HARRY SEIDLER: Architecture, Art and Collaborative Design  

By Vladimir Belogolovsky

Harry Seidler: Architecture, Art and Collaborative design illustrated lecture traces the life and work of Sydney architect Harry Seidler (1923-2006), his key role in bringing Modernism and Bauhaus principles to Australia, identifies his distinctive architectural style, and explores long-lasting collaborations with leading creative figures of the 20th century, including with architects Marcel Breuer and Oscar Niemeyer; artists Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Norman Carlberg, Charles Perry, Frank Stella, and Lin Utzon; engineer Pier Luigi Nervi, photographer Max Dupain, and developer Gerardus Dusseldorp. In almost sixty years, Seidler has realized over 160 of his designs—from houses to mixed-use multi-story towers and prominent government commissions—all over Australia, as well as in Austria, France, Israel, Italy, Mexico, and Hong Kong. Apart from the architect’s creative achievements, the lecture will reveal a story of Seidler’s life, a fascinating journey from his motherland of Austria to England, Canada, the United States, Brazil, and finally, to Australia, where he settled in 1948, eventually becoming the country’s most accomplished architect. Among projects to be discussed: Rose Seidler House (1950), the architect’s house (1967), Australia Square Tower (1967) – all in Sydney; Edmund Barton Building (1974) in Canberra, Embassy of Australia (1977) in Paris, Hong Kong Club (1984) in Hong Kong, Shell Headquarters (1989) in Melbourne, and residential complex Wohnpark Neue Donau (1998) in Seidler’s Vienna.