ALL MATERIALS ARE FOR PUBLICATION ON OR AFTER MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2002

MEDIA KIT ANNOUNCING THE 2002 PRITZKER ARCHITECTURE PRIZE LAUREATE Photo Booklet The photo booklet contains a photo of and a selection of full color reproductions of his works. This does not represent a complete catalogue of the Laureate’s work, but rather a representative sampling. They are all 200 line screen lithographs printed on high gloss stock. These replace the need for using black & white continuous tone prints. They may be re-photographed using 85 line screens for black & white newspaper reproduction, and they can be re-sized, either 50% larger or smaller with no degradation in the image quality or moire effect. The same holds true for the B&W images in the media text booklet. For color reproduction, you have a choice of digital scanning, requesting color slides or a CD of hi-res images. You may also download image files. We can provide high resolution (1200 dpi) TIFF or EPS files of the images using ZIP or HQX archive formats for uploading directly to your FTP server or via e-mail. Call the Media Office listed below. Media Text Booklet Previous Laureates of the Pritzker Prize ...... 2 Media Release Announcing the 2002 Laureate ...... 3-6 Members of the Pritzker Jury ...... 7 Citation from Pritzker Jury...... 8 Comments from Individual Jurors ...... 9 About Glenn Murcutt...... 10-17 Description of Simpson-Lee House ...... 17-18 Fact Summary – Chronology of Works, Exhibits, Honors...... 19-22 Drawings and B&W Photographs of Murcutt’s Works ...... 23-28 2002 Ceremony Site – Rome, Italy ...... 29-30 History of the Pritzker Prize ...... 31-32 Note to Editors: For complete details on the history of the Pritzker Prize and previous laureates, see www.pritzkerprize.com. MEDIA CONTACT The Hyatt phone: 310-273-8696 or Media Information Office 310-278-7372 Attn: Keith H. Walker fax: 310-273-6134 8802 Ashcroft Avenue e-mail: [email protected] Los Angeles, CA 90048-2402 http:/www.pritzkerprize.com

Unless otherwise noted, all photographs/drawings are courtesy of Glenn Murcutt. Permission is granted for media use in relation to the Pritzker Architecture Prize. They may not be used for any other advertising or publicity purpose without permission from the individual photographers. Photo credit lines should appear next to published photos as indicated in these media materials.

1 PREVIOUS PRITZKER ARCHITECTURE PRIZE LAUREATES 1979 of the United States of America presented at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. 1980 Luis Barragán of Mexico presented at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. 1981 James Stirling of the presented at the National Building Museum, Washington, D.C. 1982 of the United States of America presented at The Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois 1983 Ieoh Ming Pei of the United States of America presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York 1984 of the United States of America presented at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 1985 of Austria presented at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA 1986 Gottfried Boehm of Germany presented at Goldsmiths’ Hall, , 1987 Kenzo Tange of presented at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas 1988 of the United States and of Brazil presented at The Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois 1989 Frank O. Gehry of the United States of America presented at Todai-ji Buddhist Temple, Nara, Japan 1990 of Italy presented at Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy 1991 of the United States of America presented at Palacio de Iturbide, Mexico City, Mexico 1992 Alvaro Siza of presented at the Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago, Illinois 1993 of Japan presented at Prague Castle, Czech Republic 1994 of France presented at The Commons, Columbus, Indiana 1995 of Japan presented at the Grand Trianon and the Palace of Versailles, France 1996 of presented at the construction site of The Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA 1997 of Norway presented at the construction site of The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain 1998 of Italy presented at The White House, Washington, D.C. 1999 Sir Norman Foster of the United Kingdom presented at the Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany 2000 of The Netherlands presented at The Jerusalem Archaeological Park, Israel 2001 Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron of Switzerland presented at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Virginia

2 For publication on or after Monday, April 15, 2002

Australian Becomes the 2002 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize

Los Angeles, CA — An Australian architect, Glenn Murcutt, who works as a sole practitioner, primarily designing environmentally sensitive modernist houses that respond to their surroundings and climate, as well as being scrupulously energy conscious, has been named to receive the 2002 Pritzker Architecture Prize. The 66 year old Murcutt lives and has his office in , but travels the world teaching and lecturing to university students. In announcing the jury’s choice, Thomas J. Pritzker, president of The Hyatt Foundation, said, “Glenn Murcutt is a stark contrast to most of the highly visible of the day — his works are not large scale, the materials he works with, such as corrugated iron, are quite ordinary, certainly not luxurious; and he works alone. He acknowledges that his modernist inspiration has its roots in the work of Mies van der Rohe, but the Nordic tradition of Aalto, the Australian wool shed, and many other architects and designers such as Chareau, have been important to him as well. Add in the fact that all his designs are tempered by the land and climate of his native Australia, and you have the uniqueness that the jury has chosen to celebrate. While his primary focus is on houses, one of his public buildings completed in 1999, the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre, has achieved acclaim as well, critics calling it ‘a masterwork’.” Pritzker Prize jury chairman, J. Carter Brown, commented, “Glenn Murcutt occupies a unique place in today’s architectural firmament. In an age obsessed with celebrity, the glitz of our ‘starchitects,’ backed by large staffs and copious public relations support, dominate the headlines. As a total contrast, our laureate works in a one-person office on the other side of the world from much of the architectural attention, yet has a waiting list of clients, so intent is he to give each project his personal best. He is an innovative architectural technician who is capable of turning his sensitivity to the environment and to locality into forthright, totally honest, non-showy works of art. Bravo!” The formal presentation of what has come to be known throughout

3 the world as architecture's highest honor will be made at a ceremony on May 29, 2002 at Michelangelo’s Campidoglio in the heart of Rome. At that time, Murcutt will be presented with a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion. Murcutt is the first Australian to become a Pritzker Laureate, and the 26th honoree since the prize was established in 1979. His selection continues what has become a ten-year trend of laureates from the international community. In fact, architects from other countries chosen for the prize now far outnumber the U.S. recipients, nineteen to seven. Bill Lacy, who is an architect spoke as the executive director of the Pritzker Prize, quoting from the jury citation which states, “His is an architecture of place, architecture that responds to the landscape and the climate. His houses are fine tuned to the land and the weather. He uses a variety of materials, from metal to wood to glass, stone, brick and concrete — always selected with a consciousness of the amount of energy it took to produce the materials in the first place.” Lacy elaborated, “Murcutt’s thoughtful aproach to the design of such houses as the Marika-Alderton House in Eastern Arnhem Land; the Marie Short House in ; and the Magney House at Bingie Bingie, South Coast, New South Wales, are testament that aesthetics and ecology can work together to bring harmony to man’s intrusion in the environment.” Ada Louise Huxtable, architecture critic and member of the jury, commented further saying, “Glenn Murcutt has become a living legend, an architect totally focused on shelter and the environment, with skills drawn from nature and the most sophisticated design traditions of the modern movement.” Another juror, Carlos Jimenez from Houston who is professor of architecture at Rice University, said, “Nurtured by the mystery of place and the continual refinement of the architect’s craft, Glenn Murcutt’s work illustrates the boundless generosity of a timely and timeless vision. The conviction, beauty and optimism so evident in the work of this most singular, yet universal architect remind us that architecture is foremost an ennobling word for humanity.” And from juror Jorge Silvetti, who chairs the Department of Archi- tecture, Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, “The archi- tecture of Glenn Murcutt surprises first, and engages immediately after because of its absolute clarity and precise simplicity — a type of clarity that soon proves to be neither simplistic nor complacent, but inspiringly dense, energizing and optimistic. His architecture is crisp, marked and impregnated by the unique landscape and by the light that defines the fabulous, far away and gigantic mass of land that is his home, Australia.

4 Yet his work does not fall into the easy sentimentalism of a chauvinistic revisitation of the vernacular. Rather, a considered, serious look would trace his buildings’ lineage to modernism, to modern architecture, and particularly to its Scandinavian roots planted by Asplund and Lewerentz, and nurtured by Alvar Aalto.” The purpose of the Pritzker Architecture Prize is to honor annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture. The distinguished jury that selected Murcutt as the 2002 Laureate consists of its founding chairman, J. Carter Brown, director emeritus of the National Gallery of Art, and chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts; and alphabetically: Giovanni Agnelli, chairman emeritus of Fiat from Torino, Italy; Ada Louise Huxtable, author and architectural critic of New York; Carlos Jimenez, professor at Rice University School of Architecture, and principal, Carlos Jimenez Studio Houston, Texas; Jorge Silvetti, chairman, department of architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; and Lord Rothschild, former chairman of the National Heritage Memorial Fund of Great Britain and formerly the chairman of that country's National Gallery of Art. The prize presentation ceremony moves to different locations around the world each year, paying homage to historic and contemporary architecture. Last year, the ceremony was held in Charlottesville, Virginia at Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, which the former president and author of the Declaration of Independence, as well as accomplished architect, designed. In 2000, the ceremony was held in Jerusalem in the Archaeological Park surrounding the Dome of the Rock. Philip Johnson was the first Pritzker Laureate in 1979. The late Luis Barragán of Mexico was named in 1980. The late James Stirling of Great Britain was elected in 1981, Kevin Roche in 1982, Ieoh Ming Pei in 1983, and Richard Meier in 1984. Hans Hollein of Austria was the 1985 Laureate. Gottfried Boehm of Germany received the prize in 1986. Kenzo Tange was the first Japanese architect to receive the prize in 1987; Fumihiko Maki was the second from Japan in 1993; and Tadao Ando the third in 1995. Robert Venturi received the honor in 1991, and Alvaro Siza of Portugal in 1992. Christian de Portzamparc of France was elected Pritzker Laureate in 1994. The late Gordon Bunshaft of the United States and Oscar Niemeyer of Brazil, were named in 1988. was the recipient in 1989, the late Aldo Rossi of Italy in

5 1990. In 1996, Rafael Moneo of Spain was the Laureate; in 1997 Sverre Fehn of Norway; in 1998 Renzo Piano of Italy, in 1999 Sir Norman Foster of the UK, and in 2000, Rem Koolhaas of the Netherlands. Last year, two architects from Switzerland received the honor: Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. The field of architecture was chosen by the Pritzker family because of their keen interest in building due to their involvement with developing the Hyatt Hotels around the world; also because architecture was a creative endeavor not included in the Nobel Prizes. The procedures were modeled after the Nobels, with the final selection being made by the international jury with all deliberations and voting in secret. Nominations are continuous from year to year with over 500 nominees from more than 40 countries being considered each year.

# # # Photo by Anthony Browell

Ball-Eastaway House 1980-1983 Glenorie, Sydney, NSW

6 THE JURY

CHAIRMAN J. Carter Brown Director Emeritus, National Gallery of Art Chairman, U.S. Commission of Fine Arts Washington, D.C. Giovanni Agnelli Chairman Emeritus, Fiat Torino, Italy Ada Louise Huxtable Author and Architectural Critic New York, New York Carlos Jimenez Professor, Rice University School of Architecture Principal, Carlos Jimenez Studio Houston, Texas Jorge Silvetti Chairman, Department of Architecture Harvard University, Graduate School of Design Cambridge, Massachusetts

The Lord Rothschild Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery Former Chairman, National Heritage Memorial Fund London, England

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Bill Lacy State University of New York at Purchase Purchase, New York

7 Citation from the Jury

Glenn Murcutt is a modernist, a naturalist, an environmentalist, a humanist, an economist and ecologist encompassing all of these distinguished qualities in his practice as a dedicated architect who works alone from concept to realization of his projects in his native Australia. Although his works have sometimes been described as a synthesis of Mies van der Rohe and the native Australian wool shed, his many satisfied clients and the scores more who are waiting in line for his services are endorsement enough that his houses are unique, satisfying solutions.

Generally, he eschews large projects which would require him to expand his practice, and give up the personal attention to detail that he can now give to each and every project. His is an architecture of place, architecture that responds to the landscape and to the climate.

His houses are fine tuned to the land and the weather. He uses a variety of materials, from metal to wood to glass, stone, brick and concrete — always selected with a consciousness of the amount of energy it took to produce the materials in the first place. He uses light, water, wind, the sun, the moon in working out the details of how a house will work — how it will respond to its environment.

His structures are said to float above the landscape, or in the words of the Aboriginal people of Western Australia that he is fond of quoting, they “touch the earth lightly.” Glenn Murcutt’s structures augment their significance at each stage of inquiry.

One of Murcutt’s favorite quotations from Henry David Thoreau, who was also a favorite of his father, “Since most of us spend our lives doing ordinary tasks, the most important thing is to carry them out extraordinarily well.” With the awarding of the 2002 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the jury finds that Glenn Murcutt is more than living up to that adage.

8 Note to editors: The following are some additional comments from individual Pritzker Prize Jurors:

"Glenn Murcutt occupies a unique place in todayís architectural firmament. In an age obsessed with celebrity, the glitz of our ëstarchitects,í backed by large staffs and copious public relations support, dominate the headlines. As a total contrast, our laureate works in a one-person office on the other side of the world from much of the architectural attention, yet has a waiting list of clients, so intent is he to give each project his personal best. He is an innovative architectural technician who is capable of turning his sensitivity to the environment and to locality into forthright, totally honest, non-showy works of art. Bravo!"

J. Carter Brown Chairman, Pritzker Jury

ìGlenn Murcutt has become a living legend, an architect totally focused on shelter and the environment, with skills drawn from nature and the most sophisticated design traditions of the modern movement.î Ada Louise Huxtable Pritzker Juror

"Nurtured by the mystery of place and the continual refinement of the architectís craft, Glenn Murcuttís work illustrates the boundless generosity of a timely and timeless vision. The conviction, beauty and optimism so evident in the work of this most singular, yet universal architect remind us that architecture is foremost an ennobling word for humanity."

Carlos Jimenez Pritzker Juror

"The architecture of Glenn Murcutt surprises first, and engages immediately after because of its absolute clarity and pecise simplicity ó a type of clarity that soon proves to be neither simplistic nor complacent, but inspiringly dense, energizing and optimistic. His architecture is crisp, marked and impregnated by the unique landscape and by the light that defines the fabulous, far away and gigantic mass of land that is his home, Australia. Yet his work does not fall into the easy sentimentalism of a chauvinistic revisitation of the vernacular. Rather, a considered, serious look would trace his buildingsí lineage to modernism, to modern architecture, and particularly to its Scandinavian roots planted by Asplund and Lewerentz, and nurtured by Alvar Aalto." Jorge Silvetti Pritzker Juror

ìGlenn Murcuttís buildings embrace both simplicity and elegance, but with a social and environmental conscience. Although most of his work is small in scale, it is remarkable for its purity and adherence to the guiding principles of modern architecture.î

Bill Lacy Executive Director

The bronze medallion awarded to each Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize is based on designs of Louis Sullivan, famed Chicago architect generally acknowledged as the father of the skyscraper. On one side is the name of the prize. On the reverse, three words are inscribed, “firmness, commodity and delight,” These are the three conditions referred to by Henry Wotton in his 1624 treatise, The Elements of Architecture, which was a translation of thoughts originally set down nearly 2000 years ago by Marcus Vitruvius in his Ten Books on Architecture, dedicated to the Roman Emperor Augustus. Wotton, who did the translation when he was England’s first ambassador to Venice, used the complete quote as: “The end is to build well. Well-building hath three conditions: commodity, firmness and delight.”

9 …about Glenn Marcus Murcutt

Note to editors: It would be impossible in this brief media kit to provide a complete biography or to outline and discuss all of Glenn Murcuttís work. Rather an attempt is made to highlight some important aspects of his life, and some of his projects and thoughts on architecture. A detailed chronological list of his projects and honors is provided in another section of this kit. A selected bibliography is also provided for anyone wanting further research.

Glenn Murcutt is either one of Australia’s best kept secrets, or one of the world’s most influential architects. Perhaps, both. On the other hand, we should temper “secret” somewhat since he has been the subject of numerous books and magazine articles throughout the world. One of the first definitive works was Glenn Murcutt Works and Projects by Françoise Fromonot, first published in 1995. In that book, she describes Murcutt as the “first Australian architect whose work has attracted international attention.” His relatively low profile can best be explained by the fact that he works alone, primarily for clients who want houses that are not only environmentally sensitive, but provide privacy and security in a structure that pleases all the senses. In stark contrast to many of his contemporaries, Murcutt has declared, “I am not interested in designing large scale projects. Doing many smaller works provides me with many more opportunities for experimentation. Our building regulations are supposed to prevent the worst; they in fact fail to stop the worst, and at best frustrate the best — they certainly sponsor mediocrity. I’m trying to produce what I call minimal buildings, but buildings that respond to their environment.” “I have had to fight for my architecture. I have fought for it right from the outset because councils have clearly found the work a threat. For many designs I put to council, we either had to resort to a court for the outcome or better, negotiate a satisfactory result, always trying to avoid a compromise. I have had the greatest trouble with planning, building and health department staff, many of whom have backgrounds unrelated to architecture, but offer very conservative judgments in taste and aesthetics.” What manner of man and architect is this who could so openly state his opposition to the people who exercise so much control over what and how things should be built? A look at his colorful family, as well as how and where he was raised is a partial explanation. And “colorful” is a mild adjective in this application; Murcutt’s life is the stuff of which movies are made. Glenn Murcutt today readily credits his father as being a strong influence toward his architectural career. This brief reflection of family history further explains some of the influences that have shaped his work. His father, Arthur Murcutt was born in Melbourne in 1899. By the time he was thirteen, he ran away from home, seeking something more than what he would describe later to his son, “the ugliness of life.” He worked at odd jobs, from station hand to well sinker to sheep shearer before shipping off to Port Moresby, New

10 Guinea, which had just been declared an Australian Mandated Territory at the end of World War I. There he worked as a bootmaker and saddler, as well as learning carpentry, before setting off with a partner on an adventure to prospect for gold in New Guinea. When they failed to find the precious metal, he landed work as superintendent of a plantation and builder of houses, and even had time to indulge his interest in music, buying a gold-plated saxophone. When he returned to Port Moresby, he teamed up with another of his mates to build a yacht in which the two of them would sail across the Pacific. The mate was a fellow Australian, Errol Flynn, before he achieved his movie stardom in the United States. Their cruise was canceled when the boat sank shortly after being launched. As his father related the story, it sank due to sabotage to prevent Flynn from leaving the country owing money. By the time 1932 arrived, Arthur Murcutt was operating a sawmill in Wau (still in New Guinea), but gold lured him and another partner into a second venture in prospecting, this time with enough success that it made him a fairly wealthy man. Two years into his gold mining days, he met and married Daphne Powys, the daughter of a photographer from Manly, Australia. In 1936, with things going well in the gold business, Arthur Murcutt and his pregnant wife decided to go to the Berlin Olympics. During a stopover in London, their first son, Glenn Murcutt, was born. Their return to Australia was via the Aquitania to New York, and then a cross-country car trip to Los Angeles where they sailed the Pacific to reach home. With such round-the-world travels under his belt before the age of one, it’s no wonder that Glenn Murcutt would later visit nearly every continent as a lecturer or visiting professor at leading universities. Of this, he says, “Teaching has proved a wonderful way to learn. Not only have my students provided challenges, but they are sounding boards for ideas, and my association with other teachers has provided great stimulus.” But back to 1937, when the Murcutt family go into the wilds of New Guinea where they remained until the approaching Japanese at the outset of World War II drove them back to Australia in 1941. Those first five years of life in New Guinea had a profound influence on Glenn, whether actual memory or family recollections. That family now included a brother and sister for Glenn, Douglas and Nola. Glenn’s mother recounted to him how his father would take several books with him each day when he went up to the gold mining area, and his father confirmed that when Glenn was older, telling him, “I got my education in the forests of New Guinea because I had time to read.” Jung, Freud and particularly Henry David Thoreau were his father’s favorites, and the latter became one of Glenn’s as well. “There is no doubt my father was a compulsive reader. He had many of Freud’s first publications.” Glenn quotes a passage from Thoreau, “But the civilized man has the habits of the house. His house is his prison, in which he finds himself oppressed and confined, not sheltered and protected. He walks as if the walls would fall in and crush him, and his feet remember the cellar beneath. His muscles are never relaxed.

11 It is a rare thing that he overcomes the house, and learns to sit at home in it, and the roof and the floor and walls support themselves, as the sky and trees and earth.” Murcutt wanted to experience his Marie Short house for a 24-hour period, which he did starting after the evening meal and every two hours going to a different part of the house to see what was happening. Says Murcutt, “It was wonderful to be there. I was in command. I was able to say if I wanted the wind to come in or not. I wasn’t enslaved by the building. I could hear the frogs, the crickets; I could tell the day was coming by the sounds of the birds waking. The moon came through the skylight — patches of blue light entered the room. You can’t experience that easily in the forest because you would be eaten by mosquitos. Here I was in a man-made environment that is insect meshed, but able to experience ninety per cent of the outside environment. I could open up the house and freeze or close it and stay warm. That’s what a house should do — to operate the building like sailing a boat.” He continues, “I also say that we should, as architects, observe how we dress according to our different climates. We layer our clothing, put more on when its cold, take more off when its hot — and I think our buildings should equally respond to their climates. Very few of my buildings have air conditioning. To my very good Finnish friends, I point out that they tend to put on more clothes, and we in Australia think more about taking them off — that’s of course what most of my buildings do.” Glenn remembers their home in New Guinea, built by his father, with a roof of light weight corrugated iron, and perched on stilts a full story above ground to keep water and reptiles out, as well as affording some protection from quite dangerous local people, who at least once were discouraged from attacking when his mother fired a rifle over their heads. He elaborates, “The local people were very angry about our living in their land; we simply occupied it and took from it. Yes, they were dangerous. They were known as the Kukuku people, feared also by other national New Guineans, and even today, they are still feared.” Another childhood memory is that of aviation, which was a primary means of transportation, as well as the delivery of mail and materials. Glenn quotes the statistic that in the 1930’s, the Wau and Bulolo airports in New Guinea had three times the number of passengers and cargo arriving and departing as any other airport in the world. Many of the planes were Junker G/31 and W/34 models whose wings and fuselage were covered with corrugated duralumin. At one point, Glenn says he was concerned that he was becoming known as the “corrugated Gal Iron King.” He points out that he hasn’t used galvanized iron just to be using it as a gimmick. He says, “I use it because it’s an important material for the things I want to do. It’s capable of giving me that thinness, that lightweight quality, an edge, a fineness, economy and strength and profile. I’m able to bend it and curve it in two dimensions. I love it because it reflects the quality of the light of the day and surrounding colors. On a dull day, the building dulls down; on a bright day, the building is bright. When laid with the ribs horizontal, the upper surface of the corrugation picks up the sky light and the lower surface, the ground light —

12 accentuating the horizontal. That’s a material which responds to its environment.” Speaking further about his use of corrugated iron, Murcutt says, “Horizontal linearity is an enormous dimension of this country, and I want my buildings to feel part of that. Take the iron sheeting on outside walls, for example, generally it runs vertically, and I believe it should run horizontally. It’s not only logical in terms of the material itself, but it’s logical in terms of a stud frame to fix it horizontally. If it runs vertically, it competes with the trees. I don’t want to compete with trees, let them complement the horizontality of the man-made iron sheets.” But to return to earlier history, his father, Arthur Murcutt, proved to be an astute business man, investing his gold earnings in land in Sydney, Australia, so when World War II was over, he established a joinery shop in Manly Vale, having learned carpentry from his work in New Guinea and in the Royal Australian Air Force. He became increasingly interested in architecture, subscribing to Architectural Forum, where he saw Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth house, and was so impressed by it that he made it required reading for Glenn, who studied the article three times before being quizzed by his father about the design. This Miesian influence on the architecture of Glenn Murcutt would prove to be long-lasting. He whole-heartedly adheres to the well-known principle “less is more,” and another that “form is not the aim of our work, but only the result.” In 1974, when designing the Marie Short house in Kempsey, Murcutt protected the house from insects, snakes and large lizards during floods when they would swim to the high ground. He says, “A house set on the ground would see frogs, snakes, etc. inside; being off the ground provided a place below the floor for these creatures and dry, reptile free platform for human habitation.” There is a similarity to the way Glenn suspended the wooden floor above ground for this house to the way Mies had done with Farnsworth house to protect it from floods of the Fox River in Illinois. His father also introduced him to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Gordon Drake, the Keck brothers, Harry Weese, Edward Larrabee Barnes, Schindler, Philip Johnson and Charles Eames, as well as some of Australia’s post-war modernists such as Sydney Ancher and Arthur Baldwinson. Murcutt senior designed and built several houses for his family (as well as several speculative houses) over the years — all of which are evidence of his interest in modern architecture. When Glenn was 13, his father assigned him the task of making of a model house of where they lived at the time, and then photographing it. Anyone looking at the model could see further evidence of his father’s efforts to design in what would now be called a modernist idiom. Glenn remembers that his father had a keen awareness of the environment, saying, “He would take me up the hillside and analyze a plant with me. We’d do that with all manner of species of plants and trees. He tried to stop people from cutting the trees, and when he couldn’t stop them, he’d go out and plant seeds for more.” “There were lessons to be learned from dad every day,” continues Glenn, “whether it was the landscape, nature, music, swimming, woodworking, and

13 household chores. I had learned to swim by the time I was two and a half. Dad taught us to be disciplined, and how to accomplish a lot in every day. Yes, he scared all five children, but he was also very warm.” Glenn admits to doing rather badly in elementary school and the early years in high school, but later on in high school, he had what he describes as some really great teachers, singling out one particular piano teacher as being the best and most gentle in Sydney. “I became quite reasonable at performances and started to play some really interesting classical compositions by Bach, Liszt and Beethoven.” At university, he remembers “the most gruelling experience” he’d ever had. “Sixty students,” he recalls, “undertook the final year five-day design exam. At the end of the third day, three fourths of them had ‘designed’ and completed some beautiful final drawings. By day four, only six of us were still there. By the end of that day, only three of us remained. On the fifth day, I found a worthwhile idea and went on to complete seven large freehand drawings.” Murcutt continues, “What I learnt from that experience was that architecture often requires time to evolve if it is to be of any consequence. I recall that those who completed the design examination quickly, presenting some beautiful drawings, were somewhat short on thinking!” With a diploma awarded in December of 1961, he took a walking tour of Tasmania with a school friend before starting work. A year later, he was able to take a trip to Europe where he visited Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, France, Holland, Germany, Poland, , and over a two year period. It was on this journey that he saw his first Alvar Aalto building, a cultural centre in Wolfsburg, Germany. He found it “remarkable in its sections, planning, use of materials, detail and form.” He went on to Bremen to see Aalto’s 22-story high-rise apartments. Glenn’s reaction: “Everything Aalto did started from first principles and had a quality of being thoroughly thought through.” Little did he know that in 1992 he would be presented with the seventh . The jury for that award, specifically praised Murcutt’s work for “the convincing synthesis of regional characteristics, climate-conditioned solutions, technological rationality and unconstrained visual expression.” Glenn has since commented that he thought it significant that Jørn Utzon, Alvaro Siza and Tadao Ando were all previous winners of the Aalto Medal, and in his words, “all of them sought to marry modern architecture to the place, the territory, the landscape.” Following that trip to Europe, Glenn returned to Sydney to work in the firm of Ancher, Mortlock, Murray & Wooley, until 1969 when he founded his own architectural firm. He had long ago decided when he was still at university that he would prefer to work at his profession as a sole practitioner, which he has done ever since. He feels that by working alone, figuring where that next dollar is coming from is far less pressing than in a large firm. “When the need arises,” he says, “such as a very good project offered requiring more input than one person is able to do alone, I work in association with other architects whom I greatly respect. This rather than

14 employing staff — that way, we share an equality. Further, as a one-man office, I have been able to experiment with wind patterns, materials, light, climate, spaces, and the characteristics of the site.” As a result of a travel grant awarded to him by Royal Australian Institute of Architects for “a degree of creativity in upgrading older houses using new techniques without destroying them,” he made a second tour of Europe in 1973. It was on that trip that he first saw the Maison de Verre by Pierre Chareau and Bernard Bijvoët in Paris. Murcutt describes his visit there as “a liberating experience.” On the way to Europe, a stopover in Mexico afforded him the opportunity to see Mies van der Rohe’s Bacardi office building, which he described as “beautifully put together.” He notes, “I saw some beautiful sculpture, water gardens in Mexico City, but didn’t find out that they were by Luis Barragán until I returned home.” Barragán has been another continuing influence on Murcutt. Another highlight of that trip was a visit to Chicago where he saw Robie house (by Frank Lloyd Wright) and a trip to Racine, Wisconsin to see the Johnson Wax administration building and research tower. He also saw more of Mies’ and Louis Sullivan’s works. Visiting Boston, he had the opportunity to visit Walden Pond, and the site of Henry David Thoreau’s home. “I lived 25 years in one day, in terms of memory and what my father had talked about concerning Thoreau,” says Glenn. “I was so excited, I was tearful.” His father had read Thoreau and responded positively to his philosophy, passing much of that on to Glenn. In New York City, which he found incredibly exciting, but somewhat frightening, he was, to quote him, “really impressed with the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Centre and the Ford Foundation Headquarters by Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo; to produce that environment in an office building was terrific.” His travels have continued over the years, particularly as he has become a much in demand lecturer and visiting professor in architecture schools all over the world, visiting some twenty countries. In 1997, Murcutt married Wendy Lewin, a fellow architect with whom he has worked on a number of projects. He has two sons by a previous marriage: Nicholas, 37, who is an architect; and Daniel, 35, who is an assistant library technician; and a step-daughter, Anna Lewin-Tzannes, 13. Some seventeen years ago, in the foreword to a book by Philip Drew, titled Leaves of Iron and sub-titled Glenn Murcutt: Pioneer of an Australian Architectural Form, Murcutt wrote: “Landscape in Australia is remarkable. I have learned much from scrutinising the land and its flora. There is an over-riding horizontality. The flora is tough. It is in addition, durable, hardy and yet supremely delicate. It is so light at its edges that its connection with the deep skyvault is unsurpassed anywhere. The sunlight is so intense for most of the continent that it separates and isolates objects. The native trees read not so much as members of a series of interconnected elements, but as groupings of isolated elements. The high oil content of so many of the trees combined with the strong sunlight results in the foliage shimmering silver to weathered greys with an affinity towards the pink browns to olives. The foliage is

15 not dense generally and the shadows are therefore a dappled light. This distinguishes our landscape from that of most other countries where the soft light serves to connect the elements of the landscape, rather than separate them. My architecture has attempted to convey something of the discrete character of elements in the Australian landscape, to offer my interpretation in built form.” And further, “When I consider the magic of our landscape. I am continually struck by the genius of the place, the sunlight, shadows, wind, heat and cold, the scents from our flowering trees and plants, and, especially the vastness to the island continent. All these factors go to make a land of incredible strength combined with an unimaginable delicacy.” So it is not surprising when his words go on: “I am stirred to the point of anger when I see what continues to be done by so called progress. The destruction of the flora, the displacement of the fauna and all of it with the blessing, if not active collusion of our subdivision regulations. I am not rejecting urbanization. I am not seeking a kind of utopia in the bush — far from it. I am involved with and recognize the importance of a varied milieu. I am opposed to the total taming of this land and the loss of the wildness of the native scene. The land appeals for care and we need to become friends with the landscape and not be threatened by it.” But his design decisions are not simply based on aesthetics, his houses are designed using materials that have consumed as little energy as possible in their manufacture, and will consume as little as possible in the operation of the house. His houses respond to all manner of climatic conditions, producing their own shade, ventilation and in most cases function without air conditioning or heating other than a fireplace. Some houses in the colder regions have back-up under-floor heating which is not often used. The Aboriginal people in Western Australia have a saying, “to touch this earth lightly,” which is a plea for man not to disturb nature any more than necessary. Because Glenn Murcutt’s architecture conveys that thought with his houses that float above the land, if not on stilts a full story high, but on footings that disturb the land minimally. It is not surprising to find another book authored by Drew in 1999, titled Touch This Earth Lightly, and subtitled Glenn Murcutt in His Own Words. A typical passage from that book about the Marie Short farm house illustrates his passion for fitting the architecture to the site: “It gave me the opportunity to really begin to understand what Australia was like. What its climate was like, the humidity level, the amount of shade we require, the wind pattern, the sort of evaporative factor we require in order to be comfortable in shade, in a climate such as ours. One of the main discoveries was that anything less than a fully opening wall was inadequate in our climate (at Kempsey). In my opinion, an opening wall for summer conditions is essential to cooling all spaces. In summer and the change of season, everyone, without exception, has commented on what a delightfully temperate building it is, even on the most extreme days.” The Australian bush fires are world-famous, and while Murcutt acknowledges fire is important in his country especially for the propagation of many plants, he

16 has to plan ways to save his structures if they encounter fire. In the Simpson-Lee house at Mt. Wilson, there is a pool alongside the entrance walkway that holds part of the water necessary for the built-in sprinkler system in case of fire. (It also provides a reflective medium for the sunlight that bounces onto the ceiling of the interior of the house.) In the Munro farm house at Bingara, he devised a plan that had two wells to collect the roof water. These supplied enough recirculated water to sprinkle the house for 5-6 hours a day during the hottest season. Controlling how much sunlight penetrates his houses and manipulating the breezes at various times of the year and the day is another important facet to his design process. He’s re-introduced in Sydney storm blinds, a version of Venetian blinds for outside that are made of metal. He had learned in his school days that once the heat entered a building, there was little else one could do but air-condition the building so the sensible solution was to provide a system of screens or blinds that prevents the sun from reaching the glass in the first place. Murcutt has developed forms of slatted timber and metal screens for sun control which also achieve privacy yet maintain the movement of air. He also uses slats set at particular angles as screens above glass not only as sun control, allowing the entry of winter sunlight and excluding it in the summer, but also to allow for the appreciation of the sky from within the house day and night and seasonally. Even the pitch of the roof is variable according to the latitude and climate of the region. In some areas, he does overlapping layers of roofs so that the air can move between the layers, extracting roof space summer heated air. Murcutt says, “A building should be able to open up and say, ‘I am alive and looking after my people,’ or instead, ‘I’m closed now, and I’m looking after my people as well.’ This to me is the real issue, buildings should respond. Look at the gills of a fish, or animals when they become hot. When we get hot, we perspire. Buildings should do similar things. They should open and close and modify and re- modify and blinds should turn and open and close, open a little bit without complication. They should do all these things. That is a part of architecture for me, the resolution of levels of light that we desire, the resolution of the wind that we wish for, the modification of the climate as we want it. All this makes a building live.” One of Glenn’s favorite quotations, which he is not quite sure whether it comes from his father or from Thoreau, whom his father was so fond of quoting: “Since most of us spend our lives doing ordinary tasks, the most important thing is to carry them out extraordinarily well.”

# # #

A detailed description of one of Murcutt’s houses will afford some further insight into his design process. The following is an excerpt from the book by Françoise Fromonot titled Glenn Murcutt - Works and Projects.

17 The Simpson-Lee House Mount Wilson, New South Wales 1989-1994

With demanding clients, a spartan program (a sanctuary for a retired couple of intellectual bent seeking withdrawal from the world), a magnificent site in the Blue Mountains (150 kilometres north-west of Sydney) comprising two isolated plots and some three hectares (approximately 7.5 acres) in total, a rich variety of flora, and an extraordinary panorama of hills and forests, the conception and realization of this project took nearly six years. Backing on to the west and south-west winds, the house faces to the views of the east and north-east. Following the rocky massif that impedes extension to the rear, the residence’s two pavilions stand on either side of a pond in a linear sequence. Murcutt designed the plan as a striking horizontal progression from the access path to the house. The path skirts the smaller studio pavilion, re-emerges as a walkway down the length of the pool, crosses the residential pavilion, and finally escapes down the stairway on the east side. As the path progresses, the ground beneath it slopes away, so that the house gets further and further from the ground. This dramatizes the progression and accentuates the sense of gradual detachment from the world sought by the inhabitants, allowing Murcutt to terminate the building with a fine isolated vertical member. In the residential pavilion, the living room is symmetrically flanked by two vestibules and two bedroom suites on either side of the kitchen, which is reduced to a long strip of appliances. In the passage along the principal façade Murcutt reversed his customary plan: the bedrooms, tucked under the lowest part of the roof, have intimate proportions and very controlled light penetration. The north-east façade is relatively dense owing to the interplay of six glazed bays, the sliding inset screens and balustrades; the electrically operated aluminium Venetian blinds are guided by steel braces that are tapered and lightened by perforations. With the exception of the solid wood steps on the staircase and walkway, the house is wholly mineral: silver-painted steel and aluminium for the structure, casings and large sloping planes of the roofs; pale grey polished concrete on the floors; whitewash on all brick and plasterwork; and glass. The construction system and main façade are similar to those of the Meagher house; the back façade’s sloping glass panes and ventilation slats recall the Bingi (Bingie Bingie) house. The pressure from his clients pushed Murcutt to the limit of his architectural principles. The spare design, simplified to its utmost, is almost monastic. The strongly articulated longitudinal passage incorporates the elements in the landscape as much as leads through the living spaces, turning it into the building’s raison d’etre. The crystalline legibility of the spaces, barring only the two hidden bedroom units, asserts the role of the principal actor: the site. The house also confirms Murcutt’s evolution towards a sort of abstract expressionistic façade — a precious ribbed screen that responds to the rhythms of the great trees filtering the sun and the view.

# # #

Concept sketch of the Simpson-Lee house by Glenn Murcutt on page 22.

18 FACT SUMMARY Glenn Murcutt 2002 Laureate, Pritzker Architecture Prize

Biographical Notes 1997-1998 Chair, International jury for a competition - Peace Park - Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey Birthdate and Place: 1998 Richard Neutra Award for Architecture and July 25, 1936 Teaching from the Neutra Foundation and London, England CalPoly, Pomona, California, USA

Education 1999 The Green Pin International Award for Architecture and Ecology from the Academy of Architects, Denmark Diploma of Architecture 2000 Kenneth F. Brown Asia Pacific Culture & University of New South Wales Architecture Design Award Technical College Jury Member - National Competition - Forum Sydney, Australia Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra, Australia Jury Member - Spirit of Nature, Wood Awards and Honors Architecture International Award, Finland 2001 Chair, Jury for the Aga Khan Award 1973 Gray and Mulroney Award - RAIA Thomas Jefferson Medal for Architecture - Monticello, Charlottesville, VA, USA 1973-1999 Received 25 Royal Australian Institute of Honorary Fellow of the Royal Canadian Architecture Awards (RAIA) - New South Wales Institute of Architects (NSW) and Northern Territory (NT) 2002 Jury Member - Thomas Jefferson Medal State Awards New International Award for an Architect who 1973-1999 Two Sulman Awards for Public Housing NSW has influenced thinking in Architecture from Six Wilkinson Awards for Housing NSW the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts One Tracy Award for Public Buildings NT One Burnett Award for Housing NT National Awards Teaching 1973-2000 One Timber in Architecture Award One Steel in Architecture Award of the Decade 1970-1979 Design Tutor, University of Sydney Two Sir Zelman Cowan Awards for Public 1985 Visting Professor, University of New South Buildings Wales One Sir Zelman Cowan Commendation for Public Buildings 1989-1997 Visiting Critic, Master of Architecture, Two Robin Boyd Awards for Housing University of Melbourne One Robin Boyd Commendation for Housing 1990 Visiting Critic, Graduate School of Fine Arts, One National Jury Special Award for Aboriginal University of Pennsylvania Housing 1990-1992 Visiting Professor, University of Technology, International Awards and Honors Sydney, Australia 1991-1995 Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Fine 1982 Biennale Exhibition - Paris, France Arts, University of Pennsylvania 1985 Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) 1991 Visiting Distinguished Architect, University of Award for an Architecture of its Place and Arizona, Tucson, Arizona Culture 1992 Visiting Professor, PNG University of 1988 Jury member - AIA/Sunset Magazine Western Technology, Lae PNG Division AIA Awards 1990-1991 Jury member - international competition for the 1994 Visiting Professor, University of Technology, Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, New Helsinki, Finland Caledonia - conducted by the Mission 1995 Visiting Professor, University of Technology, Interministerielle des Grande Travaux - Paris, Sydney, Australia France 1996 Visiting Professor, University of Hawaii, 1991 Biennale Exhibition - Venice, Italy Honolulu 1992 Alvar Aalto Medal - Helsinki, Finland 1997 O'Neill Ford Chair, University of Texas, Gold Medal - Royal Australian Institute of Austin, Texas Architecture Visiting Professor, PNG University of 1993 Life Fellow - Royal Australian Institute of Technology, Lae PNG Architecture 1998 Thomas Jefferson Professor, University of 1995 Honorary Doctorate of Science - University of Virginia New South Wales 1999 Visiting Professor, School of Architecture, 1996 Biennale Exhibition - Venice, Italy Aarhus, Denmark Order of Australia (AO) 2000 Visiting Professor, University of California at Los Angeles Chair, international jury for student competition for a shelter for Alvar Aalto's boat, Jyvaskyla, 2001 William Henry Bishop Visiting Professorial Finland Chair - Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA 1997 Honorary Fellow - American Institute of 2002 Ruth and Norman Moore Visiting Professor, Architects Washington University in St. Louis, Mo Honorary Fellow - Royal Institute of British Distinguished J.L. Constant Lecturer, Architects University of Kansas, Lawrence

19 Angeles; Portland Museum, Maine; Addresses and Lectures Federation of Icelandic Architects, Reykjavik, Iceland; Alvar Aalto 1974-1999 Addressed all Schools of Architecture and Symposium, Jyvaskyla, Finland. RAIA in all states of Australia 2001 Lectures in Caracas, Venezuela; 1985 Architectural Association London, UK Lecce, Italy; University of North 1987 Colegio de Arquitectos de Mexico, Mexico Carolina, Raleigh; University of City Virginia, Charlottesville; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago and Valparaiso, 1988-1991 Architectural League New York, USA Chile; Royal IArchitectural Institute of 1988 Visiting Architect, Architecture Week, Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia Auckland, New Zealand 2002 Lectures in Bangkok, Thailand; Waigani Seminar, Port Moresby, Papua, New University of Washington in St. Louis, Guinea Mo; University of Arizona, Tucson; North Solomons Province University, University of Kansas, Lawrence; Bougainville, Papua, New Guinea Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Fredericia, Denmark; TAF 1988 Royal Australian Institute of Architects International Celebration of Conference Architecture, "RÿROS 2002" Norway 1989 OAF Oslo and Trondheim, Norway RIBA, London and Winchester, UK Publications Danish Academy/Institute of Architects, Leaves of Iron - Glenn Murcutt by Philip Drew Copehagen, Denmark Three Houses - Architecture in Detail by E. M. Farrelly Finnish Association of Architects SAFA, Glenn Murcutt - Works and Projects by Francoise Fromonot Helsinki, Finland Touch This Earth Lightly by Philip Drew University of Milan, Italy Glenn Murcutt by Flora Giardiello Postiglione 1990 ACSA/AIA Conference, Cranbrook Academy, Glenn Murcutt - A Singular Architectural Practice MI, USA Practice Images Group - to be published May 2002 GSFA, University of Pennsylvania; University of Texas, Austin, RISD; Arizona Chronological List of Selected State University, Phoenix; Harvard Graduate School of Design; CalPoly Pomona, CA and Projects and Built Works CalPoly San Luis Obispo, CA; University of 1960-1962 Devitt house, Beacon Hill, Sydney New Mexico, Albuquerque; University of (altered since completion) Virginia, Charlottesville; Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West; Parsons School of 1968-1972 Daphne Murcutt house, Seaforth, Design New York; Architectural League, Sydney Vancouver, Canada 1968-1969 Glenn Murcutt house, Mosman, Sydney 1992 Papua New Guinea University of Technology, (alteration/addition; altered since Lae Papua, New Guinea; PNG Institute of completion) Architects, Port Moresby, Papua, New Guinea 1968-1970 Glenn Murcutt house, Beauty Point, Alvar Aalto Symposium, Helsinki, Finland Sydney (project) 1994 Virginia Polytechnic Institute/State University 1969-1972 Douglas Murcutt house, Belrose, Sydney Blacksburg, USA; Virginia Design Forum; 1970 Robertson house, East Killara, Sydney GSFA University of Pennsylvania; Bartlett (alteration/addition; altered since School, London, UK; University of completion) Technology, Helsinki, Finland; School of Architecture/SAFA Oulu, Finland; Architecture Hinder house, Gordon, Sydney School/Association of Architects, Stockholm, (alteration/addition to a Syd Ancher Sweden; Association of Architects, Basel, house) Switzerland 1971 Lowy house, Mosman, Sydney 1995 AIA/Rice Design Alliance, Houston, Texas; Walker house, Killara, Sydney AIA Salt Lake City; Pompidou Centre, Paris; (alteration/addition to a Syd Ancher Architectural Association London, UK; house) Schools of Architecture in Tubingen, 1972 Needham house, Woy Woy, Sydney (in Darmstadt, Karlsruhe, and Kaiserslautern, association with Guy Maron) Germany and Venice, Italy; Alvar Aalto Symposium, Jyvaskyla, Finland Restaurant Paragon, Katoomba, New South Wales (renovation) 1996 Hawaii University; Jerusalem Seminar in Architecture, Israel Omega Project house for Ralph Symonds Homes 1997 Mississippi AIA; University of Texas, Austin;Texas A&M; University of Florida; Cullen house, Balmain, Sydney University of California at Berkeley; (completed 1974) University of Mississippi; PNG Institute of Armstrong house, Grenfell, NSW Architects, Port Moresby, Papua, New Guinea (completed 1980) 1998 CalPoly Pomona, University of Washington, 1972-1973 Laurie Short house, Terrey Hills, Seattle; Alaska Design Forum, Anchorage and Sydney, NSW AIA Fairbanks, Alaska 1973 Luscombe house, Bayview, Sydney 1999 Danish Academy of Architects/School of Architecture, Copenhagen, Denmark and Wallis house, Manly, Sydney Aarhus; Columbia University/AIA New York; (renovation/addition) Montana State University/AIA, Bozeman, MT; 1974 Marie Short house, Kempsey, New South Lloyd Rees Lecture Museum of Wales (completed 1975)(extension 1980) Contemporary Art, Sydney; Canberra Hetherton house, Balmain, Sydney Museum and Gallery (completed 1982) 2000 Maki Lecture, Washington University, St. 1975 Jureidini house, Mosman, Sydney Louis, MO; University of California, Los (alteration/addition of Murcutt's former house) 20 1975 Meehan house, Kempsey, New South New Catholic Presbytery and Community Wales (completed 1977) Hall, Mona Vale, Sydney (Graham Jahn, Redmond house, Giralang, Canberra assistant; completed 1983) (completed 1977) Munro house, Bingara, New South Wales 1976 Stitt house, Longueville, New South Wales (Graham Jahn, assistant; completed 1983) (alteration/addition; completed 1977) Rabbit house, Merewether, New South Done house, Mosman, Sydney (alteration/ Wales (Graham Jahn, assistant; completed addition; completed 1978) 1983) 1977 Ockens house, Cromer, Sydney 1982 Ramsden & Kee house, Blackheath, New (completed 1978) South Wales (completed 1983) Reynolds house, Woollahra, Sydney Newport house, Hunters Hill, Sydney (completed 1979) (addition) Nicholas farm house, Mount Irvine, New Berowra Waters Inn, Sydney (phase 2; South Wales (completed 1980) Graham Jahn, assistant; completed 1983) Berowra Waters Inn, Sydney (phase 1, Magney house, Bingie Bingie, South Coast, completed 1978) Sydney (completed 1984) 1978 Young house, Jindabyne, New South 1983 Finlay house, Hallidays Point, New South Wales (alteration/addition; completed 1980; Wales (John Smith, assistant; Alec since altered) Tzannes, site visits; completed 1984) Carruthers farmhouse, Mount Irvine, New Littlemore house, Woollahra, Sydney South Wales (completed 1980) (Wendy Lewin, assistant; completed 1986) 1979 Project house for Devon-Symonds Pty Aboriginal Alcoholic Rehabilitation Centre, Ltd, North Rocks, New South Wales Bennelong's Haven, Kinchela Creek, New South Wales (project 1983-85) Isherwood house, Mosman, Sydney (alteration/addition; since altered) Pratt house, extension of Raheen, Kew, Melbourne (in association with Melbourne Hawksford Point Piper, Sydney (project) architects Bates, Smart & McCutcheon; Nielsen Park Kiosk, Vaucluse, Sydney completed 1994) (project) 1985 Edwards-Neil house, Lindfield, New South Crouch house, Cobbity, Sydney (in Wales (project 1985-88) association with Wendy Lewin and Alec Herbarium and Visitors Centre, Botanical Tzannes; project) Gardens, Wollongong, New South Wales Offices for Marsh & Freedmann, (project) Woolloomooloo, Sydney (conversion, 1986 Field Study Centre, Cape Tribulation, Far completed 1980, since altered) North Queensland (project 1986-87) Hornery house, Warrawee, Sydney (in Harrison house, Waverley, Sydney (in association with Civil & Civic, completed association with Alec Tzannes; phase 1 1982) completed 1989; phase 2 completed 1991) 1980 Competition for the renovation of the Magney house, Paddington, Sydney 'Engehurst' villa designed by the architect (renovation; James Grose, site assistant; John Verge, in association with the Andrew Mc Nally and Sue Barnsley, conference 'Pleasures of Architecture' landscape architects; completed 1990) organized by Royal Australia Institute of Architects, Sydney 1987 Carey house, Springwood, New South Wales Markovic house, Palm Beach, Sydney (in association with Wendy Lewin and Alex Minerals and Mining Museum, Broken Hill, Tzannes; project) New South Wales (project 1987-89; Reg Lark, assistant) Fountain house, McMahons Point, Sydney (in association with Wendy Lewin and Alec Museum of Local History, Kempsey, New Tzannes) South Wales (phase 2, completed 1988) Uther house, Hunters Hill, Sydney Cultural Centre for the University of North Solomon, Arawa, Papua, New Guinea Murcutt-Robertson house, Kempsey, New (project 1987-88) South Wales (extension to Marie Short house) Offices for Marsh & Freedman, Redfern, Sydney (renovation/conversion, completed Carpenter house, Point Piper, Sydney 1989) (completed 1983) 1988 Done house, Mosman, Sydney (Reg Lark, Zachary's Restaurant, Terrey Hills, assistant; completed 1991) Sydney (completed 1983) Meagher house, Bowral, New South Wales Ball-Eastaway house and studio, Glenorie, (Andrea Wilson, assistant; James Grose, Sydney (Graham Jahn and Rad Milatich, site assistant; completed 1992) assistants; Alec Tzannes, site visits; completed 1983) Muston house, Seaforth, Sydney (completed 1992) 1981 Ward house, Hornsby Heights, Sydney (project) 1989 Simpson-Lee house, Mount Wilson, New South Wales (completed 1994) Maestri house, Blueys Beach, New South Wales 1991 Marika-Alderton house, Aboriginal Community, Yirrkala, Eastern Arnhem Museum of Local History and Tourist Land, Northern Territory (completed 1994) Office, Kempsey, New South Wales (phase 1 completed 1982) 1992 Preston house, St. Ives, Sydney (Sue Barnsley, landscape architect; Fredericks house, Jamberoo, New South (completed 1994) Wales (Wendy Lewin, assistant; completed 1982) Landscape Interpretaion Centre, National Park of Kakadu, Northern Territory (in association with Troppo Architects, Darwin; completed 1994)

21 Murcutt guest studio, Kempsey, New 1997-2001 House Bowral, Southern Highlands, NSW South Wales 1997-2000 C. Fletcher & A. Page house, Kangaroo 1993 Conversion of Customs house Valley (architects Mortimer Lewis, James Barnet, Walter Liberty Vernon, then 1997- Lightning Ridge Community Facility George Oakschott) Circular Quay, 2002- Works in Progresss or Under Contruction Sydney (in association with Wendy New house, Yorke Peninsula, South Lewin of Lewin Tzannes Architects) Australia Williams house, Pearl Beach, New South New house, Merewether, Newcastle, New Wales South Wales 1996 Douglas Murcutt house, Woodside, Winery, Lake George, New South Wales Adelaide, South Australia (completed 1999) Sales Outlet, Winery, Mudgee, New South Wales (in association with Wendy Olsen house, Norton Summit, South Lewin) Australia Eco-Hotel, Great Ocean Road, Victoria Ken and Judy Done Gallery, Mosman, (in association with Wendy Lewin) Sydney Convention/conference/accommodation Hardeman-McGrath house, Birchgrove, facility, Barrington Tops, New South Sydney (extension with Nicholas Wales (in association with Wendy Lewin) Murcutt) New house, Kew, Melbourne, Victoria Taylor house, Barrington Tops, New South Wales Extensions to two houses at Mt. Irvine, New South Wales (early farmhouses Another Aboriginal house, Yirrkala, designed in 1978 by Glenn Murcutt) Northern Territory (completed 1998-99) Extension to farmhouse at Jamberoo, 1995-98 Schnaxl house, Newport, Sydney designed by Glenn Murcutt in 1981-82 1998 House at Mt. White, New South Wales (project) 1996-98 Beckwith/Deakins Terrace house, Paddington, Sydney Films/Videos 1996-99 'Bowali' Visitors Information Centre, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory Touch the Earth Lightly by Peter Hyatt, (with Troppo Architects, Darwin, NT) Melbourne, Australia Arthur & Yvonne Boyd Education Centre, The Tin Man by Catherine Hunter, Riversdale, New South Wales (in Channel 9 Network Australia collaboration with Wendy Lewin and Reg Lark)

Concept Sketch of the Simpson-Lee House by Glenn Murcutt Mount Wilson, New South Wales 1989-1994

fig. I1

22 Drawings and Sketches by Glenn Murcutt of Selected Projects

fig. A2

fig. A1 Ball-Eastaway House Glenorie, Sydney, NSW

fig. D2

fig. D1

C. Fletcher & A. Page House Kangaroo Valley, NSW

fig. C2

Magney House Paddington, Sydney, NSW fig. C3

23 fig. F2

fig. F3

fig. F1 Minerals and Mining Museum Broken Hill, NSW

157b Photo by Glenn Murcutt

The model for the entrance to the Museum.

24 fig. G2

fig. G1

'Bowali' Visitors Information Centre Kakadu National Park Northern Territory (Project in collaboration with Troppo Architects, Darwin, Northern Territory)

fig. G3

fig. B3

Marika- Alderton House Yirrkala Community, Eastern Arnheim Land Northern Territory

fig. B2

25 fig. 25D Herbarium and Visitors Centre Botanical Gardens Woolongong, NSW

25C Photo by Max Dupain

25A Littlemore House Woollahra, Sydney, NSW Photo by Max Dupain

Nicholas Farm House Mount Irvine, NSW

26 27A Photo by Max Dupain

27C

Laurie Short House Terrey Hills, Sydney 1972-1973 Photo by Max Dupain

27B Photo by Max Dupain

27 28A Photo by Anthony Browell

Glenn Murcutt on tractor for his other activity, farming. 28B

Magney House Bingie Bingie Photo by Max Dupain South Coast, NSW 1982-1984

28 Michelangelo's Campidoglio in Rome Will Be the Setting for the 2002 Pritzker Prize Ceremony

"Michelangelo is often thought of principally as a sculptor and painter, rather than as an architect," says J. Carter Brown, chairman of the jury that selects the Pritzker Laureate each year. "But right in the religious and political center of Rome, he was commissioned to design a remarkable architectural project at the top of the Capitoline Hill, the Campidoglio, Rome's ancient Capitol Hill. It is a place spanning more than 2000 years of history. In 1471, Pope Sixtus IV donated large bronze statues to the Campidoglio, creating what is now arguably the oldest public museum in the world. The She-wolf suckling the two traditional founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, was placed inside the Palazzo dei Conservatori, and became the symbol of the city. With Papal authority, Michelangelo moved the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius to the center of the plaza, and created a magically beautiful star-shaped pavement design. (His design was not in fact actually completed until 1940; and to conserve the statue, one of the great monuments of antiquity, the original has been moved into the adjoining museum, and a faithful replica installed in the center of the plaza, following Michelangelo's design.)" The guests assembling from around the world for the Pritzker Prize will walk up the monumental ramp (cordonata) to the top of the Capitoline Hill, where chairs will be placed on the piazza facing the central building (the Palazzo Senatorio which today houses the offices of the mayor and the city council chambers), where, in front of the fountain, the ceremony will take place to present the $100,000 Pritzker Architecture Prize to Australian architect Glenn Murcutt. On either side of the piazza is the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Palazzo Nuovo, both of which comprise the Capitoline Museum. Following the ceremony, guests will be transported to the Palazzo Colonna for a reception and dinner. The first historical information on the Colonna family residence dates from the 13th century. Since that time, the family has provided numerous princes of the Catholic Church, including several Cardinals and Popes. Today, the family home doubles as a private art gallery for the art collections that span six centuries. The international prize, which is awarded each year to a living architect for lifetime achievement, was established by the Pritzker family of Chicago through their Hyatt Foundation in 1979. Often referred to as “architecture’s Nobel” and “the profession’s highest honor,” the Pritzker Prize has been awarded to seven Americans, and (including this year) nineteen architects from thirteen other countries. The presentation ceremonies move around the world each year paying homage to the architecture of other eras and/or works by previous laureates of the prize. Thomas J. Pritzker, president of The Hyatt Foundation, in expressing gratitude to the Mayor of Rome, Honorable Walter Veltroni, for making it possible to hold the event in this remarkable setting, stated, “Last year, we were in Monticello, the home designed by one of the fathers of our country, Thomas Jefferson. It is relevant that Jefferson's American architecture talents owed a primary debt to Italy. He was very much inspired by the 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio's book, I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura; and the dome of Monticello was modeled after the ancient temple of Vesta in Rome, just as the dome of the library of his University of Virginia was inspired by Rome's Pantheon." Pritzker went on to describe how Jefferson wrote to a friend,, "Roman taste, genius, and magnificence excite ideas." "This year,"

29 Pritzker continued, "we will be in Rome, virtually the cradle of much of our western civilization, and more specifically, in a space designed by Michelangelo in the 16th century that is still functioning today as the seat of government for this great city. And this magnificent setting overlooks the heart of the ancient city, the Roman Forum." Coinciding with the Pritzker Architecture Prize ceremony being held in Rome, the American Academy in Rome will host a Pritzker Symposium on New Century, New World, The Globalization of Architecture. The co-chairs of the event are Bill Lacy, executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and Adele Chatfield-Taylor, president of the American Academy in Rome. Participants will include: J. Carter Brown, Charles Correa, Rolf Fehlbaum, Anthony Grafton, , Dogon Hasol, Ricardo Legorreta, and Karen Stein. The Pritzker Prize has a tradition of moving the ceremony to sites of architectural significance around the world. This is the second time the ceremony has been held in Italy, the first being in 1990 at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice when the late Aldo Rossi received the prize. As the sites are chosen each year before the laureate, there is no intended connection beyond celebrating architectural excellence. Retrospectively, buildings by Laureates of the Pritzker Prize, such as the National Gallery of Art’s East Building designed by I.M. Pei, or Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, or Richard Meier’s new Getty Center in Los Angeles have been used. In some instances, places of historic interest such as France’s Palace of Versailles and Grand Trianon, or Todai-ji Buddhist Temple in Japan, or Prague Castle in The Czech Republic have been chosen as ceremony venues. Some of the most beautiful museums have hosted the event, including the already mentioned Palazzo Grassi: Chicago’s Art Institute (using the Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room designed by Louis Sullivan and his partner, Dankmar Adler, which was preserved when the Stock Exchange building was torn down in 1972. The Trading Room was then reconstructed in the museum's new wing in 1977). New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art provided the setting of 1982 Laureate Kevin Roche’s pavilion for the Temple of Dendur. In homage to the late Louis Kahn, the ceremony was held in Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum in 1987. California’s Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens was the setting in l985. In 1992, the just-completed Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago was the location where Alvaro Siza of Portugal received the prize. The 20th anniversary of the prize was hosted at the White House since in a way, the Pritzker Prize roots are in Washington where the first two ceremonies were held at Dumbarton Oaks, where a major addition to the original estate, had been designed by yet another Pritzker Laureate, the very first, Philip Johnson. In 2000 in Jerusalem, on the Herodian Street excavation in the shadow of the Temple Mount was the most ancient of the venues. The ceremonies have evolved over the years, becoming, in effect, an international grand tour of architecture. One of the founding jurors of the Pritzker Prize, the late Lord Clark of Saltwood, as art historian Kenneth Clark, perhaps best known for his television series and book, Civilisation, said at one of the ceremonies, “A great historical episode can exist in our imagination almost entirely in the form of architecture. Very few of us have read the texts of early Egyptian literature. Yet we feel we know those infinitely remote people almost as well as our immediate ancestors, chiefly because of their sculpture and architecture.”

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30 A Brief History of the Pritzker Architecture Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize was established by The Hyatt Foundation in 1979 to honor annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture. It has often been described as “architecture’s most prestigious award” or as “the Nobel of architecture.” The prize takes its name from the Pritzker family, whose international business interests are headquartered in Chicago. They have long been known for their support of educational, religious, social welfare, scientific, medical and cultural activities. Jay A. Pritzker, who founded the prize with his wife, Cindy, died on January 23, 1999. His eldest son, Thomas J. Pritzker has become president of The Hyatt Foundation. He explains, “As native Chicagoans, it's not surprising that our family was keenly aware of architecture, living in the birthplace of the skyscraper, a city filled with buildings designed by architectural legends such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, and many others. ” He continues, “In 1967, we acquired an unfinished building which was to become the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Its soaring atrium was wildly successful and became the signature piece of our hotels around the world. It was immediatly apparent that this design had a pronounced affect on the mood of our guests and attitude of our employees. While the architecture of Chicago made us cognizant of the art of architecture, our work with designing and building hotels made us aware of the impact architecture could have on human behavior. So in 1978, when we were approached with the idea of honoring living architects, we were responsive. Mom and Dad (Cindy and the late Jay A. Pritzker) believed that a meaningful prize would encourage and stimulate not only a greater public awareness of buildings, but also would inspire greater creativity within the architectural profession.” He went on to add that he is extremely proud to carry on that effort on behalf of his mother and the rest of the family. Many of the procedures and rewards of the Pritzker Prize are modeled after the Nobel Prize. Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize receive a $100,000 grant, a formal citation certificate, and since 1987, a bronze medallion. Prior to that year, a limited edition Henry Moore sculpture was presented to each Laureate. Nominations are accepted from all nations; from government officials, writers, critics, academicians, fellow architects, architectural societies, or industrialists, virtually anyone who might have an interest in advancing great architecture. The prize is awarded irrespective of nationality, race, creed, or ideology. The nominating procedure is continuous from year to year, closing in January each year. Nominations received after the closing are automatically considered in the following calendar year. There are well over 500 nominees from more than 47 countries to date. The final selection is made by an international jury with all deliberation and voting in secret. The Evolution of the Jury The first jury assembled in 1979 consisted of J. Carter Brown, then director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; J. Irwin Miller, then chairman of the executive and finance committee of Cummins Engine Company; Cesar Pelli, architect and at the time, dean of the Yale University School of Architecture; , architect from Japan; and the late Kenneth Clark (Lord Clark of Saltwood), noted English author and art historian. The present jury comprises the already mentioned J. Carter Brown, director emeritus of the National Gallery of Art, and chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, who serves as chairman; Giovanni Agnelli, chairman emeritus of Fiat, of Torino, Italy; Ada Louise Huxtable, American author and architectural critic; Carlos Jimenez, a principal of Carlos Jimenez Studio and professor at the Rice University School of Architecture in Houston, Texas; Jorge Silvetti, architect and chairman, Department of Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; and Lord Rothschild, former chairman of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and former chairman of the board of trustees of the National Gallery in London. Others who have served as jurors over the years include the late Thomas J. Watson, Jr., former chairman of IBM; Toshio Nakamura,

31 former editor of A+U in Japan; and architects Philip Johnson, Kevin Roche, Frank Gehry, all from the United States, and Ricardo Legorreta of Mexico, Fumihiko Maki of Japan,and Charles Correa of India. Bill Lacy, architect and advisor to the J. Paul Getty Trust and many other foundations, is executive director of the prize. Previous secretaries to the jury were the late Brendan Gill, who was architecture critic of The New Yorker magazine; and the late Carleton Smith. From the prize's founding until his death in 1986, Arthur Drexler, who was the director of the department of architecture and design at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, was a consultant to the jury. Television Symposium Marked Tenth Anniversary of the Prize “Architecture has long been considered the mother of all the arts,” is how the distinguished journalist Edwin Newman, serving as moderator, opened the television symposium Architecture and the City: Friends or Foes? “Building and decorating shelter was one of the first expressions of man’s creativity, but we take for granted most of the places in which we work or live,” he continued. “Architecture has become both the least and the most conspicuous of art forms.” With a panel that included three architects, a critic, a city planner, a developer, a mayor, a lawyer, a museum director, an industrialist, an educator, an administrator, the symposium explored problems facing everyone — not just those who live in big cities, but anyone involved in community life. Some of the questions discussed: what should be built, how much, where, when, what will it look like, what controls should be allowed, and who should impose them? For complete details on the symposium which was produced in the tenth anniversary year of the prize, please go the "pritzkerprize.com" web site, where you can also view the video tape of the symposium. Exhibitions and Book on the Pritzker Prize The Art of Architecture, a circulating exhibition of the work of Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which has been touring for ten years, may find a permanent home in Palm Springs, California. Watch for full information on this development on the web site. The Art of Architecture had its world premiere at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago in 1992. The European debut was in Berlin at the Deutsches Architektur Zentrum in in 1995. It was also shown at the Karntens Haus der Architektur in Klagenfurt, Austria in 1996, and in 1997, in South America, at the Architecture Biennale in Saõ Paulo, Brazil. In the U.S. it has been shown at the Gallery of Fine Art, Edison Community College in Ft. Myers, Florida; the Fine Arts Gallery at Texas A&M University; the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.; The J. B. Speed Museum in Louisville, Kentucky; the Canton Art Institute, Ohio; the Indianapolis Museum of Art Columbus Gallery, Indiana; the Washington State University Museum of Art in Pullman, Washington; the University of Nebraska, and Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Its most recent showings were in Costa Mesa, California; and museums in Poland and Turkey. Another exhibition, designed by Carlos Jimenez, titled, The Pritzker Architecture Prize 1979-1999, which was organized by The Art Institute of Chicago and celebrated the first twenty years of the prize and the works of the laureates, was shown in Chicago in 1999 and in Toronto at the Royal Ontario Museum in 2000. It provided, through drawings, original sketches, photographs, plans and models, an opportunity to view some of the most important architects that have shaped the architecture of this century. A book with texts by Pritzker jury chairman J. Carter Brown, prize executive director Bill Lacy, British journalist Colin Amery, and William J. R. Curtis, was produced to accompany the exhibition, and is still available. Co-published by Abrams of New York and The Art Institute of Chicago, the 206 page book was edited by co-curator Martha Thorne. It presents an analytical history of the prize along with examples of buildings by the laureates illustrated in full color. The book celebrates the first twenty years of the prize and the works of the laureates, providing an opportunity to analyze the significance of the prize and its evolution.

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