Description

John Andrews: Architect of Uncommon Sense is a celebration of the great, yet under-recognised, architect's work and its global impact. Now more than ever, Andrews’ designs are a shining example of how architecture can be used to address urgent environmental and urban concerns.

Melbourne School of Design is a Precinct Partner for the Open House Melbourne Weekend.

What's On

Toured previously at Harvard University’s Druker Design Gallery, Architect of Uncommon Sense showcases formerly inaccessible Australian archival holdings from the State Library of New South Wales, with a special focus on Andrews' Melbourne projects including the RMIT library and student union (completed as Building 8 by Edmond & Corrigan), the Melbourne Convention Centre, a scheme for the renovation of Flinders Street Station, and a project for the RMIT library and student union.

Beyond Andrews’ work, the exhibition highlights Australia's late modern architectural heritage and the evolution of environmental sensibilities in Australian design culture, while investigating the challenges entailed in its conservation.

Floor talk, John Andrews: Architect of Uncommon Sense, Dulux Gallery, 2 - 3pm, 27 July
In the 1970s and 1980s, John Andrews was Australia’s most internationally revered architect, but his achievements were to be neglected as different approaches to architectural design became prevalent. Join curators Paul Walker and Kevin Liu for a talk and tour of the exhibition as they explore Andrews’s design process, with its innovative use of diagrams and planning strategies and collaborative approaches to practice which are now again relevant.
 
Walker is a professor of architecture at the Melbourne School of Design and editor and lead author of the book John Andrews: Architect of Uncommon Sense (Harvard Design Press, 2023). Liu is a Sydney designer who has completed a masters degree at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, with a thesis on Andrews’s design for Gund Hall, the GSD’s home. The exhibition John Andrews: Architect of Uncommon Sense was first staged at Harvard in 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of the completion of Gund Hall.