Advisory Panel
The Advisory Panel is made up of people from a variety of backgrounds, including architecture and landscape architecture, planning, public relations and marketing, the media and environment and academia. The Panel will provide a sounding board for the development of ideas and programs as well as allow access by the Authority to an increased field of expertise and high calibre experience.
Amongst the Panel are two well known Walter Burley Griffin scholars, James Birrell, who will chair the Panel, and Professor James Weirick. Both have published works on the American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, who won the original design competition for the national capital in 1912.
The Panel also includes Romaldo Giurgola, the internationally renowned architect whose firm, Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp Architects, designed Parliament House. Mr Giurgola has now made Canberra his home.
For over a decade, Geraldine O'Brien has been reporting on heritage, environment and planning matters in Sydney for the Sydney Morning Herald. She is one of Australia's leading specialised urban affairs journalists.
Mr Michael Ball brings to the Panel his considerable experience in the advertising industry. As one of Australia's most successful advertising agents he has a unique blend of creativity and business acumen.
The creation of the Panel is the first step in the Authority's public consultation process.
James Birrell is Chair of the Parliamentary Zone Advisory Panel. Mr Birrell is also a member of the National Capital Authority.
Mr Birrell is the author of the first biography on Burley Griffin, Walter Burley Griffin, published in 1964. He has written extensively on architecture and planning as well as contributed to a number of joint writings over the years.
Mr Birrell is a retired architect with long experience of public practice in Australia. He was Chief Architect for the Brisbane City Council. He also planned eleven shires and one city in South East Queensland.
As well as his work in public practice, Mr Birrell has undertaken a number of private developments, including marinas, urban subdivisions and new town plans.
His town planning experience has also taken him to Papua New Guinea where he worked on town centre redevelopments and precinct planning.
Mr Birrell has received a number of awards from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.
Romaldo Giurgola AO was born and educated in Rome, graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1948.
He later taught architecture at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania and in 1969 was appointed the prestigious Ware Professor of Architecture at Columbia University in New York, where he was also Chairman of the School of Architecture.
In 1958, Mr Giurgola started his own firm in partnership with Ehrman B Mitchell Jr, in Philadelphia. Under Mr Giurgola's design leadership the firm has completed over 200 projects in 100 cities throughout the world.
As a principal design architect for Australia's Parliament House, Mr Giurgola has been Senior Partner of the Australian firm of Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp Architects since its inception in 1980. Now residing permanently in Canberra, he provides design and leadership for the firm's projects, both in Australia and Asia. Recent projects have included university buildings in Canberra, Adelaide and Sydney, and the campus master plan and design for the fifty-two building Singapore Armed Forces Military Institute in Singapore.
In addition, Mr Giurgola has undertaken many urban design and masterplanning projects. He has received numerous awards for his work during his career, notably the American Institute of Architects' Gold Medal in 1982, the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture from the University of Virginia in 1987 and in 1988 the Distinguished Professor Award from the Associated Collegiate of Architecture Schools in the US and the Gold Medal of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.
James Weirick is Professor and Head of the School of Landscape Architecture at the University of NSW.
Born in 1949, he is a graduate of Harvard University and has taught at the Boston Architectural Centre, University of Massachusetts/Boston, University of Canberra and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
He has carried out extensive historical research work into the life and work of Walter and Marion Griffin. His interest in the Griffins, which extends over 30 years, was initiated by his uncle, Colin C Day, who worked as Walter Burley Griffin's last articled pupil and who lived with the Griffins at Castlecrag in the 1930s.
Most recently Professor Weirick was a contributor to the exhibition and publication Beyond Architecture: Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin - America, Australia, India curated by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
Geraldine O'Brien has written on architecture and heritage for The Sydney Morning Herald for the last 10 years.
She has also edited the paper's Arts section and has been a feature writer.
In 1991, she received the President's Award from the Royal Australian Institute of architects' NSW Chapter for "an outstanding contribution to the architectural profession".
The following year she won the inaugural Sponsor's Award from the NSW National Trust for "an outstanding contribution to heritage awareness and protection".
This year, Geraldine began a regular Saturday column, Urban Eyes, reporting on development, architectural and conservation issues across Sydney.
Michael Ball is a resident of Sydney and the Southern Highlands. He is currently a Director on a number of Boards, including: David Jones Ltd, Sydney Airports Corporation, National Trust of NSW, and the Duke of Edinburgh Award in Australia.
Mr Ball is also Chairman of a number of committees and organisations.
Mr Ball retired in 1996 from a career in advertising during which he was Vice Chairman of Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide Inc and Chairman of the Ball Partnership. Mr Ball founded the Australian arm of Ogilvy and Mather in 1967.
He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School and Melbourne University. He is married and has four sons.
Mr Ball's interests include the environment, aviculture, agriculture, reading, skiing and golf.