History of our bricks and mortar
by
Rebecca Jenkins
The stories behind some of South Australia’s most recognised
buildings are being told at a new museum in UniSA, revealing many layers
of the state’s rich architectural history.
An immense collection of blueprints, drawings and photographs has found a home at the new Architecture Museum in the Kaurna building, City West campus.
Museum director Dr Christine Garnaut said the collection was an excellent resource for university students and staff, conservation architects, historians, as well as the public.
A priority was to “help the public better appreciate architecture … better understand the whole architectural process”.
Architectural historian Donald Leslie Johnson started the collection to save the records of architects who were retiring.
He donated it to the South Australian School of Technology in 1990. It now has a purpose-designed space in the Kaurna building.
The collection is a record of some of Adelaide’s most treasured structures, including the former Bank of New South Wales building, and the AMP building, designed in 1934 in King William Street.
It provides a catalogue of some projects that never made it off the ground, such as a community centre at Barmera, designed in 1944, and a record of buildings and structures now demolished.
The majority of the collection is from the 20th Century, but the earliest piece is an 1846 stained glass window design by colonial architect RG Thomas.
Newspaper cuttings of the time also record public reaction to new projects and developments, which was not always favourable.
There are plans for the homes of the “Adelaide Establishment”, complete with smoking rooms and maid’s rooms, as well as brochures and drawings giving a lasting record of how ordinary people lived.
Dr Garnaut said she found the story told by the many plans, drawings and photographs fascinating.
“The collection covers more than architectural history,” she explained. “It’s also a social and cultural record.”
In addition to working on cataloguing and storing the records, Dr Garnaut, Collections Manger Dr Julie Collins, PhD candidate Susan Collins, and others, are using the collection as a major resource for their research.
To view the collection contact Dr Julie Collins on (08) 8302 9235.