October 10, 2024 • 51 mins
In this episode of History Now, Livia Rezende and Isabel Rousset explore the ways in which international exchange and transcultural connections inform design and visual histories.
History Now seminars explore current and compelling issues affecting the practice of contemporary history. It is a long-running series of public talks and discussions, bringing new perspectives to all aspects of historical practice. This year History Now is a collaboration between the History Council of NSW (HCNSW), the State Library of NSW and the Australian Centre for Public History (ACPH) at UTS. History Now 2024 is programmed by Jesse Adams Stein (Vice President of HCNSW / Member of ACPH).
Dr Isabel Rousset is an architectural historian and a Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Her research explores historical cross-sections between art, architecture, and politics. Her book The Architecture of Social Reform: Housing, Tradition and German Modernism was recently published by Manchester University Press and explores how the past was used to shape debates on housing design in modern Germany. Her current research project at UTS explores the experiences and impact of Central European migrant architects in Australia.
Dr Livia Rezende, SFHEA, has a PhD in History of Design, is Senior Lecturer and Postgraduate Research Coordinator at UNSW Art & Design, Sydney. Her current research project examines the formation of transnational networks that led to the institutionalisation of modern design in Latin America during the Cold War. Her previous research discussed national identity formation and raw material displays in nineteenth-century International Exhibitions, Expositions Universelles and World’s Fairs. Dr Rezende’s work have been published in Design & Displacement (Routledge, 2023), Building-Object(2022), Schools of Departure (Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, 2022), and various academic journals. She serves as Book Series Editor for the Manchester University Press and Editor for the Journal of Design History.
Dr Jesse Adams Stein is a Senior Lecturer and ARC DECRA Fellow at UTS School of Design. She is an interdisciplinary design researcher whose work explores less popular and hidden sides of design, such as industrial craft, repair, small-scale manufacturing and human labour, in both historical and contemporary contexts. Stein is the author of Hot Metal (Manchester 2016) and Industrial Craft in Australia (Palgrave 2021). With Dr Chantel Carr, Stein was founder and organiser of the interdisciplinary 2023 symposium All Hands on Deck, which led to the development of two scholarly book collections (edited with Carr), Designing through Planetary Breakdown and Working through Planetary Breakdown (both Routledge, forthcoming). Stein is deeply involved in the Australian history sector, as an oral historian, as Vice President of the History Council of NSW, and as 2024 Program Director of the history talk series, History Now.
Recording date: 7 August 2024.
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Episode Transcript
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Dr Jesse Adams Stein (00:05):
Good afternoon and thank you for
joining us here.
So lovely to see so many of you.
My name is Jessie Adam-Steen.
I'm here in my capacity asProgram Director of History Now
2024, and I'm a member of boththe History Council of New South
Wales and the Australian Centrefor Public History at UTS and
part of the UTS School of Design.
I'm also the chair fortonight's event.
(00:27):
So before we begin, I'd like tostart, as I should, by
acknowledging the place uponwhich we are holding this event
on Gadigal country and at theState Library of New South Wales
, which is on the top of thehill close to Warrain Sydney
Cove.
I'd like to acknowledge thatthe Gadigal are the traditional
custodians of this place and paymy respects to elders and
(00:50):
acknowledge that sovereignty wasnever ceded.
I'd also like to acknowledgethat the disciplines of design
history and architecturalhistory are thankfully now
beginning to come to grips withthe immensely long history of
First Nations.
Knowledge about making, aboutdesign, about materials and
about building on country, andthis connected way of thinking
(01:10):
about design on country is areally fundamental component of
understanding Indigenousapproaches to design.
Country as a concept includesthe built environment and
objects making up an integratedcultural landscape, not separate
things in opposition, not thispolarity between the human-made
and the natural Country is allone thing, and I acknowledge
(01:33):
Alison Page and Paul Memmott'swork in relation to what I just
said.
Now, although this particularHistory Now session is not
directly addressing FirstNations approaches to design or
architecture, our speakers todayare grappling with how to
convey design and architecturalhistories in the context of the
legacies and continuities ofcolonisation, as well as quite
(01:54):
consciously positioning theirdesign and architectural
histories in ways that accountfor a breadth of voices and
perspectives, as well as in waysthat help us understand our
present context, our globalisedpolitics and the built
environment.
Now, before I expand on today'stopic any further, I just want
(02:14):
to say a few words about HistoryNow as a whole series.
History Now is, in fact, along-running series and it's
been handed from group to groupand person to person over the
years.
It's always had the aim tobring excellent historical
research into public discourse.
We feature professional andacademic historians, as well as
experts who use historicalresearch in their practice in
(02:37):
various ways.
So this year for 2024, historynow is being coordinated by me,
but it sits in multiple placesit sits within the History
Council of New South Wales, butalso through the Australian
Centre for Public History.
Our venue partner for thein-person events is the State
Library of New South Wales.
We thank them for the use oftheir space.
(02:57):
In History Now 2024, we haveeight sessions.
We started in March and we gothrough to November.
You can find out the fullprogram through a quick search
engine inquiry.
I think the disciplines ofdesign history and architectural
history suffer similar but notquite identical problems.
Much of the work that's beingdone by historians and scholars
(03:20):
in these fields today is vastlydifferent, I think, from what
many outside of those fieldsmight assume design history and
architectural history is about.
So there are assumptions thatthese fields might be just about
superficial styling ormovements over time, and I don't
say this to be snobby orexclusive.
It's actually quite thecontrary, because the problems
(03:42):
of the misunderstanding of thesefields are the responsibility
of people.
Misunderstanding of thesefields are the responsibility of
people like me, designhistorians, to address.
So I'm the problem, it's me.
A related issue I want to pointto is an inherited problem for
these disciplines, which is todo with the way design history
and architectural history hasemerged historically,
(04:03):
particularly in Western contexts.
They both emerged in differentways, as 20th century studies
that were originally focused onstyle, on connoisseurship and
taste and on, for example, theclassical orders in architecture
and, of course, modernism.
That counts for bothdisciplines and those mid to
(04:24):
late 20th century.
Ways of understanding designand architecture were very much
based and this is not a newcritique, this is a very old
critique now, but very muchbased in a canon of a small
number of heroic designers andarchitects who were generally
white, male, european orAmerican and whose practice was
presented as good design andwhose canonical works we were
(04:45):
encouraged and I was encouragedat university and undergraduate
years to memorise in slide tests, and I did my fair share of
memorising for slide tests.
Now, those more traditionalapproaches to design and
architectural history certainlydo have some uses.
They give us this visualvocabulary, they give us a way
of looking, for instance, at thecities around us and
understanding those paths inmore depth and, for example,
(05:09):
those you know you still seecoffee table design books and
architecture books, which stilldo carry a kind of canonical
understanding.
They still have functions.
For example, they breedinterest in design and
architecture.
So I see them as kind of like agateway drug.
So I am, though, particularlydelighted and relieved to say
that in the past, say three orfour decades, both fields have
(05:32):
changed a great deal and are nowmaturing alongside changes to
practice based disciplines inboth design and architecture.
So the field of inquiry hasexpanded exponentially and
design and architecturalhistories are now widely
understood to be multiple, to bediverse, to challenge more
traditional conceptions arounddesign vis-a-vis, for example,
gender, race, colonization,universalism, the environment,
(05:56):
climate.
The list goes on.
So there's certainly been a moveaway from focusing on style and
form toward an appreciation ofthe complexities of ideas and
concepts, towards looking atdesign in broader social and
political and economic contexts,as well as the complexities of
how we might evaluate objectsand the built environment.
Do we look at users?
(06:17):
Do we look at designers?
Do we look at waste?
Do we look at failure?
Do we look at what was notbuilt?
How does you know class, genderpolitics have a role?
All these questions are nowbeing asked and, most
importantly, how does thisknowledge about the past
meaningfully help us drivechange in the present?
This expansion of whatconstitutes design and design
(06:39):
history, for example, issometimes seen as a bit of a
problem, because once you startexpanding the field this far,
things become, you know, maybe alittle bit vague.
But I think, more interestingly, this expansion enables
analysis to step into otherdisciplines.
So, for example, I'm notstrictly just a design historian
, I am other things too, andeffectively some of the work I
(07:00):
do counts as labour history, forexample.
So I think in a place such asAustralia there is more work to
be done in these fields.
The fields of design historyand architectural history in
Australia are really quite small, smaller than Australian
history.
That's pretty small too.
So there are so many morestories to be told and many more
(07:24):
avenues to be questioned andanalysed.
And in addition to the sort ofstultifying weight of the
Western canon that I referred toearlier, australian design and
architectural Sorry, australiandesign history and architectural
history has other issues to begrappled with.
There's a long history ofcultural cringe and a
comparatively recent history ofcolonisation to be dealt with
(07:47):
and a fairly anti intellectualmainstream culture.
So our two speakers today arevery much engaged in telling
more nuanced and interestingstories about design and
architecture in our past andwhat that means for us in the
present, both with reference toAustralia but also Brazil, and
most likely we will hear aboutother places too.
Importantly, their analyticallens and approach expands beyond
(08:10):
national borders, beyond thesemore traditional ideas about
nationalism, taking into accountcomplex histories involved with
the continuing legacies ofcolonisation and resistance
across the globe, as well ashistories of migration and
cross-cultural connection overtime.
So Dr Livia Rezende has a PhDin the history of design and is
(08:32):
a senior lecturer andpostgraduate research
coordinator at UNSW Art andDesign.
Her current research examinesthe formation of transnational
networks that led to theinstitutionalisation of modern
design in Latin America duringthe Cold War.
Her previous research discussednational identity formation and
raw material displays in 19thcentury international
(08:54):
exhibitions, expositions,universelles and world's fairs.
Livia's writing has beenpublished in a number of
different texts in academicjournals, for example Design and
Displacement, and she serves asbook series editor for
Manchester University Press andeditor for the Journal of Design
History.
I also note from Livia'sLinkedIn profile that she has
(09:16):
braved four internationalrelocations and lived in half
the planet's continents.
So in her paper today, liviawill be asking what does it mean
to approach the past from theperspective of design history?
Why and how might we approachdesign history from a
transnational lens, and howmight transnational design
histories be beneficial forplaces that continually grapple
(09:39):
with colonial histories, such asAustralia?
Please join me in welcomingLivia.
Dr Livia Rezende (09:48):
Well, thank you so much, Jess.
Thank you History Council ofNew South Wales State Library,
UTS, and Jess in particular,because of the invitation to
talk about transnational designhistories alongside Isabel
tonight.
Histories alongside IsabelChenay.
(10:09):
I have been working in thefield of design history for over
20 years, a field that hasexisted for at least 50.
And, as Jess introduced, I dofeel a little bit like I also
ought to explain what the fieldis.
So I am aware that perhaps ourfield of research, the subjects
that we address, our methods ofinquiry and our disciplinary
(10:31):
positions are not always clearor differentiated from other
areas of history.
So for this reason, I'll startmy talk by addressing design
history as a field and how itcan help us explore current and
compelling issues affecting thepractice of contemporary history
.
After this introduction, I'lldiscuss my most recent projects
(10:52):
and my approaches to the studyof history from a transnational
perspective.
So is design history a historyof beautiful, expensive objects
and iconic designers?
The short answer is no.
Like those working in art orarchitectural history, design
historians address design as anentry point to understand the
(11:14):
human condition.
In design history, we studyartifacts, even those not
designed by professionaldesigners, as they still pertain
and inform our visual andmaterial culture, past and
present.
These include, for example,artifacts made in the
Renaissance, when makers couldhave identified themselves as
(11:36):
draftspeople or mathematicians,as your own work testifies, jess
.
The boundaries between craftand design are also sometimes
blurred, and design historiansare very much interested in the
blurriness of things and ask whysometimes makers identify
themselves as craftspeople andat other times as industrial
(11:58):
designers, for instance,artifacts are understood in
their wider acceptation.
They are not just objects andproducts.
We also investigate interiors,textiles, digital artifacts,
designed interactions andservices, printed material,
exhibitions and several otherthings made from human activity.
(12:21):
Our methods of analysis aretherefore mostly qualitative and
we employ conceptual frameworksfrom across the humanities.
As with other sub-areas ofhistory, design historians
engage mostly in archivalresearch and oral histories, but
our eyes are mostly drawn tothe visual, material, spatial,
(12:42):
sensorial and behavioralqualities of our sources, as
we'll soon discuss in thecontext of my most recent
research project.
Design historians also studythe formation of the design
profession and discipline, againas entry points to problematize
and understand wider social,political, cultural and economic
(13:04):
contexts, but I'll come back tothis point soon.
Now I'd like to briefly talk toyou about one of the objects in
design history, and one that youmight have seen on the
invitation to the event tonight.
On the screen you see a labelfor what would be considered
(13:25):
today an FMCG or a fast-movingconsumer good.
This label circulated on boxesof bottles of pineapple liquor
produced by H Rocuro in Braziland consumed in the 19th century
.
And consumed in the 19thcentury.
(13:47):
This label was exquisitelychromolithographed in Paris and
printed in two languages.
After having been produced inthe Brazilian province of
Pernambuco, the pineappleliqueur was exported to France
and possibly beyond.
Another key element thatevidences the transnational life
of this product hangs above thecentral depiction of this
indigenous woman.
(14:08):
These are medals worn atworld's fairs and international
exhibitions that happened acrossEurope and the United States.
Just by looking at those medals, we can tell that this project
traveled to Vienna in 1873 toparticipate in the celebration
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It also traveled toPhiladelphia in 1876 when the US
(14:31):
celebrated its centennial witha World's Fair.
As a design historian, whatreally interests me in the
history of this label is thecentral image printed on it, an
image that also traveled andportrayed the young empire of
Brazil overseas.
But before I can analyze whatis happening in this image, it
(14:57):
will be important to talk aboutthis unusual process of
colonization and nationalformation in Brazil, so-called
discovered in the 16th century.
Brazil remained a colonialpossession of Portugal for three
centuries, a period whenmillions of indigenous peoples
were dispossessed of their landand gradually decimated by war,
(15:19):
illnesses, forced labor andother deleterious consequences
of colonization.
At the same time, millions ofpeoples were enslaved in Africa,
transferred to Brazil andforced into chattel slavery.
In 1808, unexpectedly, brazilbecame the seat of the
Portuguese Empire when the crownmoved to Rio, fleeing the
(15:41):
Napoleonic Wars.
The crown moved to Rio, fleeingthe Napoleonic Wars.
When the crown left in 1815,the country became the kingdom
of Brazil and, after itsindependence from Portugal, the
Empire of Brazil was founded in1822.
So Brazil was therefore anempire located on a previous
colonial territory and withoutoverseas possessions.
(16:04):
So what we see on the image ofthis label is a designed attempt
at making sense of this complexhistory while mitigating and
erasing colonial violence.
Here we see a somewhat placidindigenous woman in a
neoclassical drapery, leaning ona shield and placed among a
(16:25):
crop of pineapples ripe forliquor production.
The indigenous woman wears aheadgear that resembles a crown
and her shield is stamped withthe coat of arms of the Empire
of Brazil.
So who is she?
Is she someone belonging to theseveral hundreds of indigenous
tribes that existed in what hasbecome known as Brazil?
(16:47):
Or is she a regal figure thatoversees international trade
with Europe and Brazil's placein the new world order of late
19th century, global capitalistexpansion expansion?
I propose that the power ofthis image rests precisely on
(17:07):
its indeterminacy and liminality.
This figure is both indigenousand regal, naked and primitive,
while neoclassical andsophisticated.
She represents both theoriginal peoples of Brazil and
imperial power the originalpeoples of Brazil and imperial
power.
(17:28):
But rather than the peacefulreconciliation that the label
was designed to convey, thedesign historian sees how
settler, colonialist myths ofthe noble savage were created,
consumed and naturalized.
The significance of this mythin visual culture is heightened
if we consider that this label,or these labels were part of
that collection, were consumedby a population that was vastly
(17:51):
illiterate.
If I remember my statisticsright, there was something above
three quarters of Brazilianswere illiterate at this time in
the late 19th century.
The significance of this label,as with other popular artifacts
that promoted this myth, was anagent in the formation of the
(18:12):
Brazilian empire, as itencapsulated and promoted
colonialism.
My forays into histories ofcolonization and colonialism
have taken me to a currentresearch project that will
culminate in a book named theDiscipline of Modern Design
Professionalization,modernization and
Authoritarianism in Brazilduring the Cold War, with some
(18:34):
rough dates between 1947 and1985.
For this investigation, this isthe project that I had
mentioned before, in which I'vebeen studying the formation of
the design profession anddiscipline in Latin America, but
, crucially, I have beenapproaching this history with a
transnational lens andconsidering the colonial
(18:54):
approaches as part of myanalytical toolbox.
The historical problem I'veencountered is no longer one of
overt colonization, as whenwriting the history of those
labels, but it is a problem thatstill concerns how colonialism
and cultural dominance have beenupheld.
I'm now faced with thechallenge of exploring the
(19:16):
lingering effects of culturaldominance in design.
I am interested inproblematizing how, in regions
like Latin America, moderndesign has been an exclusionary
cultural practice that displacedlocal, place-based ways of
knowing and making, as seen incraft, for example.
And another example I put ajuxtaposition on the screen on
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the left-hand side one of thekey vehicles for modern design
in Latin America, nuevaRevolución, issued in Argentina
in 1951.
In contrast, I put a Brazilianillustrated magazine from circa
1860s to illustrate what ismeant by local, place-based ways
(20:05):
of knowing and making that havebeen displaced by this canon.
That I'm going to delve moreinto in a minute.
But when I started for fulldisclosure, I am a designer
practitioner I was top designand a bit like what Jess was
saying, when I started doing mydesign I didn't have slide cards
(20:26):
to memorize, but that cover ofthat magazine that was totally
beyond not just my knowledge andmy visual culture understanding
of what design might have beenin Brazil, but it was totally
beyond what I could use as mysource of investigation during
my master's, my bachelor's.
So obviously, as a good rebelthat I am, that's what I did.
(20:49):
For my master's.
I studied 19th century graphicdesign.
But let's contextualize therationale for this project first
before detailing it further.
During the Cold War, latinAmerica witnessed the boom in
modern design practice and theprofessionalization of the
discipline.
This resulted from decades ofimport substitution
(21:10):
industrialization policies thataimed at replacing imported
goods with domestic production.
These policies led tosignificant industrial and
economic growth.
This boom was evidenced by theconstruction of modernist
Brasilia, inaugurated in 1960,and the cutting-edge cybernetic
project called Cybersyn in Chile, developed between 1971 and 73.
(21:35):
Alongside this prosperousmoment for design, the region
became the focus of intensegeopolitical tensions between
the United States and the SovietUnion, as exemplified by the
Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
So-called anti-communistintervention in the region
(21:56):
resulted in several militarycoups and the installation of
authoritarian regimes backed bythe United States.
So one of the key promises ofmy research project is to ask
how and why theinstitutionalization and
professionalization of moderndesign was associated with the
(22:17):
rise of authoritarianismunderpinned by Cold War politics
.
This is a history to be writtenfrom a transnational
perspective, not only because ofUS interventions, but also
because the modern designpractice to which I've been
alluding has a long and complexhistory that cannot be delimited
by national borders.
(22:37):
So what is modern design?
This term denotes a specificway of designing that is ruled
by industrial processes and thataccepts as valid design
artifacts that have beenindustrially manufactured and
that follow certain tenets.
Modern design has a historylinked to the interwar period,
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the Republic of Weimar and theopening of the Bauhaus in 1919.
The Republic of Weimar and theopening of the Bauhaus in 1919.
The Bauhaus was an art anddesign school that, motivated by
the destructions of World War Ifomented the rethinking of the
relationship between Westernsociety and its cultural
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material production.
The social reform project ofthe Bauhaus was later taken up
by another German design schoolin the aftermath of World War II
.
The Hochschule für Gestaltungin Ulm considered Bauhaus'
successor in design education.
Out of Germany and Switzerlandcame this approach to designing
that became known as die Gutform, or good design, which was one
(23:42):
of the key pillars of post-warmodern design.
A dance of good design proposedfunctionalism as the key
guiding principle and rationalefor making and consuming
artifacts in the post-war period.
Among several dictums of thegood design credo one could find
one that product formal lawsshould be based on elementary
(24:07):
geometry, or that form and colormust be restrained, or even
that embellishments ordecoration of any unnecessary
detail must be rejected, andthese are well exemplified by,
on the right hand side, one ofMax's bills designs from 1949.
(24:29):
In the era, some of thesedictums stemmed from post-war
efforts for dis-nazification anderadication of nationalist
symbols from the collectiveconsciousness for also efforts
for rationalization ofconstruction and use of
materials, and also for theinternationalization of
(24:50):
democratic values and theirpromotion in design practice and
artifacts.
However, in other parts of theworld, these modern design
dictums literally dictated whatwould be a valid form for
products and visualcommunication in an industrial
age.
(25:12):
The post-war transnationalexchanges between international
designers and their Braziliancounterparts were multifarious
and lasted for decades weremultifarious and lasted for
decades.
Crucially, these exchanges withkey actors in Latin America,
europe and the US promoted this,which is my investigation the
(25:33):
institutionalization andprofessionalization of design in
Brazil.
But that was done locally,domestically in Brazil, as
mostly predicated on thosemodern design or even the good
design dictums that I've justexplained.
To illustrate some of theseexchanges, we could mention Max
Bell, the former Bauhausler, whobetween 1953 and 1956 directed
(25:57):
the Hochschule für Gestaltung,which I'll start calling HFG in
Ulm, to save you from my Germanpronunciation, or just Ulm.
And Max Bill's ideas wereactually impactful in Brazil.
His artwork was exhibited andawarded in the first Sao Paulo
Art Biennale in 1951, andfurther visits ensued in the
(26:20):
following years.
The 1960s saw the flows betweenBrazil and Germany-based
designers strengthened.
Brazilian design students whohad studied in Ulm returned to
the country alongside German andSwiss Ulm alumni to promote the
ideas of modern design in goodform.
Ulm staff included JosephAlbers and Abraham Moles, who
(26:44):
also engaged with Braziliandesign institutions and traveled
to Brazil to teach Max Benz.
Another staff from UMM traveledthe country four times and
published the book BrazilianIntelligence, where he narrated
his encounters with artists andintellectuals who he hailed had
the capacity to look towards themodern.
(27:06):
Otto Eicher, an Argentinianartist and design educator,
tomas Maldonado or the two keyfigures behind OM, also taught a
visual communication course inRio's Museum of Modern Art in
1959.
This course, which was intendedto be a pilot for a larger
project known as Escola Técnicade Criação or School for
(27:28):
Technical Creativity.
Although this school did noteventuate, another design school
known as ESG was founded in1963.
Today, esg is considered thefirst and one of the main modern
design schools in Latin America, which was predicated on the
(27:48):
UMM model for design educationand full disclosure.
That's where I was educated indesign.
I think you probably haveguessed right.
Unlike other revisionisthistories of modernism, my
research also explores the risein modern design practice,
professionalization andeducation in Brazil from the
perspective of economic andindustrial policies implemented
(28:12):
by the military.
Politically speaking, theestablishment of modern design
institutions in Brazil coincidedwith the civil-military coup
that ousted President JoãoGoulart in 1964, with the
backing of the Lyndon Johnsonadministration and the US
Central Intelligence Agency.
(28:32):
After the coup, the tighteningof the military regime in 1968
led Brazilian society into along and brutal period of
censorship, suspension of humanrights and widespread state
violence and torture, and Ihaven't put it here, but I just
(28:54):
realized I didn't mention thatthe processes of
redemocratization that startedaround the late 1970s were very
protected in Brazil andredemocratization only
eventuated in 1985.
In Brazil and redemocratizationonly eventuated in 1985.
But for many, the history ofdictatorship had an upside.
Brazilian military governmentsimplemented heavy-handed and
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anti-democratic economic andfinancial policies which,
coupled with large multinationalinfrastructure projects, led
the country to extraordinaryeconomic growth.
The temporal alignment betweenthese two events on the one hand
, the consolidation of moderndesign practice and education in
Brazil.
On the other hand, theBrazilian economic miracle meant
(29:36):
that designers helped advancethe military's national
modernization agenda.
This association is evidenced,for example, in the numerous
visual identity projects thatprovided a modern language to
state companies andinfrastructural developments and
that ended up underwriting themilitary's modernization and
(29:59):
nation-building efforts.
To conclude, I hope that thelinks between the adoption of
modern design in Brazil andauthoritarianism are becoming
clearer.
To the extent to which thepractice of modern design and
authoritarianism intersectedforms my key research questions.
The recent rise of far-rightpolitics and conservatism across
(30:24):
the globe also drive my inquiry.
In Brazil, this rise hasmanifested in the presidency of
Jair Bolsonaro in 2019.
More recently, far-rightuprisings led to the failed
military coup in January 2023,when a mob of discontentsents,
guided by Bolsonaro's acolytesstormed into the legislative
(30:47):
chambers in Brasilia to impedeelected President Lula's
inauguration.
Needless to say, this uprisingmirrored the 2021 capital
attacks in the US.
Perhaps another transnationalhistory there.
Perhaps another transnationalhistory there.
Through a transnationalapproach to design history, my
project provides much-needed newinsight into key contemporary
(31:11):
debates, including the role thatdesign and designers have
played in averting or promotingauthoritarianism.
And, as I have announced onInstagram today, this is the
world's premiere of the project.
Nobody knew about it until Icame here only me, my mentor and
the publisher.
So please watch the space.
(31:31):
Ask me as many questions as youcan, if that has interested you
, during our Q&A, because it'sgoing to be incredibly important
to see where I can take thisproject.
Thank you so much.
Dr Jesse Adams Stein (31:57):
Thank you, Livia.
I'll just introduce Dr IsabelRousset.
She's an architecturalhistorian and research fellow at
the University of TechnologySydney.
Her research exploreshistorical cross-sections
between art, architecture andpolitics.
Her book, the Architecture ofSocial Reform was published by
Manchester University Press andit explores how the past was
used to shape debates on housingdesign in modern Germany.
Isabel's current research,which I think is what we're
(32:20):
gonna hear about today, exploresthe experiences and impact of
Central European migrantarchitects in Australia.
So in her presentation today,Isabel will introduce a pretty
new project.
So again, it's really excitingto see the brand new projects
being shared, but I will letIsabel tell us all about that.
Thank you very much.
(32:40):
Please join me in welcomingIsabel.
Dr Isabel Rousset (32:52):
Thank you also to Jesse, thank you for
inviting me to present, thankyou for organising this
incredible series and thank youalso to the partners for putting
this whole event together.
And I'd also like toacknowledge the Gadigal people,
on whose lands we gather thisevening and pay my respects to
(33:12):
elders past and present.
So this evening I'd like topresent my current research,
which examines the phenomenon oftransnational migration of
architects who trained inCentral Europe and who, by force
or by choice, came to practicein Australia.
And this is certainly not a newtopic, but it has had a
(33:35):
presence in scholarship eversince the history of
architecture in this part of theworld began to be written.
In Australian ugliness, a bookI'm sure you're all familiar
with, Robin Boyd infamouslytalked of the contribution of
Central European migrantarchitects in disapproving terms
, describing the prevalence offeaturism in the 1950s.
(33:59):
Boyd wrote that quote.
At this time, the Australianscene was undergoing another,
more important change aninjection of something like 10%
of continental European stockinto its Anglo-Saxon blood.
As numerous observers forecast,this transfusion was enormously
(34:20):
beneficial to the patient inmany fields, such as coffee
making, music skiing and thestocking of delicatessen shops.
But, contrary to some prophets,it did not assist in broadening
or sharpening the taste asmanifest in the suburban street
end quote.
Since Boyd's critique there'sbeen plenty of literature that
(34:43):
has provided a corrective,recognising not just Harry
Seidler as the most convincingrepresentative of a
Bauhaus-style modernism inAustralia, but the work of other
migrants who helped catalysethe nation's embrace of
modernism.
This literature has helpedexpand the canon and destabilise
the Britain-centric view ofmodernism's arrival advanced by
(35:14):
John Maxwell Freeland and DonaldLeslie Johnson.
So this is the literature herethat I refer to.
So if this literature haslargely focused on the question
of the migrant contribution,architectural historian Mariana
Lozanovska has recently providedadditional balance, focusing on
the forces in Australiansociety that have habitually
(35:36):
excluded migrants from theprofession.
But in this talk I'd like toreflect on how we might write
design histories ontransnational migration.
Now I'd like to ask not whatmigrants tell us about a
national history of Australianarchitecture, but rather to ask
how architecture reflectsmigrant experiences of cultural
(35:57):
displacement.
So I'll spend the rest of thistalk offering a brief narration
of the career of Hungarian-bornPerth architect Julius Elisha
and he's a white male European,so sorry about that, that's not
quite the brief that I was given.
(36:24):
Boccia was born in 1918 in themidst of political turmoil
following the collapse of theAustro-Hungarian Empire and the
formation of a much truncatedHungarian Democratic Republic.
He began his architecturalstudies in Budapest in 1937 at
the Royal Joseph PolytechnicUniversity.
He received a scholarship toattend the Bauhaus but had his
plans thwarted by its closureand the imminent breakout of
(36:44):
World War II.
After imprisonment andsubsequent escape from Soviet
forces in Hungary in 1951, heemigrated to Australia to seek
better opportunities.
Elisha worked briefly for thelocal architect Reginald
Summerhays before gainingregistration with the Royal
Australian Institute ofArchitects in the 60s.
(37:04):
His best known work the FuchsTaylor Furniture Showroom of
1965, launched his career and hewould remain in Perth.
Elish's style alternated betweenbold Corbusian sculptural
gestures for civic works and amore conventional Mediterranean
(37:27):
idiom for residential works inthe tradition of Perth locals
Marshall Clifton and GusFerguson, a tradition discussed
recently by Duncan Richards andAndrew Murray, recently by
Duncan Richards and AndrewMurray.
Elish's residential work inparticular was instrumental in
bringing spec building to Perth,much of it realised in the then
(37:49):
fashionable Spanish missionstyle.
His residential complexes werethe first on the west coast to
take a fully integrated spatial,visual and landscaped approach
to suburban residential buildingIn Landahl's Mediterranean
village.
Nonetheless, home buyers on atight budget were given the
semblance of choice withavailable house types, including
(38:11):
the Attica, the Andalusia, theAlmalfi and the Ancona.
Equally important in Elish'spractice was a string of houses
he constructed in the late 1960sfor a clientele of
Nouveau-Riche Italian immigrants, including the Branchi House,
the Smetana House and theD'Orsonia House you can still
buy D'Orsonia ham in WoolworthsI think they all combined the
(38:36):
architect's quintessential cubicforms with eclectic Italianate
elements, including generouspatios and Elisha's
characteristic balustrades.
It was in these houses thatElisha began to work closely
with brass designer StelioCotterley, whom I have not
managed to find out muchinformation so far.
(38:57):
But after migrating fromTrieste in northern Italy and
initially working in therefrigeration factory, cotterley
achieved rapid success,catering to Perth's growing
elite with opulent and uniquebrass furniture and fittings.
Elish's later works venturedinto a more featurest mode, such
(39:19):
as in the Yokine Baptist Churchof 1971, a modernist box with
the words Jesus said lead theway, carved conspicuously in
brick in the spirit of aVenturian decorated shed.
Yet there is little evidence toshow that Elisha kept abreast
with international trends inpost-modernism.
(39:39):
Unlike Venturi's modesty,elisha bothered little with
theory.
No building encapsulatesElisha's sincerity better than
one of his later works, and it'sthis work that I give most
attention in the remainder ofthis talk.
El Caballo Blanco, a kitschyMoorish-themed hotel and
(40:00):
equestrian centre in the ruraldistrict of Ruraloo, one hour
outside of Perth, and so this isnot the Sydney one that I'm
sure you're more familiar with.
El Caballo Blanco was thelatest venture of Perth
entrepreneur and owner of TipTop Butchers, ray Williams, who
in 1969 bought the 13 acreproperty with dreams to
(40:21):
establish a world-class stablefor cross-breeding Spanish
horses, which could also serveas a lucrative resort centre.
During his travels around Spainin search of a purebred
Andalusian stallion, william methis second wife, edith Evans
Williams, a Texan breeder andthe world's first female
bullfighter who would accompanyWilliams back to Western
(40:43):
Australia.
To become El Caballo Blanco'schief performer For the centre's
architecture, elisha workedwith a team of very recent
migrants the builders Angela andVincenzo La Carva and the
designer Stelio Cotterley.
The builders Vincenzo La Cavaand the designer Stelio
Cotterley.
The builders Vincenzo andAngela La Cava likewise migrated
(41:04):
from Italy in 1956 and 1958,respectively, angela arriving
when she was just 14 years old.
Shortly after meeting at adance in Perth, they married and
started La Cava ConstructionCompany.
Angela began studying atLeederville TAFE, becoming the
first woman in the state toreceive a certificate in
building and construction.
(41:25):
After managing a handful ofconstruction projects in City
Beach, it must have been anincredible feeling for Vincenzo
and Angela the latter still only28, to have received a
multi-million dollar commissionfor the equestrian fantasy land,
the most capital-intensivetourist project yet to be built
in the state.
(41:45):
El Caballo Blanco encapsulatedthe synergy of these new ideas
and materials flowing into WA.
Oh, sorry, I've missed aparagraph there.
The commission would allow theLocavas to establish
Interceramics, one of the firstoutlets for Italian ceramic
tiles in WA, and eventually toimporting and fabricating marble
(42:11):
, granite and limestone.
The showroom of their stoneprocessing factory in Osborne
Park bears another migrantconnection as one of the last
works of Harry Seidler.
So El Caballo Blancoencapsulates the synergy of
these new ideas and materialsflowing into WA.
Arriving off the greatesteastern highway, the spectacular
entry, wrapped by sweepinglodges and framed with
(42:33):
reflective pools, would haveimmediately transported visitors
right back to 11th centuryAl-Andalus.
In the central interior, anetwork of bars, foyer spaces
and restaurant space, guestswould experience a kaleidoscope
of columns and exaggeratedhorseshoe arches dotted with
fountains, pools, gardens andcourtyards.
(42:54):
In the two central interiorcourtyards.
Elish's keen spatial sensecombined with the material
opulence of the carver'scolourful tiling I think I might
be behind on my slides here.
Colourful tiling andCotterley's lighting fixtures
and blue metal work to create atotal artwork.
(43:15):
Elish's characteristicbalustrades frame the outdoor
arena where spectators wouldwatch the Spanish horses kneel
and dance.
The Moorish flourishes extendonto the motel wing framed
around a pool, providing guestswith the perfect escape from the
monotony of suburban Perth.
(43:47):
El Caballo Blanco's homogenisedand exoticised display of
Spanish culture undoubtedlyhelped sharpen WA's claim to be
a tourist destination offeringunique experiences.
The opening of the EquestrianCentre in 1973 coincided with
the launch of WA Tourism, thatWA Tourism Bureau's new and
ultimately much ridiculed sloganRelax in a State of Excitement.
During the first few years, elCaballo attracted thousands of
(44:08):
tourists weekly, becoming themain cultural drawcard in the
state.
Wa's obsession with theMediterranean continued on in
other leisure projects, publicand private, from Gus Ferguson's
powerful and enduring touristaccommodation on Rottnest Island
to Alan Bond's ambitiousYanchep Sun City development.
(44:29):
The latter included Forbes andFitzharding's acclaimed Two
Rocks Town Centre model on theMediterranean village, along
with the less convincing butnonetheless popular Greco-Roman
Atlantis Marine Park.
After increasing pressure fromenvironmentalists, its
(44:49):
performing dolphins were setfree in 1990 and the park shut
down.
Like El Caballo, it now standsderelict, although the limestone
statue to Neptune that probablyoverlooked the park still
stands as a much-loved localicon.
The Mediterranean obsessionproved to be brief, as leisure
(45:11):
patterns shifted away from themeparks and tourists began to
seek new experiences thataligned culturally with the
Pacific and Indian Ocean worlds,rather than the Mediterranean.
The 1980s would be defined bylarge corporate driven
infrastructure projects such asJohn Andrews Portman-esque
Merlin Hotel, city Merlin Hotelin Perth.
(45:32):
City Projects like Merlin, inthe words of one critic, brought
an element of downtown Dallasglitz to Perth, catering to
tourists quote burdened withtravel fatigue and American
Express cards.
Meanwhile, el Caballo Blancocontinued to operate as a hotel.
Ray Williams went on toestablish another El Caballo
(45:53):
resort in New South Wales beforeselling both and trying his
luck with similar ventures inthe United States.
Abandoned by his wife, edith,and facing increasing financial
woes and an Alzheimer'sdiagnosis, he died in 1983 of
self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
The Worraloo Equestrian Centrewould continue to operate as a
(46:16):
hotel and golf resort even afterits horses had long departed
and, according to its onlinereviews, offered an increasingly
underwhelming experience untilit eventually shut its doors in
1999.
So I'd like to spend theconclusion of this talk
speculating on the significanceof this commission for Julia's
(46:38):
Elisha.
One might be tempted to read ElCaballo Blanco as an oddity in
the oeuvre of thisHungarian-born architect who in
his youth, aspired to reach theBauhaus and who brought the most
convincing interpretation ofinternational-style modernism to
Perth in the Fuchs-Taylorshowroom.
The 2003 exhibition on Elisha,held at UWA, that's, the
(47:05):
University of WesternAustralia's Cullity Gallery,
rightfully championed Elisha'scombined studio and residence in
Broadway, netherlands, shownhere, built in 1969.
An exploded modernist box onthe exterior.
The interior nonethelessconveys something more romantic,
featuring as its centrepiece anelaborate winding metal
(47:27):
staircase that culminates in anabstract aluminium rose window
by Stelio Cotterley.
The exhibition notes theradical notion of mixed-use
living offered by the Elishastudio.
Radical notion of mixed-useliving offered by the Elisha
studio.
But in fact Elisha's mainresidence, main family residence
, was located in a much moreconventional suburban street in
(47:49):
Netherlands, in a Spanish-themedhouse he designed for himself
in 1976.
Its exterior, with itsremarkable entrance gate,
likewise likely designed byStelio Cotterley, clearly takes
El Caballo Blanco as itsdeparture point.
At the centre of the house planis void an open courtyard that,
(48:14):
by an account of one of myarchitecture students seemingly
exhibits a modernist sense offree planning, but more likely
it conveys Elish's deeply feltsympathies with the architecture
of Moorish Spain acting as afoil to his more pragmatic,
public-facing modernist works.
The Moorish-inspired paintingsand sculptures of horses are
(48:38):
dotted throughout, maintainedfaithfully by the architect's
daughter, francesca, until therecent sale of the house.
In the context of Elish'spersonal biography, at least,
the commission of the equestriancentre seems to have functioned
as a salve for thepsychological and physical
wounds inflicted by his Europeanexperience of war and a sense
(49:02):
of cultural displacement.
Recreated in Elish'sNetherlands residence, el
Caballo Blanco provided thearchitect with a necessary form
of escapism.
So I'll leave it there and I'lllook forward to.
Dr Jesse Adams Stein (49:23):
Thank you so much, livia and Isabel.
Let's give them a clap and alsojust to acknowledge that events
such as these are not just doneby me.
We are part of a team.
So the History Council of NewSouth Wales I do want to
acknowledge Catherine Shirley,who has been recording today and
does all the back-end workmaking it all happen, amanda
(49:44):
Wells and Lauren Chater.
We've thanked the State Libraryfor their venue and I guess
also just to say what's comingup, the History Council.
We have History Week next month.
The theme for the entire weekis marking time.
If you're an academic, thatmight mean something slightly
different, but that's not quitewhat we mean.
It has much more interestingconnotations and part of that
(50:07):
week is the annual historylecture and awards night and the
lecturer is Frank Bongiorno.
That should be fascinating.
That's on the 10th of Septemberand then the following month.
More than human histories isthe history now topic for
October.
On the 10th of September andthen the following month.
More Than Human Histories isthe History Now topic for
October.
On the 16th of October here inthe MAPS room at 5pm with Emily
(50:28):
O'Gorman and Taylor Coyne.
I should also note the HistoryCouncil receives funding from
New South Wales Government viaCreate New South Wales.
Very important to acknowledgethat and I really hope to see
you all at the next History Nowevent or at the annual history
lecture or at other History Weekevents.
Thank you for being such alovely audience.
See you again, bye-bye,applause.
Good afternoon and thank you for
joining us here.
So lovely to see so many of you.
My name is Jessie Adam-Steen.
I'm here in my capacity asProgram Director of History Now
2024, and I'm a member of boththe History Council of New South
Wales and the Australian Centrefor Public History at UTS and
part of the UTS School of Design.
I'm also the chair fortonight's event.
(00:27):
So before we begin, I'd like tostart, as I should, by
acknowledging the place uponwhich we are holding this event
on Gadigal country and at theState Library of New South Wales
, which is on the top of thehill close to Warrain Sydney
Cove.
I'd like to acknowledge thatthe Gadigal are the traditional
custodians of this place and paymy respects to elders and
(00:50):
acknowledge that sovereignty wasnever ceded.
I'd also like to acknowledgethat the disciplines of design
history and architecturalhistory are thankfully now
beginning to come to grips withthe immensely long history of
First Nations.
Knowledge about making, aboutdesign, about materials and
about building on country, andthis connected way of thinking
(01:10):
about design on country is areally fundamental component of
understanding Indigenousapproaches to design.
Country as a concept includesthe built environment and
objects making up an integratedcultural landscape, not separate
things in opposition, not thispolarity between the human-made
and the natural Country is allone thing, and I acknowledge
(01:33):
Alison Page and Paul Memmott'swork in relation to what I just
said.
Now, although this particularHistory Now session is not
directly addressing FirstNations approaches to design or
architecture, our speakers todayare grappling with how to
convey design and architecturalhistories in the context of the
legacies and continuities ofcolonisation, as well as quite
(01:54):
consciously positioning theirdesign and architectural
histories in ways that accountfor a breadth of voices and
perspectives, as well as in waysthat help us understand our
present context, our globalisedpolitics and the built
environment.
Now, before I expand on today'stopic any further, I just want
(02:14):
to say a few words about HistoryNow as a whole series.
History Now is, in fact, along-running series and it's
been handed from group to groupand person to person over the
years.
It's always had the aim tobring excellent historical
research into public discourse.
We feature professional andacademic historians, as well as
experts who use historicalresearch in their practice in
(02:37):
various ways.
So this year for 2024, historynow is being coordinated by me,
but it sits in multiple placesit sits within the History
Council of New South Wales, butalso through the Australian
Centre for Public History.
Our venue partner for thein-person events is the State
Library of New South Wales.
We thank them for the use oftheir space.
(02:57):
In History Now 2024, we haveeight sessions.
We started in March and we gothrough to November.
You can find out the fullprogram through a quick search
engine inquiry.
I think the disciplines ofdesign history and architectural
history suffer similar but notquite identical problems.
Much of the work that's beingdone by historians and scholars
(03:20):
in these fields today is vastlydifferent, I think, from what
many outside of those fieldsmight assume design history and
architectural history is about.
So there are assumptions thatthese fields might be just about
superficial styling ormovements over time, and I don't
say this to be snobby orexclusive.
It's actually quite thecontrary, because the problems
(03:42):
of the misunderstanding of thesefields are the responsibility
of people.
Misunderstanding of thesefields are the responsibility of
people like me, designhistorians, to address.
So I'm the problem, it's me.
A related issue I want to pointto is an inherited problem for
these disciplines, which is todo with the way design history
and architectural history hasemerged historically,
(04:03):
particularly in Western contexts.
They both emerged in differentways, as 20th century studies
that were originally focused onstyle, on connoisseurship and
taste and on, for example, theclassical orders in architecture
and, of course, modernism.
That counts for bothdisciplines and those mid to
(04:24):
late 20th century.
Ways of understanding designand architecture were very much
based and this is not a newcritique, this is a very old
critique now, but very muchbased in a canon of a small
number of heroic designers andarchitects who were generally
white, male, european orAmerican and whose practice was
presented as good design andwhose canonical works we were
(04:45):
encouraged and I was encouragedat university and undergraduate
years to memorise in slide tests, and I did my fair share of
memorising for slide tests.
Now, those more traditionalapproaches to design and
architectural history certainlydo have some uses.
They give us this visualvocabulary, they give us a way
of looking, for instance, at thecities around us and
understanding those paths inmore depth and, for example,
(05:09):
those you know you still seecoffee table design books and
architecture books, which stilldo carry a kind of canonical
understanding.
They still have functions.
For example, they breedinterest in design and
architecture.
So I see them as kind of like agateway drug.
So I am, though, particularlydelighted and relieved to say
that in the past, say three orfour decades, both fields have
(05:32):
changed a great deal and are nowmaturing alongside changes to
practice based disciplines inboth design and architecture.
So the field of inquiry hasexpanded exponentially and
design and architecturalhistories are now widely
understood to be multiple, to bediverse, to challenge more
traditional conceptions arounddesign vis-a-vis, for example,
gender, race, colonization,universalism, the environment,
(05:56):
climate.
The list goes on.
So there's certainly been a moveaway from focusing on style and
form toward an appreciation ofthe complexities of ideas and
concepts, towards looking atdesign in broader social and
political and economic contexts,as well as the complexities of
how we might evaluate objectsand the built environment.
Do we look at users?
(06:17):
Do we look at designers?
Do we look at waste?
Do we look at failure?
Do we look at what was notbuilt?
How does you know class, genderpolitics have a role?
All these questions are nowbeing asked and, most
importantly, how does thisknowledge about the past
meaningfully help us drivechange in the present?
This expansion of whatconstitutes design and design
(06:39):
history, for example, issometimes seen as a bit of a
problem, because once you startexpanding the field this far,
things become, you know, maybe alittle bit vague.
But I think, more interestingly, this expansion enables
analysis to step into otherdisciplines.
So, for example, I'm notstrictly just a design historian
, I am other things too, andeffectively some of the work I
(07:00):
do counts as labour history, forexample.
So I think in a place such asAustralia there is more work to
be done in these fields.
The fields of design historyand architectural history in
Australia are really quite small, smaller than Australian
history.
That's pretty small too.
So there are so many morestories to be told and many more
(07:24):
avenues to be questioned andanalysed.
And in addition to the sort ofstultifying weight of the
Western canon that I referred toearlier, australian design and
architectural Sorry, australiandesign history and architectural
history has other issues to begrappled with.
There's a long history ofcultural cringe and a
comparatively recent history ofcolonisation to be dealt with
(07:47):
and a fairly anti intellectualmainstream culture.
So our two speakers today arevery much engaged in telling
more nuanced and interestingstories about design and
architecture in our past andwhat that means for us in the
present, both with reference toAustralia but also Brazil, and
most likely we will hear aboutother places too.
Importantly, their analyticallens and approach expands beyond
(08:10):
national borders, beyond thesemore traditional ideas about
nationalism, taking into accountcomplex histories involved with
the continuing legacies ofcolonisation and resistance
across the globe, as well ashistories of migration and
cross-cultural connection overtime.
So Dr Livia Rezende has a PhDin the history of design and is
(08:32):
a senior lecturer andpostgraduate research
coordinator at UNSW Art andDesign.
Her current research examinesthe formation of transnational
networks that led to theinstitutionalisation of modern
design in Latin America duringthe Cold War.
Her previous research discussednational identity formation and
raw material displays in 19thcentury international
(08:54):
exhibitions, expositions,universelles and world's fairs.
Livia's writing has beenpublished in a number of
different texts in academicjournals, for example Design and
Displacement, and she serves asbook series editor for
Manchester University Press andeditor for the Journal of Design
History.
I also note from Livia'sLinkedIn profile that she has
(09:16):
braved four internationalrelocations and lived in half
the planet's continents.
So in her paper today, liviawill be asking what does it mean
to approach the past from theperspective of design history?
Why and how might we approachdesign history from a
transnational lens, and howmight transnational design
histories be beneficial forplaces that continually grapple
(09:39):
with colonial histories, such asAustralia?
Please join me in welcomingLivia.
Dr Livia Rezende (09:48):
Well, thank you so much, Jess.
Thank you History Council ofNew South Wales State Library,
UTS, and Jess in particular,because of the invitation to
talk about transnational designhistories alongside Isabel
tonight.
Histories alongside IsabelChenay.
(10:09):
I have been working in thefield of design history for over
20 years, a field that hasexisted for at least 50.
And, as Jess introduced, I dofeel a little bit like I also
ought to explain what the fieldis.
So I am aware that perhaps ourfield of research, the subjects
that we address, our methods ofinquiry and our disciplinary
(10:31):
positions are not always clearor differentiated from other
areas of history.
So for this reason, I'll startmy talk by addressing design
history as a field and how itcan help us explore current and
compelling issues affecting thepractice of contemporary history
.
After this introduction, I'lldiscuss my most recent projects
(10:52):
and my approaches to the studyof history from a transnational
perspective.
So is design history a historyof beautiful, expensive objects
and iconic designers?
The short answer is no.
Like those working in art orarchitectural history, design
historians address design as anentry point to understand the
(11:14):
human condition.
In design history, we studyartifacts, even those not
designed by professionaldesigners, as they still pertain
and inform our visual andmaterial culture, past and
present.
These include, for example,artifacts made in the
Renaissance, when makers couldhave identified themselves as
(11:36):
draftspeople or mathematicians,as your own work testifies, jess
.
The boundaries between craftand design are also sometimes
blurred, and design historiansare very much interested in the
blurriness of things and ask whysometimes makers identify
themselves as craftspeople andat other times as industrial
(11:58):
designers, for instance,artifacts are understood in
their wider acceptation.
They are not just objects andproducts.
We also investigate interiors,textiles, digital artifacts,
designed interactions andservices, printed material,
exhibitions and several otherthings made from human activity.
(12:21):
Our methods of analysis aretherefore mostly qualitative and
we employ conceptual frameworksfrom across the humanities.
As with other sub-areas ofhistory, design historians
engage mostly in archivalresearch and oral histories, but
our eyes are mostly drawn tothe visual, material, spatial,
(12:42):
sensorial and behavioralqualities of our sources, as
we'll soon discuss in thecontext of my most recent
research project.
Design historians also studythe formation of the design
profession and discipline, againas entry points to problematize
and understand wider social,political, cultural and economic
(13:04):
contexts, but I'll come back tothis point soon.
Now I'd like to briefly talk toyou about one of the objects in
design history, and one that youmight have seen on the
invitation to the event tonight.
On the screen you see a labelfor what would be considered
(13:25):
today an FMCG or a fast-movingconsumer good.
This label circulated on boxesof bottles of pineapple liquor
produced by H Rocuro in Braziland consumed in the 19th century
.
And consumed in the 19thcentury.
(13:47):
This label was exquisitelychromolithographed in Paris and
printed in two languages.
After having been produced inthe Brazilian province of
Pernambuco, the pineappleliqueur was exported to France
and possibly beyond.
Another key element thatevidences the transnational life
of this product hangs above thecentral depiction of this
indigenous woman.
(14:08):
These are medals worn atworld's fairs and international
exhibitions that happened acrossEurope and the United States.
Just by looking at those medals, we can tell that this project
traveled to Vienna in 1873 toparticipate in the celebration
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It also traveled toPhiladelphia in 1876 when the US
(14:31):
celebrated its centennial witha World's Fair.
As a design historian, whatreally interests me in the
history of this label is thecentral image printed on it, an
image that also traveled andportrayed the young empire of
Brazil overseas.
But before I can analyze whatis happening in this image, it
(14:57):
will be important to talk aboutthis unusual process of
colonization and nationalformation in Brazil, so-called
discovered in the 16th century.
Brazil remained a colonialpossession of Portugal for three
centuries, a period whenmillions of indigenous peoples
were dispossessed of their landand gradually decimated by war,
(15:19):
illnesses, forced labor andother deleterious consequences
of colonization.
At the same time, millions ofpeoples were enslaved in Africa,
transferred to Brazil andforced into chattel slavery.
In 1808, unexpectedly, brazilbecame the seat of the
Portuguese Empire when the crownmoved to Rio, fleeing the
(15:41):
Napoleonic Wars.
The crown moved to Rio, fleeingthe Napoleonic Wars.
When the crown left in 1815,the country became the kingdom
of Brazil and, after itsindependence from Portugal, the
Empire of Brazil was founded in1822.
So Brazil was therefore anempire located on a previous
colonial territory and withoutoverseas possessions.
(16:04):
So what we see on the image ofthis label is a designed attempt
at making sense of this complexhistory while mitigating and
erasing colonial violence.
Here we see a somewhat placidindigenous woman in a
neoclassical drapery, leaning ona shield and placed among a
(16:25):
crop of pineapples ripe forliquor production.
The indigenous woman wears aheadgear that resembles a crown
and her shield is stamped withthe coat of arms of the Empire
of Brazil.
So who is she?
Is she someone belonging to theseveral hundreds of indigenous
tribes that existed in what hasbecome known as Brazil?
(16:47):
Or is she a regal figure thatoversees international trade
with Europe and Brazil's placein the new world order of late
19th century, global capitalistexpansion expansion?
I propose that the power ofthis image rests precisely on
(17:07):
its indeterminacy and liminality.
This figure is both indigenousand regal, naked and primitive,
while neoclassical andsophisticated.
She represents both theoriginal peoples of Brazil and
imperial power the originalpeoples of Brazil and imperial
power.
(17:28):
But rather than the peacefulreconciliation that the label
was designed to convey, thedesign historian sees how
settler, colonialist myths ofthe noble savage were created,
consumed and naturalized.
The significance of this mythin visual culture is heightened
if we consider that this label,or these labels were part of
that collection, were consumedby a population that was vastly
(17:51):
illiterate.
If I remember my statisticsright, there was something above
three quarters of Brazilianswere illiterate at this time in
the late 19th century.
The significance of this label,as with other popular artifacts
that promoted this myth, was anagent in the formation of the
(18:12):
Brazilian empire, as itencapsulated and promoted
colonialism.
My forays into histories ofcolonization and colonialism
have taken me to a currentresearch project that will
culminate in a book named theDiscipline of Modern Design
Professionalization,modernization and
Authoritarianism in Brazilduring the Cold War, with some
(18:34):
rough dates between 1947 and1985.
For this investigation, this isthe project that I had
mentioned before, in which I'vebeen studying the formation of
the design profession anddiscipline in Latin America, but
, crucially, I have beenapproaching this history with a
transnational lens andconsidering the colonial
(18:54):
approaches as part of myanalytical toolbox.
The historical problem I'veencountered is no longer one of
overt colonization, as whenwriting the history of those
labels, but it is a problem thatstill concerns how colonialism
and cultural dominance have beenupheld.
I'm now faced with thechallenge of exploring the
(19:16):
lingering effects of culturaldominance in design.
I am interested inproblematizing how, in regions
like Latin America, moderndesign has been an exclusionary
cultural practice that displacedlocal, place-based ways of
knowing and making, as seen incraft, for example.
And another example I put ajuxtaposition on the screen on
(19:39):
the left-hand side one of thekey vehicles for modern design
in Latin America, nuevaRevolución, issued in Argentina
in 1951.
In contrast, I put a Brazilianillustrated magazine from circa
1860s to illustrate what ismeant by local, place-based ways
(20:05):
of knowing and making that havebeen displaced by this canon.
That I'm going to delve moreinto in a minute.
But when I started for fulldisclosure, I am a designer
practitioner I was top designand a bit like what Jess was
saying, when I started doing mydesign I didn't have slide cards
(20:26):
to memorize, but that cover ofthat magazine that was totally
beyond not just my knowledge andmy visual culture understanding
of what design might have beenin Brazil, but it was totally
beyond what I could use as mysource of investigation during
my master's, my bachelor's.
So obviously, as a good rebelthat I am, that's what I did.
(20:49):
For my master's.
I studied 19th century graphicdesign.
But let's contextualize therationale for this project first
before detailing it further.
During the Cold War, latinAmerica witnessed the boom in
modern design practice and theprofessionalization of the
discipline.
This resulted from decades ofimport substitution
(21:10):
industrialization policies thataimed at replacing imported
goods with domestic production.
These policies led tosignificant industrial and
economic growth.
This boom was evidenced by theconstruction of modernist
Brasilia, inaugurated in 1960,and the cutting-edge cybernetic
project called Cybersyn in Chile, developed between 1971 and 73.
(21:35):
Alongside this prosperousmoment for design, the region
became the focus of intensegeopolitical tensions between
the United States and the SovietUnion, as exemplified by the
Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
So-called anti-communistintervention in the region
(21:56):
resulted in several militarycoups and the installation of
authoritarian regimes backed bythe United States.
So one of the key promises ofmy research project is to ask
how and why theinstitutionalization and
professionalization of moderndesign was associated with the
(22:17):
rise of authoritarianismunderpinned by Cold War politics
.
This is a history to be writtenfrom a transnational
perspective, not only because ofUS interventions, but also
because the modern designpractice to which I've been
alluding has a long and complexhistory that cannot be delimited
by national borders.
(22:37):
So what is modern design?
This term denotes a specificway of designing that is ruled
by industrial processes and thataccepts as valid design
artifacts that have beenindustrially manufactured and
that follow certain tenets.
Modern design has a historylinked to the interwar period,
(22:59):
the Republic of Weimar and theopening of the Bauhaus in 1919.
The Republic of Weimar and theopening of the Bauhaus in 1919.
The Bauhaus was an art anddesign school that, motivated by
the destructions of World War Ifomented the rethinking of the
relationship between Westernsociety and its cultural
(23:19):
material production.
The social reform project ofthe Bauhaus was later taken up
by another German design schoolin the aftermath of World War II
.
The Hochschule für Gestaltungin Ulm considered Bauhaus'
successor in design education.
Out of Germany and Switzerlandcame this approach to designing
that became known as die Gutform, or good design, which was one
(23:42):
of the key pillars of post-warmodern design.
A dance of good design proposedfunctionalism as the key
guiding principle and rationalefor making and consuming
artifacts in the post-war period.
Among several dictums of thegood design credo one could find
one that product formal lawsshould be based on elementary
(24:07):
geometry, or that form and colormust be restrained, or even
that embellishments ordecoration of any unnecessary
detail must be rejected, andthese are well exemplified by,
on the right hand side, one ofMax's bills designs from 1949.
(24:29):
In the era, some of thesedictums stemmed from post-war
efforts for dis-nazification anderadication of nationalist
symbols from the collectiveconsciousness for also efforts
for rationalization ofconstruction and use of
materials, and also for theinternationalization of
(24:50):
democratic values and theirpromotion in design practice and
artifacts.
However, in other parts of theworld, these modern design
dictums literally dictated whatwould be a valid form for
products and visualcommunication in an industrial
age.
(25:12):
The post-war transnationalexchanges between international
designers and their Braziliancounterparts were multifarious
and lasted for decades weremultifarious and lasted for
decades.
Crucially, these exchanges withkey actors in Latin America,
europe and the US promoted this,which is my investigation the
(25:33):
institutionalization andprofessionalization of design in
Brazil.
But that was done locally,domestically in Brazil, as
mostly predicated on thosemodern design or even the good
design dictums that I've justexplained.
To illustrate some of theseexchanges, we could mention Max
Bell, the former Bauhausler, whobetween 1953 and 1956 directed
(25:57):
the Hochschule für Gestaltung,which I'll start calling HFG in
Ulm, to save you from my Germanpronunciation, or just Ulm.
And Max Bill's ideas wereactually impactful in Brazil.
His artwork was exhibited andawarded in the first Sao Paulo
Art Biennale in 1951, andfurther visits ensued in the
(26:20):
following years.
The 1960s saw the flows betweenBrazil and Germany-based
designers strengthened.
Brazilian design students whohad studied in Ulm returned to
the country alongside German andSwiss Ulm alumni to promote the
ideas of modern design in goodform.
Ulm staff included JosephAlbers and Abraham Moles, who
(26:44):
also engaged with Braziliandesign institutions and traveled
to Brazil to teach Max Benz.
Another staff from UMM traveledthe country four times and
published the book BrazilianIntelligence, where he narrated
his encounters with artists andintellectuals who he hailed had
the capacity to look towards themodern.
(27:06):
Otto Eicher, an Argentinianartist and design educator,
tomas Maldonado or the two keyfigures behind OM, also taught a
visual communication course inRio's Museum of Modern Art in
1959.
This course, which was intendedto be a pilot for a larger
project known as Escola Técnicade Criação or School for
(27:28):
Technical Creativity.
Although this school did noteventuate, another design school
known as ESG was founded in1963.
Today, esg is considered thefirst and one of the main modern
design schools in Latin America, which was predicated on the
(27:48):
UMM model for design educationand full disclosure.
That's where I was educated indesign.
I think you probably haveguessed right.
Unlike other revisionisthistories of modernism, my
research also explores the risein modern design practice,
professionalization andeducation in Brazil from the
perspective of economic andindustrial policies implemented
(28:12):
by the military.
Politically speaking, theestablishment of modern design
institutions in Brazil coincidedwith the civil-military coup
that ousted President JoãoGoulart in 1964, with the
backing of the Lyndon Johnsonadministration and the US
Central Intelligence Agency.
(28:32):
After the coup, the tighteningof the military regime in 1968
led Brazilian society into along and brutal period of
censorship, suspension of humanrights and widespread state
violence and torture, and Ihaven't put it here, but I just
(28:54):
realized I didn't mention thatthe processes of
redemocratization that startedaround the late 1970s were very
protected in Brazil andredemocratization only
eventuated in 1985.
In Brazil and redemocratizationonly eventuated in 1985.
But for many, the history ofdictatorship had an upside.
Brazilian military governmentsimplemented heavy-handed and
(29:15):
anti-democratic economic andfinancial policies which,
coupled with large multinationalinfrastructure projects, led
the country to extraordinaryeconomic growth.
The temporal alignment betweenthese two events on the one hand
, the consolidation of moderndesign practice and education in
Brazil.
On the other hand, theBrazilian economic miracle meant
(29:36):
that designers helped advancethe military's national
modernization agenda.
This association is evidenced,for example, in the numerous
visual identity projects thatprovided a modern language to
state companies andinfrastructural developments and
that ended up underwriting themilitary's modernization and
(29:59):
nation-building efforts.
To conclude, I hope that thelinks between the adoption of
modern design in Brazil andauthoritarianism are becoming
clearer.
To the extent to which thepractice of modern design and
authoritarianism intersectedforms my key research questions.
The recent rise of far-rightpolitics and conservatism across
(30:24):
the globe also drive my inquiry.
In Brazil, this rise hasmanifested in the presidency of
Jair Bolsonaro in 2019.
More recently, far-rightuprisings led to the failed
military coup in January 2023,when a mob of discontentsents,
guided by Bolsonaro's acolytesstormed into the legislative
(30:47):
chambers in Brasilia to impedeelected President Lula's
inauguration.
Needless to say, this uprisingmirrored the 2021 capital
attacks in the US.
Perhaps another transnationalhistory there.
Perhaps another transnationalhistory there.
Through a transnationalapproach to design history, my
project provides much-needed newinsight into key contemporary
(31:11):
debates, including the role thatdesign and designers have
played in averting or promotingauthoritarianism.
And, as I have announced onInstagram today, this is the
world's premiere of the project.
Nobody knew about it until Icame here only me, my mentor and
the publisher.
So please watch the space.
(31:31):
Ask me as many questions as youcan, if that has interested you
, during our Q&A, because it'sgoing to be incredibly important
to see where I can take thisproject.
Thank you so much.
Dr Jesse Adams Stein (31:57):
Thank you, Livia.
I'll just introduce Dr IsabelRousset.
She's an architecturalhistorian and research fellow at
the University of TechnologySydney.
Her research exploreshistorical cross-sections
between art, architecture andpolitics.
Her book, the Architecture ofSocial Reform was published by
Manchester University Press andit explores how the past was
used to shape debates on housingdesign in modern Germany.
Isabel's current research,which I think is what we're
(32:20):
gonna hear about today, exploresthe experiences and impact of
Central European migrantarchitects in Australia.
So in her presentation today,Isabel will introduce a pretty
new project.
So again, it's really excitingto see the brand new projects
being shared, but I will letIsabel tell us all about that.
Thank you very much.
(32:40):
Please join me in welcomingIsabel.
Dr Isabel Rousset (32:52):
Thank you also to Jesse, thank you for
inviting me to present, thankyou for organising this
incredible series and thank youalso to the partners for putting
this whole event together.
And I'd also like toacknowledge the Gadigal people,
on whose lands we gather thisevening and pay my respects to
(33:12):
elders past and present.
So this evening I'd like topresent my current research,
which examines the phenomenon oftransnational migration of
architects who trained inCentral Europe and who, by force
or by choice, came to practicein Australia.
And this is certainly not a newtopic, but it has had a
(33:35):
presence in scholarship eversince the history of
architecture in this part of theworld began to be written.
In Australian ugliness, a bookI'm sure you're all familiar
with, Robin Boyd infamouslytalked of the contribution of
Central European migrantarchitects in disapproving terms
, describing the prevalence offeaturism in the 1950s.
(33:59):
Boyd wrote that quote.
At this time, the Australianscene was undergoing another,
more important change aninjection of something like 10%
of continental European stockinto its Anglo-Saxon blood.
As numerous observers forecast,this transfusion was enormously
(34:20):
beneficial to the patient inmany fields, such as coffee
making, music skiing and thestocking of delicatessen shops.
But, contrary to some prophets,it did not assist in broadening
or sharpening the taste asmanifest in the suburban street
end quote.
Since Boyd's critique there'sbeen plenty of literature that
(34:43):
has provided a corrective,recognising not just Harry
Seidler as the most convincingrepresentative of a
Bauhaus-style modernism inAustralia, but the work of other
migrants who helped catalysethe nation's embrace of
modernism.
This literature has helpedexpand the canon and destabilise
the Britain-centric view ofmodernism's arrival advanced by
(35:14):
John Maxwell Freeland and DonaldLeslie Johnson.
So this is the literature herethat I refer to.
So if this literature haslargely focused on the question
of the migrant contribution,architectural historian Mariana
Lozanovska has recently providedadditional balance, focusing on
the forces in Australiansociety that have habitually
(35:36):
excluded migrants from theprofession.
But in this talk I'd like toreflect on how we might write
design histories ontransnational migration.
Now I'd like to ask not whatmigrants tell us about a
national history of Australianarchitecture, but rather to ask
how architecture reflectsmigrant experiences of cultural
(35:57):
displacement.
So I'll spend the rest of thistalk offering a brief narration
of the career of Hungarian-bornPerth architect Julius Elisha
and he's a white male European,so sorry about that, that's not
quite the brief that I was given.
(36:24):
Boccia was born in 1918 in themidst of political turmoil
following the collapse of theAustro-Hungarian Empire and the
formation of a much truncatedHungarian Democratic Republic.
He began his architecturalstudies in Budapest in 1937 at
the Royal Joseph PolytechnicUniversity.
He received a scholarship toattend the Bauhaus but had his
plans thwarted by its closureand the imminent breakout of
(36:44):
World War II.
After imprisonment andsubsequent escape from Soviet
forces in Hungary in 1951, heemigrated to Australia to seek
better opportunities.
Elisha worked briefly for thelocal architect Reginald
Summerhays before gainingregistration with the Royal
Australian Institute ofArchitects in the 60s.
(37:04):
His best known work the FuchsTaylor Furniture Showroom of
1965, launched his career and hewould remain in Perth.
Elish's style alternated betweenbold Corbusian sculptural
gestures for civic works and amore conventional Mediterranean
(37:27):
idiom for residential works inthe tradition of Perth locals
Marshall Clifton and GusFerguson, a tradition discussed
recently by Duncan Richards andAndrew Murray, recently by
Duncan Richards and AndrewMurray.
Elish's residential work inparticular was instrumental in
bringing spec building to Perth,much of it realised in the then
(37:49):
fashionable Spanish missionstyle.
His residential complexes werethe first on the west coast to
take a fully integrated spatial,visual and landscaped approach
to suburban residential buildingIn Landahl's Mediterranean
village.
Nonetheless, home buyers on atight budget were given the
semblance of choice withavailable house types, including
(38:11):
the Attica, the Andalusia, theAlmalfi and the Ancona.
Equally important in Elish'spractice was a string of houses
he constructed in the late 1960sfor a clientele of
Nouveau-Riche Italian immigrants, including the Branchi House,
the Smetana House and theD'Orsonia House you can still
buy D'Orsonia ham in WoolworthsI think they all combined the
(38:36):
architect's quintessential cubicforms with eclectic Italianate
elements, including generouspatios and Elisha's
characteristic balustrades.
It was in these houses thatElisha began to work closely
with brass designer StelioCotterley, whom I have not
managed to find out muchinformation so far.
(38:57):
But after migrating fromTrieste in northern Italy and
initially working in therefrigeration factory, cotterley
achieved rapid success,catering to Perth's growing
elite with opulent and uniquebrass furniture and fittings.
Elish's later works venturedinto a more featurest mode, such
(39:19):
as in the Yokine Baptist Churchof 1971, a modernist box with
the words Jesus said lead theway, carved conspicuously in
brick in the spirit of aVenturian decorated shed.
Yet there is little evidence toshow that Elisha kept abreast
with international trends inpost-modernism.
(39:39):
Unlike Venturi's modesty,elisha bothered little with
theory.
No building encapsulatesElisha's sincerity better than
one of his later works, and it'sthis work that I give most
attention in the remainder ofthis talk.
El Caballo Blanco, a kitschyMoorish-themed hotel and
(40:00):
equestrian centre in the ruraldistrict of Ruraloo, one hour
outside of Perth, and so this isnot the Sydney one that I'm
sure you're more familiar with.
El Caballo Blanco was thelatest venture of Perth
entrepreneur and owner of TipTop Butchers, ray Williams, who
in 1969 bought the 13 acreproperty with dreams to
(40:21):
establish a world-class stablefor cross-breeding Spanish
horses, which could also serveas a lucrative resort centre.
During his travels around Spainin search of a purebred
Andalusian stallion, william methis second wife, edith Evans
Williams, a Texan breeder andthe world's first female
bullfighter who would accompanyWilliams back to Western
(40:43):
Australia.
To become El Caballo Blanco'schief performer For the centre's
architecture, elisha workedwith a team of very recent
migrants the builders Angela andVincenzo La Carva and the
designer Stelio Cotterley.
The builders Vincenzo La Cavaand the designer Stelio
Cotterley.
The builders Vincenzo andAngela La Cava likewise migrated
(41:04):
from Italy in 1956 and 1958,respectively, angela arriving
when she was just 14 years old.
Shortly after meeting at adance in Perth, they married and
started La Cava ConstructionCompany.
Angela began studying atLeederville TAFE, becoming the
first woman in the state toreceive a certificate in
building and construction.
(41:25):
After managing a handful ofconstruction projects in City
Beach, it must have been anincredible feeling for Vincenzo
and Angela the latter still only28, to have received a
multi-million dollar commissionfor the equestrian fantasy land,
the most capital-intensivetourist project yet to be built
in the state.
(41:45):
El Caballo Blanco encapsulatedthe synergy of these new ideas
and materials flowing into WA.
Oh, sorry, I've missed aparagraph there.
The commission would allow theLocavas to establish
Interceramics, one of the firstoutlets for Italian ceramic
tiles in WA, and eventually toimporting and fabricating marble
(42:11):
, granite and limestone.
The showroom of their stoneprocessing factory in Osborne
Park bears another migrantconnection as one of the last
works of Harry Seidler.
So El Caballo Blancoencapsulates the synergy of
these new ideas and materialsflowing into WA.
Arriving off the greatesteastern highway, the spectacular
entry, wrapped by sweepinglodges and framed with
(42:33):
reflective pools, would haveimmediately transported visitors
right back to 11th centuryAl-Andalus.
In the central interior, anetwork of bars, foyer spaces
and restaurant space, guestswould experience a kaleidoscope
of columns and exaggeratedhorseshoe arches dotted with
fountains, pools, gardens andcourtyards.
(42:54):
In the two central interiorcourtyards.
Elish's keen spatial sensecombined with the material
opulence of the carver'scolourful tiling I think I might
be behind on my slides here.
Colourful tiling andCotterley's lighting fixtures
and blue metal work to create atotal artwork.
(43:15):
Elish's characteristicbalustrades frame the outdoor
arena where spectators wouldwatch the Spanish horses kneel
and dance.
The Moorish flourishes extendonto the motel wing framed
around a pool, providing guestswith the perfect escape from the
monotony of suburban Perth.
(43:47):
El Caballo Blanco's homogenisedand exoticised display of
Spanish culture undoubtedlyhelped sharpen WA's claim to be
a tourist destination offeringunique experiences.
The opening of the EquestrianCentre in 1973 coincided with
the launch of WA Tourism, thatWA Tourism Bureau's new and
ultimately much ridiculed sloganRelax in a State of Excitement.
During the first few years, elCaballo attracted thousands of
(44:08):
tourists weekly, becoming themain cultural drawcard in the
state.
Wa's obsession with theMediterranean continued on in
other leisure projects, publicand private, from Gus Ferguson's
powerful and enduring touristaccommodation on Rottnest Island
to Alan Bond's ambitiousYanchep Sun City development.
(44:29):
The latter included Forbes andFitzharding's acclaimed Two
Rocks Town Centre model on theMediterranean village, along
with the less convincing butnonetheless popular Greco-Roman
Atlantis Marine Park.
After increasing pressure fromenvironmentalists, its
(44:49):
performing dolphins were setfree in 1990 and the park shut
down.
Like El Caballo, it now standsderelict, although the limestone
statue to Neptune that probablyoverlooked the park still
stands as a much-loved localicon.
The Mediterranean obsessionproved to be brief, as leisure
(45:11):
patterns shifted away from themeparks and tourists began to
seek new experiences thataligned culturally with the
Pacific and Indian Ocean worlds,rather than the Mediterranean.
The 1980s would be defined bylarge corporate driven
infrastructure projects such asJohn Andrews Portman-esque
Merlin Hotel, city Merlin Hotelin Perth.
(45:32):
City Projects like Merlin, inthe words of one critic, brought
an element of downtown Dallasglitz to Perth, catering to
tourists quote burdened withtravel fatigue and American
Express cards.
Meanwhile, el Caballo Blancocontinued to operate as a hotel.
Ray Williams went on toestablish another El Caballo
(45:53):
resort in New South Wales beforeselling both and trying his
luck with similar ventures inthe United States.
Abandoned by his wife, edith,and facing increasing financial
woes and an Alzheimer'sdiagnosis, he died in 1983 of
self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
The Worraloo Equestrian Centrewould continue to operate as a
(46:16):
hotel and golf resort even afterits horses had long departed
and, according to its onlinereviews, offered an increasingly
underwhelming experience untilit eventually shut its doors in
1999.
So I'd like to spend theconclusion of this talk
speculating on the significanceof this commission for Julia's
(46:38):
Elisha.
One might be tempted to read ElCaballo Blanco as an oddity in
the oeuvre of thisHungarian-born architect who in
his youth, aspired to reach theBauhaus and who brought the most
convincing interpretation ofinternational-style modernism to
Perth in the Fuchs-Taylorshowroom.
The 2003 exhibition on Elisha,held at UWA, that's, the
(47:05):
University of WesternAustralia's Cullity Gallery,
rightfully championed Elisha'scombined studio and residence in
Broadway, netherlands, shownhere, built in 1969.
An exploded modernist box onthe exterior.
The interior nonethelessconveys something more romantic,
featuring as its centrepiece anelaborate winding metal
(47:27):
staircase that culminates in anabstract aluminium rose window
by Stelio Cotterley.
The exhibition notes theradical notion of mixed-use
living offered by the Elishastudio.
Radical notion of mixed-useliving offered by the Elisha
studio.
But in fact Elisha's mainresidence, main family residence
, was located in a much moreconventional suburban street in
(47:49):
Netherlands, in a Spanish-themedhouse he designed for himself
in 1976.
Its exterior, with itsremarkable entrance gate,
likewise likely designed byStelio Cotterley, clearly takes
El Caballo Blanco as itsdeparture point.
At the centre of the house planis void an open courtyard that,
(48:14):
by an account of one of myarchitecture students seemingly
exhibits a modernist sense offree planning, but more likely
it conveys Elish's deeply feltsympathies with the architecture
of Moorish Spain acting as afoil to his more pragmatic,
public-facing modernist works.
The Moorish-inspired paintingsand sculptures of horses are
(48:38):
dotted throughout, maintainedfaithfully by the architect's
daughter, francesca, until therecent sale of the house.
In the context of Elish'spersonal biography, at least,
the commission of the equestriancentre seems to have functioned
as a salve for thepsychological and physical
wounds inflicted by his Europeanexperience of war and a sense
(49:02):
of cultural displacement.
Recreated in Elish'sNetherlands residence, el
Caballo Blanco provided thearchitect with a necessary form
of escapism.
So I'll leave it there and I'lllook forward to.
Dr Jesse Adams Stein (49:23):
Thank you so much, livia and Isabel.
Let's give them a clap and alsojust to acknowledge that events
such as these are not just doneby me.
We are part of a team.
So the History Council of NewSouth Wales I do want to
acknowledge Catherine Shirley,who has been recording today and
does all the back-end workmaking it all happen, amanda
(49:44):
Wells and Lauren Chater.
We've thanked the State Libraryfor their venue and I guess
also just to say what's comingup, the History Council.
We have History Week next month.
The theme for the entire weekis marking time.
If you're an academic, thatmight mean something slightly
different, but that's not quitewhat we mean.
It has much more interestingconnotations and part of that
(50:07):
week is the annual historylecture and awards night and the
lecturer is Frank Bongiorno.
That should be fascinating.
That's on the 10th of Septemberand then the following month.
More than human histories isthe history now topic for
October.
On the 10th of September andthen the following month.
More Than Human Histories isthe History Now topic for
October.
On the 16th of October here inthe MAPS room at 5pm with Emily
(50:28):
O'Gorman and Taylor Coyne.
I should also note the HistoryCouncil receives funding from
New South Wales Government viaCreate New South Wales.
Very important to acknowledgethat and I really hope to see
you all at the next History Nowevent or at the annual history
lecture or at other History Weekevents.
Thank you for being such alovely audience.
See you again, bye-bye,applause.
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