Visionaries in Suburbia: Griffin Houses in the Sydney Landscape

From Castlecrag to Clifton Gardens, Pymble to Avalon Visionaries in Suburbia presents for the first time the entire range of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin’s Sydney residential designs in the 1920s and 30s. Comprehensively illustrated and with essays by heritage specialists and Griffin home owners, the book reveals new research on some of the lesser-known houses such as the Pratten and van der Ley residences and a range of unbuilt projects, as well as fresh perspectives on the Castlecrag estate and its unique planning and community. Not just an architectural survey, Visionaries also explores the Griffins’ holistic vision – the environmental, social and spiritual ideals underpinning their integrated design and landscape philosophy. A chapter on the Griffins’ legacy, the heritage significance of their houses and the relevance of their ideologies today concludes the book.

DR ANNE WATSON As a curator at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Dr Anne Watson developed the exhibition ‘Beyond Architecture: Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin in America, Australia and India’ in 1998 and was editor and a contributing author of the catalogue of the same name. Her 2014 PhD thesis explored the work of Peter Hall, Utzon’s successor at the Sydney Opera House 1966-1973.