strand, London
24 George Keller, Hartford. CT
25 James Hine, Perth
26 George Wilson CE, Knaresborough, Eng
27 John A Moffat, Johannesburg [see 121]
28 J H Rafferty, London, Eng
29 Walter Burley Griffin, Chicago - Winner (1876-1937)
30 Francis L Jones, Stockton, CA
31 E T Mische, Portland, Oregon,
32 Dr. B F Eckberg, Stanley, Tasmania
33 George McMullen, Perth, Australia
34 E W Cracknell, Queensferry via Granville, VIC
35 Schaufelberg, Rees and Gummer, London - Finalist
36 George G Lawson; David J Parr, Pretoria, S Africa
37 Andre Brard, Paris
38 John Alfred Langdon, London
39 "Mystery Competitor" (submission exists, sealed envelope lost)
40 James Coutts, Junior, Aberdeen, Scotland
41 Arthur C Comey, Cambridge, Mass - Finalist (1886-1954)
42 Louis H Rush; William D Hewitt; Alfred H Granger; Phineas E Paist, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
43 James Gibson, Cleveland, Transvaal, South Africa
44 Hugh J Davies, Mooroopna, VIC
45 J Blackwell, W Hartlepool, Eng
46 H Hanin, Paris, France
47 Bernard J Maybeck; M H White; Professor Charles Gilman Hyde, San Francisco,
48 Ole Jacob Holme, Poughkeepsie, New York,
49 Seraphin Ouiment, CE, Montreal, Canada
50 Frank Elsworthy, Bristol, Eng
51 John Humphreys Jones, London, England
52 Guy Sherwood, South Yarra, VIC
53. R J A Roberts, Hunters Hill, Sydney
54 Arthur B Wood, Tooranie, Moulamein, NSW
55 Edward Bellamy, NYC
56 C S Mitchell, LaWard, Texas
57 H Bedford Tylor, Birmingham, England
58 W A Ritchie-Fallon, Cape Town
59 A S H McClay, Menzies, WA
60 Charles Heath, Fawkner, Melbourne
61 Frank Garner, Glenferrie, VIC
62 A J J Forbes, Cape Town
63 G Wallace Williamson, Southbourne, Hampshire,
64 Christopher James Yorath, Acton, London
65 Charles E Powell, Binfield, Eng
66 Thomas Sunderland, CE, Coventry, Eng
67 William T Olive & Hugh S Olive, Capetown S Africa
68 No Name. Was it assigned? (Not on Professor John W. Reps' List)
69 Louis Mortelmans, Harrington, North London
70 Arthur J Price and Sons, Lytham, Lancashire, England
71 Charles AJ Clayton; Harold Slicer, London
72 Arthur Winder, Williamstown, S Africa
73 Francis Masey, Salisbury, Rhodesia S Africa
74 Alfred J Roewade, aka Ravad, Chicago, Illinois,
75 Phillio A Ribson, London, Eng
76 Ralph Heaton, Birmingham, England
77 James Saunders, London Eng
78 C Jorgensen, Bundaberg, Australia
79 Donald C Leach, London
80 F S Elpgenstone, Pretoria S Africa
81 Nils Gellerstedt,Stockholm, Sweden - Finalist
82 V Maddison, Wellington, NZ
83 Andre Machiels, Paris, France
84. Edward James Bennett, Brisbane,
85 Cartwright Metheson Co, Consulting Engineers, Vancouver, Canada
86 S G Weisman & S Arkin, New York
87 Louis J Grealy, Brisbane
88. C Cousins, Sidney
89 C E Sharland, Mildura, Australia
90 Alfred H Waddington, Bradford, Eng
91 John Herbert Hinchcliff, Skelmanthorpe, Eng
92 J W Lovemore, Queenstown, S Africa
93. Alexander Adams, Randwick, NSW
94 E G Wilson, Brisbane, Australia
95 A A Eisenhofer, Johannesburg, S Africa
96 E W Chance, s kensington, Eng
97. William Butterworth, Bulli NSW
98 M M Delattre & H Mantez, Halluin Nord, France
99 Joseph Parer, Melbourne, Australia
100 John Greenfield, London
101 Dr Imre Forbath, Eugene Lechner, Landislas Warga, Budapest, Hungary
102 Herbert C Chivers, San Francisco, CA
103 Raoul Gaston Lawrinowa, New England NSW Australia
104 O J McLean, Bagshot, Australia
105 W H Tibbits, Woollahra, Australia
106 Leslie Knowles, Manchester, Eng
107 D J Byron, Christchurch, NZ
108 William M Jackson, Sydney, Australia
109 Ernest Alfred William Phillips, Hove, Sussex, Eng
110. A H C E Byron, Melbourne
111 Otto Willie, Moonee Ponds, Australia
112 Richard Rowntree, Seattle, WA
113. George Bicknell, Ballarat, East Victoria
114 H Jacob, Adelaide, Australia
115 Clarence B Yost, Tyler, Texas
116 C Wingrave Jr, Southend on Sea, UK
117 W R Menmuir, Capetown S Africa
118 E A Stone, Vancouver, Canada
119 George Jackson, Herne Bay, Eng
120. Murray R Bocking, Sidney
121 John A Moffat, Johannesburg, S Africa [see 27]
122 Ambrose Barrett, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
123 Edwin Ernest Renwick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Eng
124 John D. Leckie, Villa Rica, Paraguay
125 Bernard Backhouse, Meopha, Kent, Eng
126 John Gogerly, Calcutta, India
127 Strachen & Weekes, London, Eng
128 Louis De Segovia, Isere, France
129 Walter W Watts, Brisbane, Australia
130 E White, Ryde, Australia
131 Agostino Botazzi, Trisobbia, Italy
132 Wilfred Adams Canal, East Moors, Cardiff, Wales
133 Robert W Davies, Christchurch, NZ
134 Robert H Lalor, Seven Hills NSW, Australia
135 John H Wayman, Pittsburgh, PA
136 George W Hulluck, NYC
137 JR Gieske, Ceredo, W VA
138 George H Bruns, Brooklyn NY
139 Pedro Roveda, Mexico City
140 Thomas Seabrook Brown, Roanoke, VA
(Notice John A Moffat, Johannesburg, made 2 submissions, 27 & 121.)
I an indebted to the late John W. Reps, Professor Emeritus, Cornell for his 1994 definitive list of the known competitors. And to the National Archives of Australia for corroborating material on many of them.
