Marion Mahony Griffin - Infinite Women

Born: 14 February 1871, United States
Died: 10 August 1961
Country most active: United States, Australia
Also known as: NA

The following is excerpted from Infinite Women founder Allison Tyra’s book The View from the Hill: Women Who Made Their Mark After 40.

Marion Mahony Griffin spent 14 years going unacknowledged as a Frank Lloyd Wright studio architect before leaving to partner with her husband professionally as well as romantically. Having established a reputation, at least internally, for her beautiful drawings of architectural designs, she married Walter Burley Griffin the year she turned 40.
When she passed the Illinois State licensure exam for architects in 1898 at age 26, she became the first woman in the United States to be professionally licensed, having already become the second woman to receive a degree from MIT’s school of architecture. A colleague observed that Mahony was “the most talented member of Frank Lloyd Wright’s staff, and I doubt that the studio, then or later, produced anyone superior.” The same man recalled that Wright sharply reprimanded anyone who referred to “Miss Mahony’s design” when her work appeared in Wright’s commissions.
Although she completed some independent commissions during her years with Wright, it was only once she became an equal partner in business with her husband that her brilliance began to shine on her, rather than a man like Wright stealing the reflected glow for himself. Together, the Griffins collaborated on hundreds of projects in the US, India, and Australia, the last of which where she is still remembered for their design of the Australia Federal Capital in Canberra. Although her husband’s name was on the entry, “A British critic, commenting on the fact that an unknown American architect had won such a distinguished prize, said that the beauty of the renderings probably had a great deal to do with the judges’ decision to award the prize to Griffin’s plan.” Their work in Australia also included town plans, landscape designs, houses, restaurants, theaters, and college, notably Melbourne’s Capitol Theatre, which is still in operation as of this writing. Although she ostensibly retired in her 60s, Griffin continued to lecture, design, and write for years afterward.