The renowned Victorian architect, author, critic, and public educator, Robin Boyd was at the forefront of the Australian modernist architecture movement of the 50s and 60s. Often outspoken and critical, his 1960 book The Australian Ugliness, spoke derisively of featurism, that is, ornament for the sake of ornament.
Doing away with all extraneous details, his buildings conveyed a robust simplicity of line, strengthening architectural elements were allowed, but for the most part are absolutely minimal in design. That said, the inclusion of sculpturally formed furnishings such as Boyd’s own designs, (now beautifully reissued as the Boyd Collection (K5 Furniture) and showcased in the Australian Embassy, Washington DC by Bates Smart), as well as work by Mary and Grant Featherston, BFK butter fly chairs, Thonet and Bertoia set within his homes…
