Glenn Murcutt Architect Houses, Australian Buildings Photos, New South Wales Design Office

Glenn Murcutt Architect

Contemporary Sydney Architectural Practice: NSW Design Studio News, Australia

14 Sep 2021

Glenn Murcutt Architect News

2021 Praemium Imperiale Awards – Architecture: Glen Murcutt (Australia)

photo © Anthony Browell
2021 Praemium Imperiale Awards
Each Laureate receives an honorarium of 15 million Yen (c. £100,000). The awards are given by the Japan Art Association under the honorary patronage of His Imperial Highness Prince Hitachi, younger brother of the Emperor Emeritus of Japan.

26 July 2019
MPavilion 2019 Design by Glenn Murcutt Architect

20 + 18 Feb 2019
MPavilion 2019 by Glenn Murcutt Architect, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation announce the commission for the sixth annual MPavilion has been awarded to Pritzker Prize-winning Australian architect Glen Murcutt AO:
MPavilion 2019 by Glenn Murcutt Architect

Australian Islamic Centre building:

photographs : Anthony Browell

Boyd Centre, Riversdale, South Coast NSW:

photos : Anthony Browell

Donaldson House, Palm Beach Peninsula, NSW:

photos : Anthony Browell

Mange House, Bingie Bingie, South Coast NSW:

photos : Anthony Browell

Short House, North Coast NSW:

photos : Anthony Browell

Simpson-Lee House, Mt Wilson Blue Mountains, NSW:

photos : Anthony Browell

Walsh House, Kangaroo Valley NSW:

photos : Anthony Browell

24 Jul 2016

Glenn Murcutt 80th Birthday

Celebrating the 80th birthday of Glenn Murcutt – 25 July 2016

Glenn Murcutt talking to international participants on the 2015 Glenn Murcutt Architecture Master Class at his ‘masterwork’, the Boyd Education Centre. The next Murcutt Master Class will be held in Australia in July 2017:

photo : Lindsay Johnston, Architecture Foundation Australia

Glenn Murcutt is Australia’s most famous architect. In 1992 he was selected as recipient of the prestigious 2002 Pritzker Architecture Prize, and in 2016 it has been announced that he will be Chair of the Pritzker Prize Jury.

The citation for his 2002 Pritzker Prize for architecture states:

‘Glenn Murcutt is a stark contrast to most of the highly visible architects 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’. – Thomas J. Pritzker

photo © Anthony Browell

The architect has received twenty-five Australian Architecture awards including the RAIA Gold Medal in 1992 and he was awarded the national honour Order of Australia (AO) in 1996. International awards, in addition to the Pritzker Prize in 2002, include the Alvar Aalto Medal, Finland; Richard Neutra Award, USA; the ‘Green Pin’ International Award for Architecture and Ecology, Denmark; and the Asia Pacific Culture and Architecture Design Award.

He was recipient in 2009 of the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects

He has been a Visiting Professor of Architecture at many prestigious universities around the world, and continues as a Professor at the University of New South Wales Australia.

photo © Anthony Browell

He has extensive international lecturing experience and, although he is cutting back on lecturing internationally, his most recent lectures have been in Edinburgh and Strasbourg. He was a jury member for the competition for the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre New Caledonia won by Renzo Piano, Chair of the jury for the international student competition for a shelter for Alvar Aalto’s boat, Jyvaskyla, Finland, chair of the jury for a competition for the ‘Peace Park’, Gallipoli, Turkey, member of the jury for the spirit of Nature of Wood Architecture International Award, Finland and jury member for the competition for Forum Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra, Australia.

He was also Chair of the jury for the Aga Khan’s International Awards for Islamic Architecture, a consequence of which has been his appointment to design a new mosque in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in association with Hakan Elevli, which is currently being completed, and will be his largest constructed work. An exhibition ‘Architecture of Faith’ devoted to the Glenn Murcutt designed mosque, is opening at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne on 9 August.

A Glenn Murcutt symposium is planned for Melbourne in February 2017, with speakers drawn from past participants on the annual Glenn Murcutt International Master Class, which has been held each year at the Boyd Education Centre since 2001.

photo © Anthony Browell

Publications on Glenn Murcutt include –

– ‘Leaves of Iron : Glenn Murcutt, pioneer of an Australian architectural form’, by Philip Drew, Collins and Angus and Robertson, Sydney (1991). First published by Law Book Company, Sydney (1985)
– ‘Three Houses – architecture in detail’’ by Elizabeth Farrelly, Phaidon, London (1993)
– ‘Touch This Earth Lightly – Glenn Murcutt in his own words’ by Philip Drew, Duffy and Snellgrove, Sydney (1999)
– ‘Glenn Murcutt – buildings and projects 1962 – 2003’ by Françoise Fromonot, Thames and Hudson, London (2003). First published in an earlier edition by Thames and Hudson (1995)
– ‘Glenn Murcutt – a singular architectural practice’ by Haig Beck and Jackie Cooper, Images Publishing, Melbourne (2006). First published by Images Publishing (2002)
– ‘Glenn Murcutt, Architect’ limited edition boxed folio by Kenneth Frampton with essays by Juhani Pallasmaa, David Malouf, Phil Harris and Liisa Naar. 01 Editions, Sydney (2006)
– ‘The Architecture of Glenn Murcutt’ by Heneghan, Seyama, Lassen and Gusheh, TOTO, Tokyo (2008)
– ‘Glenn Murcutt – thinking drawing, working drawing’ ’ Heneghan, Seyama, Lassen and Gusheh, TOTO, Tokyo (2008)
– Area 107, Special Edition on Glenn Murcutt with essays by Marco Casamonti, Massimo, Faiferri, Lindsay Johnston and interview with Glenn Murcutt by Simone Corda, Motta Architecturra, Milan (2009)
– El Croquis 163/164, Special Double Edition on Glenn Murcutt, with essay by Juhani Pallasmaa and interview with Glenn Murcutt by Sean Godsell, Croquis Editorial, Madrid (2012)

American Institute of Architects 2009 Gold Medal : Glenn Murcutt – winner

Preliminary study sketch by Glenn Murcutt for the Simpson-Lee House, Mount Wilson, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. 1988-94

2009 AIA Gold Medal

Australian architect Glenn Marcus Murcutt, Hon. FAIA. Murcutt was recognized by the AIA Board in large part for the depth of his work and the breadth of his influence.

Murcutt, a sole practitioner, is noted for his ecologically responsive and socially responsible Modernist suburban and rural homes with which he incorporates a variety of natural materials.

“Recently our architectural field experienced an ‘ecological boom,’” writes 2005 AIA Gold Medalist Tadao Ando in a letter of support for Murcutt’s nomination. “However, without relation to such a trend of time, Glenn Murcutt has always been focusing on the geographical and regional conditions, from the very beginning of his career.”

Although Glenn works exclusively in Australia, he has had and continues to have a profound impact on architecture around the world. “While some might characterize a single-continent geographic range of work as ‘regional,’ the effect of Mr. Murcutt’s is amplified by impassioned and extensive lectures and a commitment to teaching throughout the world,” said Tom Howorth, FAIA, chair of the AIA Committee on Design’s Gold Medal Committee.

Murcutt, born in London in 1936, grew up in the remote Morobe district of New Guinea. Living close to the land helped develop Murcutt’s preference for simple, vernacular architecture. Murcutt studied architecture at the University of New South Wales from 1956 to 1961, during which he worked with a series of architects. He established his own practice in Sydney in 1970.

The AIA Gold Medal, voted on annually, is the highest honor the AIA confers on an individual. The Gold Medal honors an individual whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. Murcutt will be presented the award at the American Architectural Foundation’s Accent on Architecture Gala in February.

He becomes the 65th AIA Gold Medalist, joining the ranks of such visionaries as Thomas Jefferson, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, LeCorbusier, Louis Kahn, I.M. Pei, Cesar Pelli, Edward Larrabee Barnes and last year’s recipient, Renzo Piano. In recognition of his legacy to architecture, Murcutt’s name will be chiseled into the granite Wall of Honor in the lobby of the AIA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Information from AIA via Architecture Foundation Australia

AIA Gold Medal 2009 Winner

Major Glenn Murcutt Buildings

Key Projects by Glenn Murcutt, alphabetical:

Ball & Eastway house, Glenorie, New South Wales, Australia
1983

Ken Done house, Mosman, New South Wales
1988-91

Laurie Short house, Terrey Hills, New South Wales
1972-73

Littlemore house, Woollhara, New South Wales
1986

Magney House, Bingie Point, ew South Wales
1988-90
Located on the South Coast of NSW, 20 minutes drive south of the town of Moruya.

Also of note – the Marie Short House and the Historical Museum / Indigenous Art Gallery complex in South Kempsey.

More projects by architect Glen Murcutt online soon

Glenn Murcutt and the Wisdom of the Elders
Architectrure article by Lindsay Johnston
Glenn Murcutt Wisdom of Elders – May 2012

Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Master Class 2010
The tenth Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Master Class will be held in Australia at his “Masterwork”, the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre ‘Riversdale’ on the banks of the Shoalhaven River south of Sydney, and at the School of Architecture at the University of Sydney, 11-25 July 2010.

Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Master Class 2009
Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Master Class 2009 will be held in Australia at the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre on 12-26 July 2009.

Masterclass venue:

image from the architect

The two week residential design studio program is led by Glenn with other tutors including Richard Leplastrier, Peter Stutchbury, Brit Andresen and, Master Class Convener, Lindsay Johnston. A major feature each year has been the insights contributed by Aboriginal elder ‘Uncle’ Max Dulumunmun Harrison. Since its inception, participants from 46 nations have attended the program. Participants are primarily, now, practising architects – older and younger – with some professors, academics, recent graduates and a few senior students.

Participants stay for the first week in the exquisite hostel accommodation at the Boyd Education centre, designed by Murcutt with Wendy Lewin and Reg Lark and completed in 1999. The ‘big room’ at ‘Riversdale’ is transformed into both banqueting hall and a design studio for six days while participants commence the conceptual design of a project located on a sensitive scenic site within walking distance of the venue.

The program includes extensive site investigations, intensive studio tutoring, progress design critiques and after dinner lectures by the ‘masters’. The studio relocates to the University of Sydney for the second week, participants stay in a hotel near the University at Darling Harbour and culminates in final presentations and ‘Big Crit Day’. Other events in the program include visits to significant houses designed by Glenn Murcutt and the other tutors and, in previous years, a Sydney Harbour evening cruise.

The architect is best known for his ‘singular practice’ acclaimed through the award of the 2002 Pritzker Prize. Murcutt has also been recipient of numerous other international awards including the Alvar Aalto Medal in Finland, the ‘Green Pin’ Award for Architecture and Ecology in Denmark and the Richard Neutra Award in USA. Glenn Murcutt is a Gold Medallist of the Australian Institute of Architects.

Pritzker Prize Laureate:

photo : Jure Zavrtanik

Richard Leplastrier is a seminal figure in Australian architecture and is considered as one of the great teachers. He worked with Jørn Utzon at the time of the Sydney Opera House and his body of work was acclaimed in 2004 by the award of the ‘Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture’ Award in Finland, also awarded to Renzo Piano, Kengo Kuma and Peter Zumthor.

He is also a Gold Medallist of the Australian Institute of Architects. Professor Brit Andresen taught at the AA in London before joining the University of Queensland. She worked with Barry Gasson on the winning entry for the Burrell Museum in Scotland and, with her partner Peter O’Gorman, has authored significant works that have been widely published internationally. Brit was the first woman recipient of the Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 2002.

The architect opens windows to new ways of seeing things at Riversdale:

photo : Lindsay Johnston 2007

Peter Stutchbury is a leading practitioner in Australia with a significant body of outstanding innovative built projects that have been awarded nationally and published internationally. He was winner of the 2008 International Iron and Steel Institute ‘Living Steel’ Competition for extreme climate housing in Cherepovets, Russia and has been invited to take the 2008 Catedra Luis Barragan in Mexico, a Chair previously held by Tadao Ando, Norman Foster, Nicholas Grimshaw, Peter Zumthor and Glenn Murcutt. Lindsay Johnston is former Dean of Architecture and Design at the University of Newcastle, Australia, with a particular expertise in environmentally responsive design and some of his built projects have been awarded and published internationally.

The eighth annual Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Master Class will be held in Australia, starting Saturday 5 July and finishing Saturday 19 July 2008.

Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre, Riversdale, on the banks of the beautiful Shoalhaven River south of Sydney, NSW, Australia (completed 1999):

photo : Lindsay Johnston 2007

Glenn (2002 Pritzker Prize Laureate, RAIA Gold Medallist 1997) personally tutors throughout the program and will be joined by his great friend seminal Australian architect and outstanding teacher Richard Leplastrier (2004 Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award Finland, RAIA Gold Medallist 1999) and by Peter Stutchbury (RAIA National Architecture Awards, published in GA House, Abitare, Phaidon World Atlas, etc). Guest tutor will again be University of Queensland Professor Brit Andresen (first woman RAIA Gold Medallist 2002, Phaidon World Atlas, 10X10, etc). Master Class convener is Lindsay Johnston, former Dean of Architecture at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

A. Riversdale on the Shoalhaven River:

photo : Wojtek Przywecki 2007