MacRobertson Girls High School, Melbourne
MacRobertson Girls High School,
Kingsway,
South Melbourne.
When Norman H. Seabrook won the competition for MacRobertson Girls’ high School in 1934, his design heralded what Robyn Boyd was to term the ‘The 1934 Revolution (Victorian Modern, Melbourne, 1947). Seabrook’s design was the first example in Australia of a modern style of architecture characterised by the use of interlocking planes of various sizes, with a strong contrast between horizontal and vertical elements, and between solid and void. Plain surfaces in neutral tones were enlivened by the use of primary colours (red, yellow and blue) for details. In the world of art, de Stijl was related to the work of cubists, and to the paintings of Modrian. The School of Amsterdam, in contrast, employed the traditional brickwork of the Netherlands, developing it to its limits in terms of plasticity of form while emphasising its intrinsic character.
Dudok successfully combined these disparate elements to create his own distinctive style. In his capacity as official architect to the town of Hilversum, he erected a number of outstanding buildings in this manner, including several schools and the famous Hilversum Town Hall, built between c. 1927 and 1931. This was undoubtedly Dudok’s most influential building. Examples derived from it in Europe include the Cahcan-sur-Seine Town Hall, France (J.B. Mathon and J. Cholet, 1934) and the Hornsey Town Hall, U.K. (R.H. Uren, 1933-5) which won the RIBA Bronze Medal in 1935.
In Australia comparable examples include the Sanitarium Health Food Company Building, Warbuton (E.F. Billson, 1936-9) and the Heidelburg Town Hall (Peck and Kemter and A.C. Leith and associates, 1937). These two examples however, each of which is already classified, date from at least two years after Seabrook’s innovative design for the Girl’s High School.
Source: From info displayed at the school.
MacRobertson Girls High School, Melbourne
MacRobertson Girls High School,
Kingsway,
South Melbourne.
When Norman H. Seabrook won the competition for MacRobertson Girls’ high School in 1934, his design heralded what Robyn Boyd was to term the ‘The 1934 Revolution (Victorian Modern, Melbourne, 1947). Seabrook’s design was the first example in Australia of a modern style of architecture characterised by the use of interlocking planes of various sizes, with a strong contrast between horizontal and vertical elements, and between solid and void. Plain surfaces in neutral tones were enlivened by the use of primary colours (red, yellow and blue) for details. In the world of art, de Stijl was related to the work of cubists, and to the paintings of Modrian. The School of Amsterdam, in contrast, employed the traditional brickwork of the Netherlands, developing it to its limits in terms of plasticity of form while emphasising its intrinsic character.
Dudok successfully combined these disparate elements to create his own distinctive style. In his capacity as official architect to the town of Hilversum, he erected a number of outstanding buildings in this manner, including several schools and the famous Hilversum Town Hall, built between c. 1927 and 1931. This was undoubtedly Dudok’s most influential building. Examples derived from it in Europe include the Cahcan-sur-Seine Town Hall, France (J.B. Mathon and J. Cholet, 1934) and the Hornsey Town Hall, U.K. (R.H. Uren, 1933-5) which won the RIBA Bronze Medal in 1935.
In Australia comparable examples include the Sanitarium Health Food Company Building, Warbuton (E.F. Billson, 1936-9) and the Heidelburg Town Hall (Peck and Kemter and A.C. Leith and associates, 1937). These two examples however, each of which is already classified, date from at least two years after Seabrook’s innovative design for the Girl’s High School.
Source: From info displayed at the school.