Harry Park was designed by architect John Curro, one of the leading partners of Harry Seidler & Associates, located in an adjacent building. Elements and materials typical of Seidler's architecture have been used in the design of the park. In the park, there is a sculpture made of steel pipes of bright blue color according to the sketches of the famous Australian sculptor Robert Owen.
Harry Seidler was born in Vienna to a Jewish family, his parents owned a textile factory. After the annexation of Austria by Hitler's Germany, as a fifteen-year-old teenager, he was forced to leave for England, where he began to study at the Polytechnic College in Cambridge. In May 1940, Seidler was interned as a citizen of a hostile state. After wandering around the camps in the UK and Canada, Seidler was released in October 1941 and continued his education at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. He continued his studies at Harvard (1944-46) with Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus School, and then spent a year at Black Mountain College in North Carolina with the artist Joseph Albers, also a professor at the Bauhaus School.
After completing his education, Seidler worked as first assistant in the New York office of Marcel Breuer. In 1948 Seidler's parents, who had immigrated to Australia after the war, commissioned him to design their home.
Built in 1950, the building known as Rosa Seidler's House in Varung, a suburb of Sydney, was Australia's first modernist Bauhaus building. The parental home designed by Seidler attracted great attention of the international press. Interest in the house attracted a large number of new orders and predetermined Seidler's place of residence and work for life.
In his nearly 60-year career, Harry Seidler has designed 180 buildings, many of which have been built throughout Australia, Europe, North America and Asia. The architect's most famous structures in Sydney are Australia Square, a cylindrical 50-story office tower (1961-67); tallest skyscraper in the city, 67-storey MLC Center (1972-75); 43-storey high-rise Horizon Apartments (1990-98); Ian Thorpe Swimming Pool (2001-07) and numerous private residences.
Notable buildings outside Australia include the Australian Embassy in Paris (1973-77), the elite Hong Kong Club (1980-84) in the heart of Hong Kong, and the Hochhaus Neue Donau residential complex in Vienna (1996-2002).
Seidler has received numerous Australian and international awards, including the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal, the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal and the Vienna City Gold Medal. Seidler is an Honorary Citizen of Australia, Knight of the Order of Australia and Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Below is an excerpt from my interview with Penelope Seidler, conducted in one of the architect's key buildings - in the couple's own house in Killar (1966-67), a suburb of Sydney this March. (The full interview was published in Tatlin magazine # 3, 2011).
Vladimir Belogolovsky: For Harry, contemporary art and architecture was a kind of crusade. He constantly studied the latest projects, met with leading artists, architects and engineers. He traveled continuously, studied buildings in nature and lectured. What drove him?
Penelope Seidler: It's very simple - Harry followed the ideology of modernism. Namely, he wanted to make our world a better place. He has always been interested in social housing projects. He believed that many buildings were too fanciful, irresponsible, wasteful and impractical. Especially in recent years, Harry has been disappointed in modern architecture. He was a traditional modernist. But he did not at all follow the once and for all frozen style. After all, modernism is a philosophy. This house is a vivid confirmation of this, as, in fact, all its buildings. He created each of his projects as something holistic. He always thought about the structure of a building first and never started a project with a facade drawing. It would be unthinkable.
VB: Let's talk about his collaboration with artists. After all, you have witnessed many interesting meetings.
PS: In 1960, Harry received his first significant order for the Australia Square office complex from Dutch developer Gerardus Düsseldorp. Being both foreigners, they understood each other well. Harry always said that a local would never dare to undertake such a grand project. Harry didn't have enough experience back then, so the developer wanted him to collaborate with a world famous architect. Harry turned to I. M. Peyu, who was his fellow student at Harvard. And then we went to New York together to meet him. However, later Dusseldorp decided that Harry could handle it himself. He believed in his own strength. And when the first low building was built next to the main tower, Harry did not like its supports. He found them somewhat awkward. Therefore, when it came time to build the tower, he suggested that the customer invite the famous engineer Pierre Luigi Nervi to the project in order to make the building more organic. He wrote a letter to Nervi and went to Rome for six weeks. It was then that he wandered around Rome and fell in love with Baroque architecture. Before that, he preferred gothic. Harry returned very pleased and enthusiastic, and what Nervi suggested was beautiful and practical. His idea of the outer columns tapering towards the top in a circle improved the appearance of the building and, of course, its concrete patterned ceilings on the first floors were magnificent. Since then, they have collaborated on many major projects.
VB: How did you choose the sculpture for this project?
PS: It was a different journey. By that time I graduated from university and we went on a month-long trip around the world to find a master for the main sculpture in front of the tower. In England, we met with Henry Moore, but he then said that he did not care where and how his works were exhibited. We then visited Alexander Calder's workshop in France and met him in Connecticut. We also considered the candidacy of Isama Naguchi, but could not cross with him in any way due to his frequent trips between Japan and New York. On the way back home, we stopped in Hawaii to see the famous American architect of Russian origin Vladimir Ossipov. We got off the plane and went to the rental office to rent a car. When it was the turn of the one in front, they called his last name: "Mr. Naguchi." That's how we met. We also met with the American sculptor Harry Bertoya and others.
VB: But in the end, the choice fell on Calder.
PS: Yes, he wanted it more than anyone else, and it was interesting for him to work with us on a whole series of options. He never came to Australia, but we corresponded a lot, and he sent us his drawings and models. Calder determined the color and shape of the stabilizer, which he called the Crosshair Shift, and Harry chose the scale and location. But let me tell you that all that we have received in Australia is only criticism for the fact that we did not invite an Australian sculptor.
VB: And what was your answer?
PS: Harry was always looking for the best ideas. He didn't care where they came from.
He was often not considered an Australian. It did not bother him, but it did bother me.
VB: It's always interesting to know how certain orders come in. They are often full of all kinds of happy coincidences. Tell us about the order for the Hong Kong club building.
PS: Harry was invited to participate in a design competition for HSBC's Hong Kong headquarters. There were six applicants in total. Among them: Norman Foster, Hugh Stubbins and Skidmore Owings & Merrill. I remember how the winner, Norman Foster, was announced literally the day after the deadline for submissions. Naturally Harry and Stubbins complained. After all, the organizers did not even have the opportunity to unfold the drawings so quickly. How could they make a decision so quickly? Hence, everything was decided in advance. However, during the competition, Harry became friends with a bank representative. He traveled the world, visiting the buildings of the contestants, and during his stay in Sydney, we hosted him in this house. There were only three of us. Shortly after Harry lost the competition, a telegram came from him: "I beg your pardon for the bank. Perhaps you would be interested in designing a club?" He was also the chairman of the Hong Kong club. Such a story. The club building is a more or less scaled-down version of the bank's competition project. Norman Foster then called Harry and congratulated him on the order …
VB: Were there interesting stories with private house projects?
PS: For example, the Bermans' house on the edge of the cliff in Joaja, New South Wales. This building was built in 1999 for the publisher Peter Berman. One evening Harry was on television and Berman's wife watched the program. The next day he visited the dentist. When he was returning home straight, Mrs. Berman approached him right on the street and said: "I saw you on TV yesterday and would like to order my house for you." And a few years ago, Peter lost his entire fortune, including that very house. I even had to shelter him for a while in my penthouse in Sydney. Now Berman's house belongs to new owners and is better known as Harry Seidler's house.
WB: What house do you like the most?
PS: This house. But with one caveat. If it had been designed 30 years later, it probably would have had a curved roof. In recent years, Harry has been addicted to curves. He often used them in the form of balconies and rooftops. Cohen's home, built not far from here in 1994, was the first home with a curved roof. It was a time when Harry felt a lot of freedom in using curves. He also experimented a lot with compositions from circle segments.
VB: What kind of person was he?
PS: Quiet, humble … He had absolutely no idea what to do at cocktail parties. He always retired in a corner with a book. He loved to talk about architecture. Harry was a perfectionist. He controlled literally everything. He knew what he wanted …
VB: What is the main lesson of Harry Seidler?
PS: The main thing is to initiate a public discussion about architecture. Young architects must boldly follow their dreams of creating innovative buildings. Architecture is a noble profession. Harry always wanted to build a better world. Many people tell me that it is thanks to Harry Seidler that architecture has become a topic of public discussion in Australia. He has always criticized the lack of proper planning here. It is still lacking today, but there is constant discussion, which is important in itself. Harry died five years ago, and I already feel that people treat him with more respect than they did when he was alive. There used to be a lot of attacks against him. It is sad that he did not live to see this time. They give me all the honors, but I owe all of this to him. He was a real fighter. You should have interviewed him …
Penelope Seidler was born in Sydney into a very wealthy family of famous lawyers and politicians. Her father, Clive Evatt, has been the New South Wales Minister of Education, Tourism and Construction over the years. Uncle Herbert Evatt was Australia's Foreign Secretary, and Elisabeth Evatt, an older sister, attorney and judge, was the first female judge in the Australian Federal Court. Penelope Seidler has been a member of the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1973. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Sydney and Venice Biennials. This year Mrs. Seidler became a Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor of France.
Vladimir Belogolovsky, curator of the exhibition on architecture by Harry Seidler, which will be held in Tallinn, Paris, Houston, Washington DC and Sydney from 2012 to 2014. In the summer of 2013, his book on Sideler will be published by Rizzoli, New York, with a foreword by Kenneth Frampton.
