Scientists' Houses in Canberra 1950–1970

EXPERIMENTS IN MODERN LIVING SCIENTISTS’ HOUSES IN CANBERRA 1950–1970 EXPERIMENTS IN MODERN LIVING SCIENTISTS’ HOUSES IN CANBERRA 1950–1970 MILTON CAMERON Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Cameron, Milton. Title: Experiments in modern living : scientists’ houses in Canberra, 1950 - 1970 / Milton Cameron. ISBN: 9781921862694 (pbk.) 9781921862700 (ebook) Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Subjects: Scientists--Homes and haunts--Australian Capital Territority--Canberra. Architecture, Modern Architecture--Australian Capital Territority--Canberra. Canberra (A.C.T.)--Buildings, structures, etc Dewey Number: 720.99471 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by Sarah Evans. Front cover photograph of Fenner House by Ben Wrigley, 2012. Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2012 ANU E Press; revised August 2012 Contents Acknowledgments . vii Illustrations . xi Abbreviations . xv Introduction: Domestic Voyeurism . 1 1. Age of the Masters: Establishing a scientific and intellectual community in Canberra, 1946–1968 . 7 2 . Paradigm Shift: Boyd and the Fenner House . 43 3 . Promoting the New Paradigm: Seidler and the Zwar House . 77 4 . Form Follows Formula: Grounds, Boyd and the Philip House . 101 5 . Where Science Meets Art: Bischoff and the Gascoigne House . 131 6 . The Origins of Form: Grounds, Bischoff and the Frankel House . 161 Afterword: Before and After Science . 189 Bibliography . 195 Index . 207 v Acknowledgments When I first started researching Canberra houses I was impressed by the level of interest the topic generated. Many people volunteered information and provided useful contacts. When I combined their recollections with my own primary research and oral history interviews, I felt like I was assembling a puzzle—a giant, mid-twentieth-century puzzle of Canberra’s history—whose components were houses, architects, clients, scientific institutions and dates. Most of all I am indebted to the clients and the architects who commissioned and designed the houses discussed in the following pages. Clients Frank Fenner, John Zwar and Ben Gascoigne, and architect Colin Griffiths from Harry Seidler’s office, were generous with their time and gave excellent firsthand accounts of those events—more than half a century ago—that shaped their houses. Without their enthusiasm, and willingness to answer my many questions, this study would not have been possible. The book is further indebted to the many other clients and architects who have long departed but whose voices can still be heard in the extensive personal correspondence and records they left behind. I would also like to thank many family members of those original protagonists. The Gascoigne family—Hester, Thomas (‘Toss’) and Martin—were most helpful in recalling details of the lives, and houses, of Ben and Rosalie. Hester and Toss deserve a special mention for their personal interest in my project, for their generosity in offering information and contacts regarding other houses and other clients, and in facilitating the interviews with Ben. Martin Gascoigne located suitable images from the Rosalie Gascoigne Archives. Candida Griffiths (nee Philip) gave a detailed account of the history of the Philip House, together with the other houses in the Vasey Crescent Group. The fact that she is an architect herself made her contribution especially pertinent. Phoebe Bischoff was most helpful, and deserves credit for having the foresight to donate Theo Bischoff’s documents to the ACT Heritage Library for the ongoing benefit of researchers such as myself. Where family members were not available, colleagues of the original clients—or people who worked in the same institutions—proved helpful. Without the help of Brendan Lepschi, a CSIRO scientist and another person who is interested in early modern houses, the chapter on the Zwar House would not have eventuated. Lepschi introduced me to John Zwar, permitted me to refer to his own research and provided excellent photographs of the now-demolished Zwar House. The many lunchtime conversations that Lloyd Evans conducted with Otto Frankel— all of which he recorded in note form and left in the Basser Library at the Australian Academy of Science—helped to fill in details of the Frankel houses. vii Experiments in Modern Living Canberra would not be what it is today—and neither would this book— without its various national institutions, many of which brought the principal protagonists to the city. Fortunately, many of these same institutions now house their records for posterity. From these, I obtained a significant amount of primary research material. My thanks go to the many librarians and archivists who helped me in my searches. In particular, I would like to thank Rosanne Walker from the Basser Library at the Australian Academy of Science. Rosanne showed me where to find the Fellows’ files, and left me to sit at a long desk where I was watched over by portraits of Florey, Oliphant, Fenner, Philip, Gascoigne and Frankel. The staff of the Petherick Reading Room at the National Library of Australia, where much of this book was written, were helpful at all times. I would like to thank Andrew Sergeant in particular for his personal attention. Antoinette Buchanan, of the ACT Heritage Library, assisted with locating files and documents from the Theo Bischoff Collection; Pennie Pemberton at the ANU Archives helped to locate information regarding university staff houses; while archivists at the National Archives of Australia sourced a wide variety of information from their repository. Sophie Clement from the ACT Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects helped to confirm details of some houses. A number of people from locations outside Canberra helped. Dirk Meinecke from Harry Seidler and Associates, Sydney, provided information regarding the Zwar House; Robert Woodley of the Pictures Collection, State Library of New South Wales, assisted me to access documents from the Harry Seidler Archives; while staff at the Australian Manuscripts Collection of the State Library of Victoria provided files and drawings from the Grounds, Romberg and Boyd records. The many people who assisted by sharing their knowledge of Canberra houses include Roger Benjamin, Catherine Townsend, Bruce Townsend, Enrico Taglietti, Roger Pegrum, Derek Wrigley, Peter Freeman, Geoff Ashley, Dennis Formiatti, Karina Harris, Neil Hobbs, Lyn Gascoigne, Pam Macdonald, Joy Warren, Graham O’Loughlin, Lenore Coltheart, Barry Smith, Ann Moyal, Susan-Mary Withycombe and Mark McKenna. Other people I would like to thank include Andrew Benjamin, Brian McGrath, Betty McGrath, Paul McGrath, Atsuko Takeda, Rebecca Smith, Ted Cremean, Claire Toepfer, Rod MacIver, Tom Sutton and Sarah Evans. This book began life as a PhD dissertation at the University of New South Wales, where I received excellent advice from my supervisor, Harry Margalit. I am particularly grateful for Harry’s timely, straightforward and honest advice, all of which helped to keep the project on the right track. I am also grateful to my co-supervisor, Paul Hogben, for his considered and detailed comments. My former colleagues at the University of Canberra were helpful during the early days of my search for a suitable research topic. In particular, I would like to thank Craig Bremner, Gevork Hartoonian, visiting academic Ranulph Glanville viii Acknowledgments and Andrew Metcalf, who also provided information from his own records of Canberra architecture. Stephen Frith, current owner of the Frankel House, pointed out details of that house. Those people whose assistance was critical in the conversion of my dissertation into book format include Ian Chubb, Steve Dovers, Harriet Edquist, Philip Goad, Marilyn Fenner, Victoria Grounds, Penleigh Boyd, Tony Lee (Robin Boyd Foundation), Eric Sierins, Bill Lyristakis, Karen May and Duncan Beard. Ben Wrigley’s excellent photographs bring to light the architectural qualities of the houses, and contribute much to the visual character of the book. Last, but certainly not the least, I would like to thank my own family. My mother and father, Marie and Murray, are long gone, but their influence lives on. Their passions for designing and building led to my career in architecture, but the most valuable lesson they taught me was to follow my own interests. My daughters, Venetia and Naomi, have grown up considerably since I first started thinking about Canberra houses, and now enjoy pointing out houses that their dad might like. But above all others, I am indebted to my partner, Ann McGrath, for her patience, support and advice over the years. Without her there would be no book. An academic who is involved in writing and publishing in her day job, Ann was often asked for similar advice after she came home in the evenings. I promise not to discuss footnotes after 10 pm ever again. ix Illustrations Figure i Map of Canberra, c . 1962 xvi Image: drawn by the author, November 2009. Drawing influenced by map of Los Angeles in Elizabeth Smith, Case Study Houses: The complete Case Study House program 1945–1966 Figure ii ‘The Lantern’ (Verge House), Red Hill 2 Photograph: the

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