Christopher Vernon will survey Walter and Marion Griffin’s architecture and landscape architecture. After early work with Frank Lloyd Wright in their native Chicago, the couple launched their collaborative practice in 1909. Winning an international competition for the design of Australia’s capital city, Canberra, prompted their relocation "down under" in 1914. After more than two decades of successful practice in Australia, the pair ended their careers with an array of projects in India. In his presentation, Vernon will emphasise the cross-cultural transfer and transformation of the Griffins' design ideals and approach across the disparate "worlds" of the United States, Australia and India.

Vernon is an associate professor in the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts at the University of Western Australia. His scholarship focuses upon architecture and landscape as collective expressions of identity. More specifically, he is a leading scholar on the lives and works of the Griffins, lecturing and publishing widely on the subject. Vernon has also served on the Australian government’s National Capital Authority, an agency which ensures Canberra’s ongoing development is sympathetic with the city’s status as the national capital.