The Magic of Australia: Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture Live From Canberra

Greetings from the Shine Dome in Canberra, where  Caroline Pidcock, Architect and Chair of the Living Future Institute Australia, is presenting the centennial Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture. You can contribute to the conversation and submit questions to be answered during the Q&A session via the Livechat facility. The webcast is provided by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

Caroline Pidcock is an architect with genuine interest and experience in sustainable built environments. This has been developed and enhanced through her involvement in a wide range of professional, academic and other commitments. This includes current roles as Chair of the Living Future Institute Australia and Carriageworks, and past roles as lecturer/tutor at a number of Universities.

"The Magic of Australia" in the title of  Caroline talk is a reference to Marion's book The Magic of America, the surviving drafts of which were placed on the web by the Art Institute of Chicago in 2007. This work ranges over issues of democracy and spiritualism, as well as architecture and land use planning. Similarly tonight's talk ranges over issues of democracy, education, the Internet and equity in Australia.

I asked  Caroline about the role of the NBN in the built environment. She replied that the NBN would allow use of the existing buildings in regional Australia, rather than confining development to the cities.

The annual Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture, instituted in 2009, has attracted capacity audiences. The Lectures have focussed on particular facets of Marion’s personality, architectural career in the USA, Australia and India, creative works as architect, illustrator and graphic artist, passionate life interests and her marriage and partnership with Walter Burley Griffin. Recently, Griffin scholars have been publishing much more and new material about Marion and her achievements. Her life with Walter and her role in producing the winning plan for the National Capital are bound to be of keen popular interest in Canberra’s 2013 Centenary celebrations.

The Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture is a Centenary of Canberra project, proudly presented by the Walter Burley Griffin Society Inc., the ACT Government and the Australian Government Your Community Heritage Grant.

A Symposium The Griffins’ Canberra: 100 years, will be held here, Friday 16 August 2013, 12.45pm – 4.30pm, The Shine Dome, Australian Academy of Science, Gordon Street, Canberra