Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

The Moonee Valley Library Service has a new biography Grand Obsessions : the life and work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. Walter Burley Griffin won an International competition to design the nation's capitol Canberra. The book investigates their early life in the United States and the influence of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in developing their philosophy on the role of the environment in their architectural practice, their time spent in Canberra and the challenges of taking creative ideas and a vision into the reality of a built environment. Walter Burley Griffin's experiences in Australia have striking similarities to another architect Jorn Utzon who also won an International competition for the design of the new opera house in Sydney in 1957.

The Walter Burley Griffin Incinerator in Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds was built in 1929 from designs by W. Burley Griffin and is one of the few surviving examples of his work. In the 1920's, incinerators were seen as a solution to shortages of suitable waste lands within municipalities for the tipping of household refuse. The decision by Essendon Council to build one caused much controversy, mainly due to the perceived unsightliness. The method of waste disposal was developed by local Moonee Ponds engineer John Boadle and produced pollutant free emissions. It ceased operations as an incinerator in 1942. For more information go to Sam Merrifield Library 's Local History Room where the vertical file contains newspaper articles, journal articles about the iconic Incinerator.