Location
Castlecrag is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 8 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby.
Castlecrag is a suburb of historical significance that is bounded to the north, east and south by Middle Harbour and to the west by Eastern Valley Way. (wikipedia)
History
Castlecrag was originally planned by the husband and wife team, Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin who named the suburb after a towering crag of rock overlooking Middle Harbour, known locally as Edinburgh Castle. The Griffins came to Castlecrag in 1925 after tiring of the politics surrounding implementation of their designs for Australia’s capital city, Canberra.
Many early homes in Castlecrag were built using natural stone to blend into the environment, a common practice in architecture of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which was concerned with creating “the human touch” as distinct from mass production. Other homes of this period were built with bricks using Walter Burley Griffin’s patented Knitlock system. Historically, Castlecrag was noted in the early 20th century as an experiment in communal and community planning and living, and for the liberal intellectual, Theosophical, Anthroposophical and Natural history views of its inhabitants.
Castle Crag Post Office opened on 1 September 1937 and was renamed Castlecrag in 1941.
The Griffins’ vision
In 1921, Walter Burley Griffin (architect and landscape architect) and Marion Mahony Griffin (architect and artist) began designing Castlecrag a model residential suburb that was sympathetic to the Australian natural environment. Upon arriving in Australia in 1913, Walter Burley Griffin was struck by the natural beauty of the Sydney Harbour, and at the first Australian town planning conference; he emphasised that best planning practice should respect the natural character of the site’s landscape. Griffin formed the Greater Sydney Development Association (GSDA) together with several investors (Griffin holding more than 50% of the voting rights). This company purchased and developed Castlecrag with Griffin as managing director/lead planner. Griffin’s design for Castlecrag was based on careful planning, respectful of the particular site, and he was dismayed by the layout of Sydney’s suburbs, which he considered to be unimaginative (grid plan) and unsympathetic towards the environment. Both Griffin and Mahony Griffin firmly believed that development should not lead to the destruction of natural features. This concept was original for the time and is considered to have been influenced by the Garden City movement.
Architecture
During Castlecrag’s early years, houses were either designed by Griffin and Mahony Griffin (fifteen were built) or approved by them. The houses were characterised by concrete block and stone found at the site, material which matched the natural surroundings (three houses were built using knitlock only). The use of these materials facilitated the quick and affordable construction of the houses. The Griffins’ designs boasted innovations such as the kitchens’ pass-through pantries and twin sinks, the close-to ground floor levels and the picture window.
Some aspects of the Griffins’ houses in Castlecrag were unusual and unconventional such as the treatment of stonework, the window details and the flat roofs. Flat roofs were favoured over pitched roofs as they prevented the obstruction of views, provided vantage points where one could experience a view of the landscape and allowed for a rooftop garden. Another atypical feature of the Griffin/Mahony Griffin houses was the unusual location of the kitchens and bathrooms. These rooms were situated at the front of the house even though convention was to have these rooms at the back of the house. The houses were designed in such a way so that the living rooms located at the rear; faced a view or park on the inner side of the allotment. Their houses did not have front fences and built structures were minimal within ten metres of each property. This, in addition to many of the houses being single story and boasting colours of the natural surroundings exemplifies the Griffins’ objective which did not involve establishing imposing and artificial built structures, but rather to have the buildings blend in with the environment; retaining the bush setting. Thus, the Griffins’ designs were remarkably different from the uniform designs at the time – houses with red, pitched roofs – which Griffin detested.
There has since been development in Castlecrag that has not respected the Griffin ideals. However, the Willoughby City Council is aware of the importance of Castlecrag and has imposed controls over development in the area. The purpose of the controls is to preserve the character of Castlecrag, encouraging the construction of buildings, which respect the original houses designed by Griffin and Mahony Griffin, and the natural landscape. (wikipedia)
Places of Interest
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