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Sydney Architecture Images- Northern Suburbs Walter Burley Griffin Incinerator, Willoughby |
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architect |
Walter Burley Griffin |
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location |
Willoughby |
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date |
c. 1930 |
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style |
Inter-War Art Deco |
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construction |
stone cladding, render |
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type |
Utility |
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The building is evidence of the movement during the 1920s and 1930s by
local government of using incineration as a means of garbage disposal in
the face of the shortage of suitable land for rubbish tips within their
municipal boundaries and major public concerns about health.
The incinerator was built for Willoughby Council by the Reverberatory Incinerator & Engineering Co., which possibly installed the majority of municipal incinerators across Australia. Its location on the hillside reflects the gravity feed principle and drying out of garbage before burning that the incinerators worked off. The design of the building, as with many of the other incinerators that Griffin designed, is an expression of the movement of the garbage from its arrival at the top of the site, its destruction moving through the building, and the removal of useable clinkers resulting from the incinerated garbage at the bottom. The Willoughby Incinerator, with its series of roofs, was different to many of the others, which had continuous roofs. The close proximity to residential areas is testament to the reverberatory process of garbage destruction, which dramatically reduced ash and fallout. This possibly also influenced the design of the building in that it had to be pleasant to look at and not "industrial". The external detailing reflects Walter Burley Griffin's belief in the aesthetic potential of industrial buildings. This is seen in the decoration and in the use of materials to relate it to its site. The building is made lively by the contrast of the stone walls and the hard geometries of the cement render and embellishments, and is representative of the Griffins' distinctive aesthetic philosophies. The stone may have actually been quarried on or near the site, thus tying it closer to the place. The large expanses of metal framed glazing indicate that the building no longer functions as an incinerator, and is now being used for purposes that require natural lighting and ventilation. This is evidence also of the way in which the disposal of garbage in municipalities has changed since the building was constructed. |
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www.sydneyarchitecture.com |
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links |
http://www.teachingheritage.nsw.edu.au/b_expressing/wwalterburley.html |