Architecture / Biography
Book Details

Robin Boyd

A Life

Geoffrey Serle

Highly-acclaimed biography of Robin Boyd, gifted architect, writer, teacher and social commentator. Beautifully designed in full colour with wrap-around paperback jacket.

Awards

The Age Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award 1996

About this Title

Robin Boyd was a gifted architect, writer, teacher and social commentator, was the leading Australian propagandist for the International Modern Movement in architecture. In partnership with Roy Grounds and Frederick Romberg, he was noted for his innovative domestic buildings. Indeed the suburban home was often a focus of Boyd's thinking, writing and criticism, and in Australia's Home (1952) he provided the first substantial interpretation of Australia's architectural history.

But the most popular and controversial of Boyd's nine books was The Australian Ugliness (1960) in which he scourged prevailing tastes in both architecture and popular culture.The sentiments he expressed here made him one of Australia's liveliest social critics. But his criticism sprang from patriotism and ambition for his country.

Boyd was a very private man who left few personal letters or records. In this highly acclaimed and beautifully-illustrated book Geoffrey Serle writes predominantly about Boyd's work and public activities, allowing key selections from Boyd's writings to reveal the inner man.

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. A rich heritage; 2. Boyhood; 3. Student-apprentice; 4. Subdued, dutiful soldier; 5. The world opens up; 6. Writer, teacher and family man; 7. The Gromboyd partnership; 8. Powerful patrons and the Cadillac cult; 9. The peak of success; 10. The break-up and after; 11. Designer, planner, social critic; 12. Mixed fortunes: the last years; 13. The melody lingers on; Notes; Select bibliography; Index

About the Author

Geoffrey Serle was one of Australia's most distinguished historians. He was Victorian Rhodes Scholar in 1947 and completed his doctorate at Oxford in 1950. Among his published works are The Golden Age, The Rush to be Rich and Sir John Monash. He died in 1997.

978-0-522-84742-0