Robin Boyd: Centenary of Design
In 2019, the Robin Boyd Foundation celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of Australia’s most influential architects Robin Boyd (1919-1971).
The Foundation held a year-long series of events under the umbrella program Robin Boyd: Centenary of Design with program partners around Australia. Events, exhibitions, talks, tours ,and activities will showcase the historical and ongoing legacy of Boyd’s architecture, and his work as a social commentator and design provocateur.
Past Events
Peter Wille: Out Driving
Sat December 1st @ 10:00 am- Sun December 1st @ 17:00 pm
Explore the work of amateur photographer and architectural draftsman Peter Wille and his images of Melbourne’s architectural wonders throughout the 1950s and 1960s at the State Library of Victoria.
See..
The Warrandyte Connection
Sat January 5th @ 13:30 pm- Sun December 29th @ 16:30 pm
Warrandyte Historical Society commemorates Robin Boyd legacy in a small exhibition. Learn about Boyd’s upbringing in his family home ‘The Robins’ and his artistic parents, Penleigh Boyd and Edith Anderson. Also find out about the five,..
Robin Boyd Commemorative Stamp
Tue February 12th
Australia Post partnered with the Robin Boyd Foundation to create a commemorative stamp issue that marks 100 years since the birth of Robin Boyd, an icon of Australian architecture. The stamp designed by Jo Muré of the Australia Post Design Studio..
PAST EVENT - Oliver Wainwright Lecture
Fri March 22nd @ 18:00 pm- 20:00 pm
Form Follows Finance: Lecture by Guardian Architecture and Design Critic Oliver Wainwright. A Robin Boyd Centenary Address Presented by the National Gallery of Victoria, the Robin Boyd Foundation & the Australian Institute of..
Defying the Australian Ugliness
Sat March 23rd - Sun July 7th
This selection of mid to late 20th Century works from the Gallery’s collection focuses on key movements in Australian art and design that defied mainstream culture at the time. In 1960, influential architect Robyn Boyd published a seminal..
Eugenia Lim's The Australian Ugliness
Fri March 29th - Mon June 24th
Melbourne-based artist Eugenia Lim is included in The National 2019: New Australian Art, the second of three biennial survey exhibitions showcasing ambitious new and commissioned projects by leading Australian artists. Lim’s video-installation..
Melbourne,Sydney:References, Reflections & Remarks
Thu April 18th - Sat April 18th
The book examines decades of architectural debate, controversy, and competition between the two cities, and reframes some of Robin Boyd's ideas on the subject, as described in the Australian Ugliness, in the context of contemporary architecture. ..
Walkley House Tour in Adelaide
Sun April 28th @ 10:30 am- 23:30 pm
Robin Boyd’s Walkley House, 26 Palmer Place North Adelaide (1956), will be open for a special tour for South Australia's History Festival. Led by art historian Georgina Downey and Jane Walkley, the daughter of Boyd's original client.
See the..
Heritage Speaker Series #1 - Who Owns Heritage?
Wed May 1st @ 18:30 pm- 20:30 pm
As part of National Trust's Heritage Festival, the Robin Boyd Foundation will host a panel on the topic of Who Owns Heritage? Hear from experts from a cross-section of design fields as they discuss heritage and its place in modern-day..
Curator Tour | Peter Wille: Out Driving
Wed May 8th @ 17:30 pm- 18:30 pm
Join the State Library Victoria for a special curatorial floor talk by Exhibitions Curator Eve Sainsbury, exploring the work and legacy of amateur photographer and architectural draftsman, Peter Wille.
Wille amassed a collection of more than..
Grand Plans: Robin Boyd & the Small Homes Service
Thu May 9th @ 10:00 am- Sat May 25th @ 17:00 pm
MADA Gallery's exhibition Grand Plans: Robin Boyd & the Small Homes Service will examine the history & ideas behind the Small Homes Service first directed by Robin Boyd in association with The Age & the Royal Victorian Institute of..
Heritage Speaker Series #2 - Goldilocks Paradigm |
Thu May 9th @ 18:30 pm- 20:30 pm
As part of National Trust's Heritage Festival, the Robin Boyd Foundation will host a panel on the topic of The Goldilocks Paradigm. Hear from experts from a cross-section of design fields as they discuss heritage and its place in..
Curator Tour | Grand Plans: Robin Boyd & the Small
Wed May 15th @ 10:00 am- 11:00 am
Join Professor Naomi Stead, Head of Architecture, Monash Art Design Architecture and Charlotte Day, Director, Monash University Museum of Art for a tour of Grand Plans: Robin Boyd & the Small Homes Service. The exhibition will examine the..
Heritage Speaker Series #3 | Post-Ironic Modernism
Wed May 15th @ 18:30 pm- 20:30 pm
As part of National Trust’s Heritage Festival, the Robin Boyd Foundation will host a panel on the topic of Midcentury Modernism in a Post Ironic World. Hear from experts from a cross-section of design fields as they discuss heritage and its..
Tower Hill Twilight Tour & Talk
Sat May 18th @ 15:00 pm- 18:00 pm
Join Parks Victoria for a twilight tour and presentation at the Tower Hill Visitor Centre, to hear about renowned architect Robin Boyd’s design, and to learn about Victoria’s first official national park – including its remarkable geology,..
A Portrait of an Australian House
Sat May 25th @ 10:00 am- Sun July 14th @ 17:00 pm
Examine the architectural photography exhibition at Monash Gallery of Art of two photographers Lydia Wegner & Lauren Bamford working together & apart to create works responding to a historic Robin Boyd house.
See..
Albrecht La'Brooy x Walsh Street 28 MAY
Tue May 28th @ 06:30 am- 20:30 pm
Melbourne improvisers Albrecht La’Brooy will be showcasing an intimate performance this May. The duo will take part in a musical conversation tailored to suit the ambience of the Walsh street house, relying heavily on piano, field recordings and..
Albrecht La'Brooy x Walsh Street 31 MAY
Fri May 31st @ 06:30 am- 20:30 pm
Melbourne improvisers Albrecht La’Brooy will be showcasing an intimate performance this May. The duo will take part in a musical conversation tailored to suit the ambience of the Walsh street house, relying heavily on piano, field recordings and..
Albrecht La'Brooy x Walsh Street 01 JUNE
Sat June 1st @ 03:00 am- 17:00 pm
Melbourne improvisers Albrecht La’Brooy will be showcasing an intimate performance this May. The duo will take part in a musical conversation tailored to suit the ambience of the Walsh street house, relying heavily on piano, field recordings and..
Curator Tour | An Australian House
Wed June 12th @ 10:00 am- 11:00 am
Join Monash Gallery of Art Senior Curator, Pippa Milne for a tour of the exhibition Robin Boyd: A Portrait of an Australian house. This exhibition celebrates the architecture of Robin Boyd through the medium of photography.
Contemporary..
Boyd Meets Girl | Saturday Evening
Sat June 29th @ 18:30 pm- 20:00 pm
The grandson of Robin Boyd Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd with American cellist Laura Metcalf will perform at Walsh Street, the iconic, modernist home built by his grandfather. The duo performs an eclectic and engaging range of..
Boyd Meets Girl | Sunday Afternoon
Sun June 30th @ 14:00 pm- 15:00 pm
The grandson of Robin Boyd Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd with American cellist Laura Metcalf will perform at Walsh Street, the iconic, modernist home built by his grandfather. The duo performs an eclectic and engaging range of..
Dr Diane Firth: Robin Boyd in Canberra
Mon July 15th @ 18:00 pm- 19:30 pm
This talk focusses on the period of 1952 to 1972: from Boyd’s first Canberra commission with a house for Manning and Dymphna Clarke; to the year following his untimely death and the completion of Churchill House. Over that twenty years the..
Curator Tour | Robin Boyd: Design Legend
Sat August 10th @ 11:00 am- 12:00 pm
Check back in for more information on a curatorial tour of Robin Boyd: Design Legend, presented by Kendrah Morgan, Senior Curator at the Heide Museum of Modern Art.
Visit the exhibition website for more..
AIA Awards Open Day
Sun August 25th
The Robin Boyd Foundation in co-operation with the Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Chapter will hold an Open Day on the 25th of August to tour some of the Victorian AIA awarded and shortlisted buildings completed in the preceding..
Lecture: Robin Boyd's Civic Designs
Thu September 19th @ 18:00 pm- 20:00 pm
The Ian Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne will present a keynote lecture about Robin Boyd’s civic designs from 1960-70 and involvement in two significant design expos; Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada and Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan...
Design Talk – Ian Wong 1OO Objects – Australia
Wed October 9th
Robin Boyd’s seminal Walsh Street house provides a fitting stage to elevate and celebrate the work of some of Australia’s most important design practitioners. The whole house will be activated in this ‘design within a design’..
Sold Out - Curator Tour | RMIT Special Collection
Wed October 16th @ 11:00 am- 12:00 pm
Dr Christine Phillips, Lecturer Architecture, RMIT University and Dr Peter Raisbeck, Senior Lecturer in Architectural Practice, The University of Melbourne will explore the Robin Boyd collection donated to RMIT in 2008 through the Australian..
Reframing the Australian Ugliness
Wed October 30th @ 09:00 am - Sat November 30th @ 08:59 am
The University of Melbourne Architecture, Building and Planning Library with the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning present an exhibition of student work that reimagines Boyd’s contentious book, ‘The Australian Ugliness’. The..
Architecture Bus Tour: Robin Boyd
Sat November 9th @ 09:00 am- Mon December 9th @ 13:00 pm
All architecture and design enthusiasts are invited to join our celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of Australia’s most influential architects, Robin Boyd. Join DESIGN Canberra’s specialists on an exciting guided..
Robin Boyd Redux: Contexts and Critique
Thu December 5th
RMIT Design Archives Journal, Vol 9 No 1, 2019 Special Issue: Robin Boyd Redux: Contexts and Critique, edited by Karen Burns and Harriet Edquist, will reposition him within global and local media circuits. How were his key ideas and media projects..
