Robin Boyd CBE
(1919-1971)
Boyd is arguably the most influential architect there has been in Australia. Through his writings Boyd inspired the general community and through his architecture he has become an acknowledged leader in the design and architectural professions. He was a renowned Victorian architect, author, critic, and public educator in the 50s and 60s, a leader in Melbourne’s Modern Architecture movement, a visionary in urban design, and outspoken on the ‘Australian Identity’.
Robin Boyd was a public educator. He was passionate about good design and devoted his life to creating a wider public understanding of its benefits. Acting as the cultural conscience of the nation, Boyd encouraged people to extend their thinking and expectations beyond ‘the known’ and ‘the given’. He urged people to reassess and innovate and, most importantly, he led by example.
‘Walsh Street’, the house Boyd designed for his own family in 1957, is his most well-known work. It has been extensively published both nationally and internationally as an exemplar of modernist Australian architecture and a house that continues to influence architectural thinking. It is now the home of the Robin Boyd Foundation.
Walsh Street 3D Virtual Reality Tour
Boyd House II / Walsh Street was designed by Robin Boyd for his family in 1957 and is his best known work. It is an exemplar of modernist Australian architecture. The house remains largely unchanged from the time it was first designed and occupied by the Boyd family – a time capsule to the perennially popular mid-century modernist period. Furnished with pieces designed by Boyd’s associates Grant and Mary Featherston, and others, the house provides a unique insight into Melbourne’s design leaders of the 50s and 60s.
Boyd used the opportunity to design his own family home to reject domestic convention and contribute a house of programmatic and technical innovation and mastery. Walsh Street is an experimental house, designed to be enjoyed and explored by all who visit, and now the home of the Robin Boyd Foundation.
Due to Covid lockdown in 2020, the Robin Boyd Foundation, in partnership with the Australian Institute of Architects, were grateful to the architects who have contributed the following videos showcasing their short-listed and award-winning projects.