Canberra City Plan, Canberra, Australia, Sectional View

Architecture and Design

c. 1911–1912

Marion Mahony Griffin
American, 1871–1961
Walter Burley Griffin
American, 1876–1937

In 1912 Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin won one of the largest international competitions in modern history to design a new capital city for Australia at Canberra. Their entry intertwined the natural features of the site—three mountains and a river turned into a man-made lake—and axial Beaux-Arts–inspired plans. As seen here, the design was intended to avoid the indifferent sprawl of the gridded industrial city for one anchored by views of landmarks and future monuments, while celebrating the democratic character of the new capital. As a new urban space created out of nothing, Walter Burley believed that their design was a model for the city and country of the future.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Architecture and Design

Artist: Marion Mahony Griffin (Architect)
Title: Canberra City Plan, Canberra, Australia, Sectional View
Place: Canberra (Place depicted)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1911–1912
Medium: Ink on linen
Inscriptions: Manuscript pencil notes at left and right edges, "water level".
Dimensions: Approx.: 48 × 162.5 cm (18 15/16 × 63 15/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Marion Mahony Griffin through Eric Nicholls, 1949
Reference Number: 1988.418.7

The Art Institute of Chicago, “Past Forward: Architecture and Design Collection at the Art Institute,” December 21, 2019–June 14, 2020.
The Art Institute of Chicago, “Walter Burley Griffin Marion Mahony Griffin,” 1981–1982, cat. no. 3.
Loan exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, “At the End of the Century: One Hundred Years of Architecture,” 1998–2000.

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