<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

Walter Burley
Griffin and
Marion Mahony
Griffin, architects of anthroposophy

Dr John Paull, john.paull@mail.com

A century ago, on the 23rd of May 1912, the winning design of Canberra was announced. Soon after, two talented Chicago architects set sail for Australia. Their plan for Australia's national capital, already named Canberra but at the time merely an empty paddock, had won first prize in an international competition which attracted 137 entries. The winning prize money for the design was a modest £1750 (McGregor, 2009).

Walter Burley Griffin (1876-1937) and Marion Mahony (1871-1961) were married in the year preceding the win. Marion had nagged Walter to enter the competition, "What's the use of thinking about a thing like this for ten years if when the time comes you don't get it done in time!" She pointed out the practicalities: "Perhaps you can design a city in two days but the

drawings take time and that falls on me" (Griffin, 1949, volume IV p.294). After the win was announced, Walter declared: "I have planned it not in a way that I expected any government in the world would accept. I have planned an ideal city – a city that meets my ideal of a city of the future" (New York Times, 1912).

Marion chronicled events of their life together in a typewritten four-volume memoir of over 1600 pages (Griffin, 1949). Her memoir documents their life together and liberally reproduces personal correspondence between them and their associates. Her unpublished manuscript reveals the intensity with which she and Walter embraced the thoughts of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) and anthroposophy.
## Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophy & Optimism

The Griffins moved from Melbourne to Sydney in 1924 and it was there that they were introduced to the thoughts of Rudolf Steiner; they were ideas that would shape their thinking from that time onwards.

Marion describes her introduction to Steiner:

> "In Sydney so many friends and so wonderful, now moving toward a common centre from which one could grasp the earth and humanity as a totality. The first step toward this centre was the putting into my hands by a Quaker ... a book which changed me completely from a pessimist to an optimist, the *Outline of Occult Science* by Rudolf Steiner which led to my joining sometime later the Society founded by him" (Griffin, 1949, IV p.169).

Marion joined the Anthroposophic

Society in Australia (ASA) in 1930. Walter joined in 1931 (Mazzone, 1995). Their next-door neighbours at the time, in the then newly developing Sydney suburb of Castlecrag, were the anthroposophist couple, Edith Williams and Robert Williams. Edith was the first General Secretary of the ASA. Marion states that: "Mr. and Mrs. Williams came into the Castlecrag community and through them we joined the Anthroposophic Society, delving into the realm of man's wisdom" (Griffin, 1949, IV p.169).

Marion stated her view that:

> "Through Anthroposophy, the Twentieth Century science, which ... revolutionizes thinking for this century as material science did the thinking of the nineteenth century, this power of receiving information directly from the spiritual realms can again be developed" (Griffin, 1949, IV p.393).

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /><figcaption>Canberra plan submitted to the Canberra design competition by Walter Burley Griffin
"View from the summit of Mount Ainslie" - commons.wikimedia.org</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>Canberra Plan of City & Environ (Courtesy of the National Library of Australia)</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /><figcaption>Canberra Plan of City and Environ ca 1916. The coloured plan by W.B. Griffin, from the Nicholls Collection (National Library of Australia) shows the extent of East and West Lakes and green shading highlights the landscape areas.</figcaption></figure>
She expressed disquiet over aspects of scientific progress:

“Today they know not where to turn nor what to do. Each step now in material science which was the hope of the 19th century ... provokes man to greater and greater destruction. Unless material knowledge is supplemented by that other help, spiritual knowledge, man's work cannot be constructive ... Steiner ... has laid the foundations for the knowledge necessary for the period in which we live” (Griffin, 1949, IV p.396).

Marion lamented the dominant paradigm of her times in which science was transcendent:

“In ancient India, Religion, Art and Science were a true unity ... In our own period Science has become the dominating factor and the gap between it and religion and art has become ever greater. Out of this separation all three have gone astray. Science has become dogma ...” (Griffin, 1949, IV p.396).

She declared the redemptive value of anthroposophy:

“... today we must not rest short of the answer to questions. Otherwise the chaos that we see on our horizons will become worldwide. Anthroposophy consists in the capacity to ask questions and to recognize the answers when they come” (Griffin, 1949, IV p.400).

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>Canberra plan submitted to the Canberra design competition by Walter Burley Griffin "City and environs". – commons.wikimedia.org</figcaption></figure>
## Anthroposophic festivals

The 1930s were a golden age for anthroposophy in Australia. There was a growing community of enthusiasts clustered in Castlecrag with the Griffins playing a prominent role. Castlecrag is a waterfront suburb of Sydney on the lower north shore of the city. The suburb was a Griffin design with great attention to environmental awareness.

Marion describes the logic of the Castlecrag plan:

> "The dwellings in this new suburb are designed to harmonize with their natural surroundings. The roads ... flow in curves which please the eye. The houses are inconspicuous, in keeping with the natural harmonies. As the natural flora is restored the houses will nestle into place so that the slopes ... will be as completely garden as they were before ... and in every direction the eye will encounter a garden, instead of a brick wall or an ugly fence ... the general plan ... almost entirely conceals the houses by trees, shrubs and climbers ... Castlecrag not only accepts and makes the most of natural surroundings, but meets all the needs of a human community ... Open spaces are reserved for all time, interior

> parks giving safe play space for the little ones ... yet allowing them intercourse with other children, so useful for development. Park paths connect these reserves, so that delightful walks will be possible even after occupation is complete" (Griffin, 1949, III p. 152-3).

Marion wrote, in the third person, of an important development for anthroposophy in Australia:

> "Then came the momentous decision to have the Anthroposophic Festivals, to awaken a greater consciousness of the significance of the seasons, at Castlecrag. Miss Mitchell, the General Secretary [of the Anthroposophical Society] of Australia, approved ... [Walter] had set aside the Haven Valley for an open-air theatre and Mrs. Griffin was aflame to produce a play in the valley ... In her introduction she had, through Anthroposophic information, been able to relate the play to the realities of the moon realm and received the compliment that her introduction was as delightful as the play" (Griffin, 1949, III p.430).

Anthroposophic festivals involved open air plays and community working bees to set the scene: " ... the valley was astir for weeks with Castlecrag 'Bees,' Griffin working
<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin gardening in the backyard of "Pholiota", Heidelberg, Victoria, 1918.</figcaption></figure>

From Flickr's The Commons – Source: National Library of NSW
like a navvy along with the others,
to his great delight, for if he had not
been destined for architectural
realms his choice of occupation
would certainly have been digging
ditches and breaking stones. A
stretch of the west side of the valley
was terraced and faced with great
stones to form seats for the
audience; the other side and the
head of the valley, a hundred feet
above and down a hundred feet
and more to the harbor, was the
stage the loveliest ever seen. There
were coastal Angophoras
[Australian native flowering trees
and shrubs] great and small with
their ever-changing coloured bark,
one of the eight pillars of heaven in
the Australian Natives' lovely lore
and a magical succession of
blossoming trees, shrubs" (Griffin,
1949, III p.430).

Plays of Goethe, Grimm,
Rabindranath Tagore and
"Mirabooka – the Southern Cross,
Aboriginal Mythology [by] Sylvia
Brose and Bette Ainsworth" were
presented in the Haven Valley
open-air theatre. Marion stated that:
"The basic truths of the mystery
schools are to be found even in
the most ancient and most
primitive lore as we students of
spiritual science learn through
our own experiences and through
our studies whether of Greek or

of aboriginal Australian
mythology" (Griffin, 1949, III
p.430).

Castlecrag landscape features were
incorporated into the narrative of
plays:

"And the rocks! ... That top
promontory where Iphigenia
gave her invocation to the sea –
with its precipitous drop; and the
cave below where in a later play
Everyman was laid in burial. The
winding path down around the
huge leaning tree on whose great
sloping boll the aboriginal
goddess of the honey sweet grass-
tree slept till man, redeemed,
found her and all nature came to
life again, and around to the
Demeter rock, on the terrace
below, where in this same
aboriginal play the Bat, full of
Satanic fervour gloated over the
fall of man as he yielded to
temptation after the Stream led
him down the valley to the
South" (Griffin, 1949, III p.431).

Biodynamic Agriculture

The first public lecture in Australia
to discuss biodynamic agriculture
was presented by Bob Williams in
the Griffin's house at Castlecrag on
26 June, 1938 (L. *Williams, c.* 1984).
Walter had died in India just the
year before, and Marion would
permanently depart Australia for
Chicago, USA, just four months
later (Spathopoulos, 2007).

In her memoirs, Marion wrote
that: "Australia is rapidly being
awakened to the fact that there is
something radically wrong with
the present methods. Scarcely a
week passes without a column or
half-column article about the
serious condition of the soil, about
blights of the products and the
diseases of the animals fed from
the large quantity production
methods attained by chemical
fertilizers and other materialistic
scientific methods some of which
are denuding the districts, some
creating growing deserts whose
dry sands are sweeping on,
constantly increasing the desert
area, some of which are reducing
the fertility of the soil till it is
becoming a pasty concrete-like
substance, its fertility lost. It is a
pity" (Griffin, 1949, III p.337).

Marion looked to Germany for
evidence of the efficacy of
biodynamic farming and her
comments refer to the fact that
anthroposophy was banned by the
Nazis:

"It is interesting to know that in
Germany where Anthroposophy
is banned (where if three people
come together to converse on the
subject in any of its many fields,
the many fields of 20th century

science, they may be handled as
traitors) Anthroposophic
agriculture is required (or was
until they overran the broad fields
of their neighbours) for they
realized the need for a type of
cultivation which will produce
fine crops without reducing the
fertility of the soil. There were
some 35 centres for distributing
the knowledge and materials
required and thousands of acres
were planted bringing forth crops
superior to those under the
chemical methods which are really
destroying the fertility of the soil -
killing the earth" (Griffin, 1949, III
p.337).

Marion stated her view that “the
Germans ... have accepted the
evidence before their eyes of the
spiritual-scientific – Bio-dynamics”
(Griffin, 1949, III p.341). More than
six decades since she wrote those
lines, Germany is still the world
leader in biodynamics as measured
by area under biodynamic
cultivation (Paull, 2011b).

She wrote of her own botanical
work in Australia:

"I spent much time for several
years in listing plants and all
details concerning them in
tabulated form for use in any and
all planting schemes ... tabulated
to show different growth
requirements, as soil, moisture
<figure><img src="image_7.png" /></figure>

Plate 1: *The Essendon Incinerator in Melbourne opened in June 1930, designed by Eric Nicholls, the first of thirteen municipal waste incinerators constructed using Griffin-Nicholls designs (the waste loading door is to the left on the upper level).*

and so on; heights and shapes of
growths; colour of flowers,
foliage, berries and barks ... It is
now being carried on by a couple
of young Anthroposophists who
are working in the new 20th
Century methods of agriculture as
established by Rudolf Steiner,
methods which increase instead
of depleting the fertility of the
soil" (Griffin, 1949, III p.337).

## Lecturing on anthroposophy

It has been asserted that Marion's "intense enthusiasm [for anthroposophy] was not shared by her husband" (Reeves, 1998, p. 64), but this appears to be mistaken. The couple's personal correspondence appearing in Marion's memoirs reveals that Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy were topics raised by both her and Walter in their interpersonal correspondence. They both

participated in anthroposophy discussion groups in Sydney, they both engaged with the Anthroposophy festivals and plays in Castlecrag, and they both read works by Steiner (Griffin, 1949). Walter and Marion each presented lectures on aspects of anthroposophy. Walter wrote to Marion from Lucknow, India, that: "I talked on Anthroposophy for 45 minutes from 1 p.m. to a group studying comparative religions" at a college of the University of Lucknow (letter dated 28 Nov. 1935 in Griffin, 1949, I p.3).

Marion wrote from Castlecrag to Walter that: "Saturday I gave a lecture ... on the Four Ethers in connection with the human organism which I have never touched on in my previous talks; and tied it up with Dr. Pfeiffer's recent publication on the diagnosis of all diseases and their allocation
<figure><img src="image_8.png" /><figcaption>Plate 2: *The Essendon Incinerator*, lower level, with furnaces of the Reverberatory Incinerator Company, Melbourne, on the left.</figcaption></figure>

to special organs by means of
investigating the crystals of the
blood (letter dated 13 April 1936 in
Griffin, 1949,1 p.95). Dr Ehrenfried
Pfeiffer (1899-1961) was, at the time,
coordinating biodynamic
agricultural research at the
Goetheanum, in Dornach,
Switzerland (Paull, 2011a).

From Lucknow, Walter wrote to
Marion that "I was attracted by a
notice, in the Lucknow Publishing
House, of Rom Landau's 'God is my
Adventure'. It has a fine chapter on
Dr Rudolf Steiner and
Anthroposophy" (letter 21 Feb. 1936
in Griffin, 1949, I p.77). Paull, John
(2012) Walter Burley Griffin and
Marion Mahony Griffin, *Architects of
Anthroposophy. Journal of Bio-
Dynamics Tasmania*, 106:20-30.

Walter wrote to Marion that: "I am
reverting to the reading of a Steiner
lecture before getting out of bed in

the morning and have already
encompassed your translation of
*Philosophy, Cosmology and Religion*
received last week" (letter 17 March
1936 in Griffin, 1949, I p.85). Marion
studied the German language and
she translated various of Steiner's
lectures into English.

Marion wrote from Castlecrag to
Walter in Lucknow:

"The other day I ran across in
Steiner that creative
accomplishment is not in vain
because it has not manifested in
material form but that it persists
in the etheric realms where it is
accessible to creative thinkers and
continues to serve human
progress. This can be a real
comfort to architects whose work
differs from that of other artists in
being dependent on others for its
material fruition" (letter 17 April
1936 in Griffin, 1949, I p.101a).
<figure><img src="image_9.png" /></figure>

Plate 3: *The Goetheanum, in Switzerland, designed by Rudolf Steiner, headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society.*

There were weekly Sunday evening group meetings, attended by the Griffins along with their business partner, architect Eric Nicholls, where the writings of Steiner were discussed. Such works included Steiner's New Art of Education (1928) in which he laid down the foundations of Waldorf Education (Griffin, 1949).

The first four General Secretaries of the Anthroposophic Society in Australia were colleagues, including even next-door neighbours, of the Griffins. The inaugural General Secretary was Edith Williams* (General Secretary from c.1926-1935), followed by Lute Drummond (from 1935-1948), architect and colleague Eric Nicholls (from 1948-1966), and biodynamic pioneer Robert (Bob) Williams* (from 1966-1983) (Mazzone, 1995).

## Anthroposophic architecture & the Goetheanum

It seems that Marion underestimated Rudolf Steiner as an architect. Marion wrote an oddly mistaken, and misinformed, account of the most important building designed by Steiner – the Goetheanum at Dornach, Switzerland (Plate 3). Just what she based her comments on is unclear, but it was not personal experience. She wrote:

> "So far as I know the only attempt to give architectural form to this consciousness is the present portentous 'Goetheanum', centre of the General Anthroposophic Society, the work of its founder, Rudolf Steiner, Ph.D. ... This threatening scull-like [sic] structure in Switzerland puts the stern and forbidding aspect of the work of this age before the
society's European students and
workers which the present seems
to justify. However it is just as
possible to beings of intellectual
aspirations to accept the
necessities of materialization
without accepting the ugliness it
reveals when man succumbs to
materialism's thankless rigidity as
a taskmaster. Meaning and
interest given to this solid state of
incarnation can transform it in life
and in architecture into the
servant of new beauty instead of a
one-eyed tyrant" (Griffin, 1949, 1
p.180).

Rather than being 'the only
attempt', Rudolf Steiner designed
at least twelve buildings at
Dornach. They were designed and
built in the 1910s and 1920s – with
reinforced concrete as a favoured
material. Steiner's buildings
include residential houses, a guest
house, the natural science centre
where biodynamics research was
managed by Pfeiffer, and the
Goetheanum itself. The
Goetheanum could be described
variously as magnificent,
monumental or monolithic, but
Marion's 'portentous' does not hit
the mark at all, and nor do her
comments of 'skull-like', 'stern' and
'forbidding aspect'. As photographs
can attest, and a first-hand visit will
readily confirm, the Goetheanum is

a light-filled building which is a joy
to visit, to explore and to work in,
and the play of light, shadows and
colours both inside and out is a
delight. Marion's Goetheanum
comments appear to be an odd
lapse of judgement.

Conclusion

Walter Burley Griffin and Marion
Mahony Griffin were intimately
entwined in the early development
and proliferation of anthroposophy
in Australia. Their introduction to
Steiner occurred several years after
Steiner's death, nevertheless,
anthroposophy became for them a
lived experience which was woven
into the fabric of their lives and
thoughts. Through their reading,
correspondence, recruitment
activities, lectures, study groups,
translation of Steiner, and
Anthroposophic Festivals, the
thoughts and insights of Rudolf
Steiner became a core part of who
they were and how they lived their
lives. In the joys of projects realized
and in the trials and tribulations of
projects that never materialized,
anthroposophy gave them succour.
It is now eight decades since the
accomplished architects, Walter
Griffin, Marion Griffin and their
partner in architecture, Eric
Nicholls, joined the
Anthroposophic Society in
Australia (in 1931,1930 and 1934 respectively). They studied and promoted anthroposophy while working together collaboratively to produce distinctive and distinguished architecture around Australia. Anthroposophic practice, studies and research continue in Australia with such recent books as a fresh biography of Rudolf Steiner (Whitehead, 2010) and a new study of Waldorf Education (Mazzone & Laing, 2010).

## Acknowledgments

Thank you to Richard Ennis, curator of the Incinerator Gallery, Essendon for a gracious and informative tour of the Griffin-Nicholls Incinerator and to Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, Archives, of the Art Institute of Chicago for a digital version of Marion Mahony Griffin's typescript memoir, *The Magic of America*.

**Note:** * There are two unrelated 'Robert Williams' in the early history of anthroposophy in Australia. One was married to Edith, the first General Secretary of the ASA, and the other was a later General Secretary of the ASA, was married to Louise, and was an early advocate of biodynamics.*

## References

Griffin, M. M. (1949). *The Magic of America* (c.1648 pp; MS typescript; The Art Institute of Chicago, Ryerson & Burnham Libraries (Archives), Chicago, IL; www.artic.edu).

Mazzone, A., & Laing, S. (2010). *A Passionate Schooling: Key Ideas Behind Steiner Waldorf Education*. Adelaide: Creative Living Australia.

Mazzone, A. B. (1995). *Islands of Culture – Waldorf (Rudolf Steiner) Schools in Australia: Their Origin and Development* (Masters thesis). Adelaide: The University of Adelaide.

McGregor, A. (2009). *Grand Obsessions: The Life and Work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin*. Melbourne: Lantern.

New York Times. (1912). *American designs splendid new capital for Australia*. New York Times (2 June).

Paull, J. (2011a). *Biodynamic Agriculture: The journey from Koberwitz to the World, 1924-1938*. Journal of Organic Systems, 6(1), 27-41.

Paull, J. (2011b). *Organics Olympiad 2011: Global Indices of Leadership in Organic Agriculture*. Journal of Social and Development Sciences, 1(4), 144-150.

Reeves, S. (1998). *Incineration and incantations*. In J. Turnbull & P. Y. Navaretti (Eds.). *The Griffins in Australia and India* (pp. 64-72). Melbourne: The Miegunyah Press.

Spathopoulos, W. (2007). *The Crag: Castlecrag 1924-1938*. Blackheath, NSW: Brandl & Schlesinger.

Steiner, R. (1928). *The New Art of Education: Thirteen Lectures given at Ilkley (August, 1923)*. London: Anthroposophical Publishing Company.

Whitehead, A. (2010). *Rudolf Steiner: Journey of a Grail Knight Warrior*. Blackheath, NSW: Golden Beetle Books.

Williams, Louise (attrib.). (c. 1984). *Robert Henry Williams*: (3 pp; unpublished typescript MS; private collection).