Immigrants, travellers and magazines – according to architectural historian Donald Leslie Johnson, it was these factors that catalysed the proliferation of modernism in Australia, while it was still grappling with a postwar architectural (and national, at large) identity in the wake of the 20th century.¹ Much of its colonial and early federation era witnessed architecture derived from the Georgian, Edwardian and Victorian architecture models of Britain. Coming into its own, Australia still showed dependence on external precedents, insisting on an insularity that decelerated the more radical, European brand of modernism.

However, as Johnson underlined, Australian architecture and its urban landscape began visibly transforming once professionals such as Canadian-born architect John Horbury Hunt, American architects and urban design visionaries Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin, institutional modernism pioneer Percy Edgar Everett and regional modernist Robin Dods emerged and built extensively in the continent nation. A key figure in this coming of age of Australian modernism was Harry Seidler (1923-2006), a Vienna-born, Harvard GSD-trained architect, who arrived in the country in 1948 and practised here for over six decades. Through projects spanning radical residential design experiments, high-rise housing and commercial architecture, Seidler catalysed the architectural and urban discourse in Australia with his provocative, polarising architecture.

Over the years, several architectural historians have studied and written about Seidler and exhibitions such as the travelling show, Harry Seidler: Painting Toward Architecture, have conveyed his journey. The newly opened San Marco Art Centre (SMAC) in Venice, Italy, lends additional dimensions to the conversation on his contributions for its inaugural programme. In collaboration with the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum (CCWM), the solo exhibition Migrating Modernism. The architecture of Harry Seidler, on view till July 20, 2025, is curated by CCWM’s Ann Stephen and Paolo Stracchi from the university’s own School of Architecture, Design and Planning, with curatorial advisor Nikolaus Hirsch.

A collection of letters, drawings, models, artworks and personal artefacts chronicle Seidler’s life, providing an in-depth look at his projects and collaborations with other architects and artists including Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Lin Utzon, Sol LeWitt and Italian structural engineer Pier Luigi Nervi. The architecture exhibition is housed within SMAC’s new exhibition space on the second floor of the Procuratie in Piazza San Marco, presented along with Korean landscape designer Jung Youngsun’s solo exhibition For all that Breathes on Earth.

The uncompromising architect challenged entrenched local sentiments with his works—largely in Sydney, Australia—introducing the International Style, famed within the larger canon of modernism, informed by the teachings of Bauhaus and Harvard. The retrospective exhibition spans all that and more. "Beyond its refined formal language, Seidler’s architecture stands as a reflection of the broader cultural, historical and architectural conditions of its time,” states Stracchi in an official release.

Speaking with STIR, tying in the new space's unmistakable character with the genesis of the exhibition, Stracchi further states, “The exhibition takes visitors on a chronological journey through Seidler’s life and work, making it easy—even for those new to his legacy—to follow how his architectural thinking and production evolved over time. The spatial experience of the exhibition is further enhanced by the setting itself. The traditional gallery-like layout of the SMAC, with its axial sequence of rooms, creates a rhythm of immersion and reflection. The high ceilings provide a striking contrast to the denser, archival displays, while the walls—finished in smooth Venetian marmorino—add a quiet elegance that frames key artworks and evocative images of Seidler’s architecture with clarity and dignity.”

Among his earliest works, the emergence of the Rose Seidler House (1948-50) in Wahroonga—during which he also established his practice, Harry Seidler and Associates—especially sent tremors down its neighbourhood as well as the city. The abrupt cultural rupture was unburdened by “all that was insensitive and pretentious” in the Australian architecture of the time, featuring a stark white concrete, timber and glass cuboid perched on a gentle slope.² Its architectural vocabulary was derived from American modernism, centring Cambridge and informed by his technical expertise and learnings from Bauhaus-founder Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. The house garnered much attention from Australia and abroad. Many policymakers and architecture experts expressed rather strong opinions on it, without equivocation.

Soon after, Seidler designed the Julian Rose House (1949-54) in close proximity to the Rose Seidler House, along with the L. Waks House (1949-50) in North-bridge and the T. Meller House (1949-53) in Castlecrag. The suburban community of Castlecrag, originally planned by the Griffins, forefronted contextual designs that respond to the natural landscape. Residents and the Castlecrag Progress Association objected to the avant-garde design of the T. Meller House, bringing their concerns before the Willoughby Council, who, in Seidler’s words, believed that “the plans were not for a house but for a monstrosity”. Seidler, on the other hand, was convinced that the design freed Sydney of the “dreary continuance of the square miles of outmoded suburban brick cottages”³⁴ after two years of vehement arguing and arbitration committees.

In the following years, Seidler designed several residential projects, including Williamson House (1950), Sussman House (1950-51), Ithaca Gardens Apartments (1951) and Model House for Sydney’s Architectural and Building Exhibition (1954), eventually winning the 1952 Sir John Sulman award for the Rose Seidler House. For an immigrant architect to receive the award amidst several controversial projects was seen as a “sign of healthy interest and the root of progress” by the then chairman of the jury, A. E. Stafford.⁵ In a number of ways, this marked the beginning of the acceptance of the ideas of modernist architecture, albeit under the guise of several ‘isms’ that these buildings could be categorised and accepted under.

In the late 1950s, a breakthrough commission for Seidler came from the Dutch-born, Civil & Civic-founder, Gerardus Jozef (Dick) Dusseldorp. Launched as a high-density prototype of modern living in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, the Blues Point Tower (1958-62) was the only built complex out of the eight initially planned ones, designed for the redevelopment masterplan of the Blues Point neighbourhood. With the planning of the Tower, Seidler wanted to conceive a rational residential planning along the Sydney Harbour, which was primarily industrially construed at the time. The masterplan involved terraced developments that offered views of the harbour, comprising community-centred amenities, a yacht club and a restaurant to attract more residents in the area, envisioning a future-oriented, dense urban living. In the end, only one tower was built due to economic and political issues, though it was the tallest residential building in all of Australia upon completion, receiving severe backlash from locals and authorities alike.

Despite being one of Sydney’s most polarising buildings, which many criticised for its design and impact on the heritage of the city, the Blues Point Tower ended up being listed in the North Sydney Council’s local heritage register in 1993. The description read: "Conspicuous, though unpopular, example of the Internationalist style. This landmark building was innovative in its day and intended as a forerunner of a whole movement in architecture and high-density housing.”

Seidler collaborated with structural engineer and architect Pier Luigi Nervi for the Dusseldorp-commissioned Australia Square Tower between 1961-67, the first Australian skyscraper with a circular footprint. Expertly engineered by Nervi, the 50-storey commercial building was supported by 20 tapered columns and was set to have a commanding presence on Sydney’s skyline. Once again, Seidler faced criticism on its design and getting the approval of the authorities did not come easily. The building later won the 1967 Sir John Sulman Medal for architectural excellence, along with several other awards that year.

Seidler also completed his own house in Killara in 1967, designed with his wife and architect Penelope, which was eventually listed in NSW’s heritage register in 2008. The Australia Square Tower was also one of the developments that set precedents in hiring migrant workers. The construction crew comprised 220 migrants, some of whom became Australian citizens, at a time when more than two million people had settled in the country and one worker out of every five was a migrant.

In the words of columnist and author Elizabeth Farrelly, “It [Seidler’s architecture] transformed Sydney from a fairly small, provincial and inward-looking town to a city that soars off on a global stage”⁶, catalysing Sydney’s crawl out of its old, rigid insularity and finding a new urban identity that wasn’t dictated by colonial precedents. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Seidler expanded his practice, realising several tower blocks, apartments, private residences and offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth and Hong Kong, most noteworthy among them being the Australian Embassy in Paris (1973- 77), Grosvenor Place (1982- 88), Berman House (1999) and the Wohnpark Neue Donau (1998) in Vienna.

One of the most remarkably interesting exhibits at the showcase is a diary, featuring Seidler’s analysis of the teachings of Walter Gropius and Josef Albers. "Harry’s internment diary from 1940 exhibited his determination and thorough recording of his experiences and learning in unfortunate circumstances; he was able to be accepted into the university architecture school straight into the second year without having completed high school. Harry always attributed his 'success’ to his great teachers, particularly Walter Gropius who taught him that ‘modern architecture’ is not a frozen style but is ‘to embrace the society and the technology of its time’ and to Josef Albers who taught him how to assess visual satisfaction,” states Penelope Seidler, speaking to STIR on Seidler's legacy, pointing out an 'artefact' that is representative of it.

When enquired about an exhibit that embodied his individuality, Penelope shares how art moved Harry on both personal and professional levels. “The letter Harry wrote to Helen Frankenthaler early 1980s, loaned by the Frankenthaler Foundation, is an example of his clarity and determination to have the choice of art in his buildings planned from the conceptual stage”, she candidly states. His collaborations with Frank Stella, sculpture artist Alexander Calder and photographer Max Dupain, portraying architecture beyond the realms of construction and infrastructure, as civic art, further realised the modernist ideal of integrating art and technology.

Seidler, through an illustrious career, can be accredited with revolutionising Australian modernism with his ideas and ideals, deeply rooted in his academic learnings and experiences. The hostility towards Seidler’s early projects may have perhaps stemmed from his European credentials, a disdain for ingrained Australian ideals and the vastly opinionated, uncompromising nature of his architecture. He is still considered one of the most controversial figures in Australian architecture, becoming “something of a lightning rod for those who distrusted modern architecture”.⁷

Migrating Modernism: The Architecture of Harry Seidler remains on view at SMAC San Marco Art Centre in Venice until July 20, 2025.

References

^1.Australian Architecture 1901-51: Sources of Modernism, Donald Leslie Johnson, University of Sydney, 1980
^2.Art and Australia, Pg. 34, Vol. 9 Issue 1, 1971
^3.The Sydney Morning Herald, Pg. 13, March 9, 1954
^4.Art and Australia, Pg. 34, Vol. 9 Issue 1, 1971
^5.The Sydney Morning Herald, Pg. 11, August 6, 1952
^6.Harry Seidler: Modernist, ABC & Film Art Media, 2016
^7.Quote by Helen O’Neill, Harry Seidler: Modernist, ABC & Film Art Media, 2016