Prairie Style and Mahony and Griffin

“(Griffin was) America’s (and perhaps the world’s) first woman architect who needed no apology in a world of men.”

– Reyner Banham, Architectural Review (1973)1

Born in 1871 in Chicago, Marion Mahony Griffin was an American artist and considered the first licensed female architect. Griffin was one of the trailblazers of the prairie school architecture developed in and around the midwestern United States.2 Her architectural career spanned three continents and was largely impactful in all three. Mahony’s work in the United States was centered and developed around the prairie style itself, while in Australia and India, her projects adhered to the early stages of democracy while reflecting the prairie’s principle of focusing on native materials and landscape.

Formation: Beginning As an Architect

Born to a teaching mother and a journalist father, she was first introduced to the crafts of architecture through her cousin, architect Dwight Perkins. Although he inspired her to pursue architecture in her education, the first stepping stone could have been her growing up surrounded by the endless suburban landscapes of Winnetka. As prairie stands for, the emphasis on nature and its qualities being represented through architecture can be perceived as a moral that took its roots in her childhood in the suburbs of Illinois.

After working under Dwight’s guidance for about two years post-graduation, Griffin started working with Frank Lloyd Wright, probably the most significantly mentioned architect whenever Prairie School or architecture, in general, is mentioned. She went on to work with Wright for about 14 years after that, designing and executing constructions that took place in various locations. As suggested by another member of Wright’s staff, Barry Byrne, “(Mahony was) the most talented member of Frank Lloyd Wright’s staff, and I doubt that the studio, then or later, produced anyone superior.”3

Griffin and Prairie School: More at Stake Than Known

A founding member of the Prairie style of architecture, Griffin was the one to define the trademark aesthetics that are associated to prairie: stained glass, murals, mosaics, linens, furnishings, and more. The prairie school came to light in the 19th century and was exceptional with how its abstracted elements and lines defined the coming age of modernist architecture. It was the beginning of Americans developing their style in the architectural realm, breaking the decades-long history of being influenced by European designs.

Despite popular opinion, Frank Lloyd Wright is not the person to take sole responsibility for creating the magnificent aura around the prairie and its influence. According to proofs, as well as widely known yet less openly discussed controversies, Mahony was the one to not only establish the framework for Prairie School but also give the maximum inputs for spreading it around the world.4 As publicized by Byrne, Griffin would win most of the informal competitions held by Wright in their office, and yet Wright would go ahead and reprimand anyone who took the initiative to give the due credits of the drawings to Mahony.3 Although widely celebrated later on, Griffin remained unknown for just how much she contributed to Prairie School and the world of architecture as a whole for the longest period.

Mahony Griffin: Legacy

In 1911, Griffin married architect Walter Burley Griffin whom she had met in Wright’s office. Together they established their architectural practice and collaborated on hundreds of projects located in Australia, India, and the United States. They designed the Capitol Theater in Melbourne, Australia in 1924; saving a core piece of Sydney’s Middle Cove from getting thrown towards runaway development. They made sure to intersect Australia’s natural beauty through this piece of work.5

Griffin’s return to the States only took place in her late 60s, after the death of her husband; although at that point she had taken almost complete retirement from her architectural career. Instead of engaging in design activities, she spent the next two decades creating “The Magic of America”, a humongous 1400 pages and 650 illustrations long volume documenting the creations of her and Walter. A manuscript of the same was submitted to the Art Institute of Chicago circa 1949 and was digitally published later in 2007.6

Although much of Mahony’s dedication and contribution to the world of Architecture remains largely unspoken of, her legacy shines through her commitment to enhancing local intricacies and links to the native landscapes, especially regarding the Prairie School.

REFERENCE LIST:

IMAGES :

1. WordPress. [Photograph]. (https://historyrat.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/marion-mahony-griffin-breaking-through/)
2. Griffin, M. (1912). View from Summit of Mount Ainslie. [Painting.] (National Archive of Australia)
3. An image of the Wasmuth Portfolio drawn by Marion Mahony. [Photograph]. (Wikimedia Commons.) (https://daily.jstor.org/marion-mahony-griffin-prairie-school-architect/)
4. Gollings, J. (1999). Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin, Capitol Theatre, Melbourne, Australia, 1924. [Photograph]. (https://pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/marion-mahony-griffin/)
5. The Magic of America. [Illustration]. (The Art Institute of Chicago) (https://archive.artic.edu/magicofamerica/index.html)

BIBLIOGRAPHY/EXTERNAL LINKS :

1. Banham, R. (1973). Death and Life of the Prairie School. Architectural Review, 154.
2. Allaback, S. (2008). The First American Women Architects. Illinois, USA: University of Illinois Press. 
3. Drexler, A. (1963). The Drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Vol. 22, no. 2, pp. – 109. [Review by Barry Byrne.]
4. Gardini, A. (2023). Marion Mahony Griffin, Prairie School Architect. JSTOR Daily. Available at: https://daily.jstor.org/marion-mahony-griffin-prairie-school-architect/ [Accessed: 18 September 2024.]
5. Birmingham, E. Pioneering Women of American Architecture – Marion Mahony Griffin. Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation. Available at: https://pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/marion-mahony-griffin/ [Accessed: 20 September 2024.] 
6. The Magic of America: Marion Mahony Griffin. The Art Institute of Chicago. Available at: https://archive.artic.edu/magicofamerica/moa.html [Accessed: 20 September 2024.]