Bookshelf

01 Robin Boyd: Late Works

by Peter Raisbeck and Christine Phillips (Uro Publications, 2020)

his significant new monograph turns its attention to what the authors see as the under-examined period of Australia’s most examined architect. Bringing to light material buried deep in the archives, Raisbeck and Phillips focus on Boyd’s civic, cultural and urban works between 1960 and 1971. This is the Boyd that polarized opinion with his scathing critique of Australian culture and urban identity inthe Boyd that sought out larger commissions – many of which were never built – in an attempt to realize his vision for a more coherent urban environment; the Boyd who represented Australia on the world stage at expos; not the architect of polite single dwellings who looms large in the public imagination. By examining the interweaving of Boyd’s writings, exhibition designs and architectural works, the authors seek to transcend the limits of other studies – which have too often verged on hagiography or reductive critique. What emerges is a nuanced, insightful text that situates Boyd in a period of momentous change, and provides a greater understanding of how he used different modes of practice to leave an imprint on Australia’s culture and urban environment.