Basic HTML Version
design
mag |
17
Wright, Boyd and beyond
The twentieth century saw the rise of eight-storey brick
office buildings. Cities such as Chicago and Melbourne
competed fiercely in the late 1800s for premier status
as the most progressive cities of the world, not to
mention having the tallest buildings of the day.
With the advent of modernism came new construction
technologies such as steel and concrete and curtain
wall construction technologies but brick never lost its
viability as a desirable building material.
Chicago’s greatest architectural son, Frank Lloyd Wright,
took the American people, and for that matter the rest
of the new world, on a journey to express in our
dwellings what it is to be a free and democratic society.
Lofty ideals were explored in floor plans, horizontal lines,
and honest materials such as timber, brick and glass,
all within the reach of the ordinary family. His Usonian
House was the embodiment of democratic values. It
not only reignited Wright’s flagging, controversial career,
but also provided a model for affordable housing for
the vast numbers of returning serviceman and women
ready to start families after the Second World War.
Wright built 140 Usonian Houses from 1936 until his
death in 1959.This was part of a vision of housing close
to the earth in a natural setting – typically on a one
acre lot that provided the most healthful environment
for ordinary families to live in at an affordable price.
All superfluous elements were eliminated from the
design or were built in, such as furniture, book cases
and lighting.The strong use of natural honest materials
of oiled timber paneling, exposed brick structure and
glass draw direct reference from the natural world.
Interiors are dominated by the central hearth – tall
masonry fireplaces of unadorned brick or stone that
provide an anchor for open living spaces.
Australia’s most famous architect of the 1950s and ‘60s,
Robin Boyd, was renowned not just as an architect but
an author, commentator, critic and public educator
and leader in Melbourne’s Modern Architecture
movement. More a humanist than a modernist, Boyd’s
siting of often quite modest houses created wonderful
architectural gems in the Australian landscape context.
These houses are well and truly anchored to their sites
with natural brick flooring and slab heating
(experimental in its time) which gives a sense of being
‘earthed’ immediately on crossing the threshold. His
houses have an emphasis on exposed materials of
timber, brick and glass. Climate control was achieved
by the clever use of ‘parasol’ roofs and ventilation paths
across the houses or central oasis gardens that create
a sense of water and green at the heart of the house.
Important views were captured to achieve visual links
to the site’s natural context. Expressed timber, brick,
stone and glass are the core materials of Boyd’s
buildings.These are honest unadorned materials,
building blocks as old as civilisation itself.
These houses speak to us. Clearly, Robin Boyd was
fiercely democratic in his views, believing it was
everyone’s natural right to “affordable beautiful
housing. Housing is more than just shelter it’s the place
of sanctuary and reflects the values of a civilisation”.
Karl Fender, outgoing AIA president, who worked for
Boyd until his untimely death at 52 in 1971, spoke of
Boyd’s passionate belief that design could enrich
people’s lives and of his dedication to communicating
this to the general community.
Ideas that delight
Between the wars, brickwork was the source of highly
decorative building ornamentation and articulation
on important buildings such as hotels, schools,
commercial buildings and large industrial buildings
such as Ford Motor Company and the Commonwealth
Wool Stores.This art has all but been lost in the
standardisation of the mass housing market that
occurred in the 1960s and ‘70s when construction was
streamlined to minimise delays and costs.
The advent of mass housing spreading out into new
suburbs of the late 1940s to the 1970s was the
‘elephant stamp’ version of the design principles
established in the works of great architectural
experiments such as the Usonian houses and Boyd’s
Small Homes Advisory Service. Ordinary materials were
coupled with good design to express great ideas that
delight as well as providing the basic need for shelter.
Australia’s love affair with the brick veneer was the story
of the suburbs. It was the ideal of family life, living in
garden surrounds that provide the optimum shelter
and a setting to raise children. It was also the notion
that it was possible for every working family to own a
quarter acre lot.These values were supported by
successive governments which fostered a social
democratic public policy platform that created a
stable economy and delivered affordable housing for
the masses.
Melbourne and Sydney’s middle-ring suburbs were
created during this period. Massive construction took
place to meet the pent-up demand for decent,
affordable housing.