Edmond and Corrigan
Encyclopedia
Edmond and Corrigan is an Architectural firm
based in Melbourne
, Australia, founded in the late 1970s
by partners Maggie Edmond
and Peter Corrigan
, who remain the firm's principals. The practice's work, both built and written, has been widely associated with the emergence of architectural postmodernism in Australia, an interest in suburbia and a search for an Australian architectural identity. Peter Corrigan is also known for having taught design studios at RMIT University for over 30 years.
student newspaper, defending Roy Ground's design for the Victorian College of the Arts
against the contemporary tide of functionalist critique and arguing for the value of expression in public buildings.
He obtained his Bachelor of Architecture in 1966 from the University of Melbourne, though his relationship with the school's Architecture department was uneasy and he was required to repeat his final year there. In 1967, however, he received a scholarship from Yale
university and travelled to the United States, driven by an interest in the American theatre and the volatile architectural climate.
Maggie Edmond
had decided on architecture relatively early and progressed more smoothly through Architecture school, obtaining her degree three years after Corrigan in 1969 and winning several awards for general excellence during her studies. During their studies, doth Edmond and Corrigan were engaged in different groups within the Melbourne theatre community and specifically in theatrical set design.
, which had been the office of Eero Saarinen
, where he worked from 1969–1971. He then moved to New York
to work with Paul Rudolph
, who had been an influence on Corrigan during his time as the dean of Yale's architecture school. Subsequent work in the United States included time under César Pelli
and Phillip Johnson
.
During much of this time, Edmond was working on large-scale projects in Melbourne and Sydney, including the Hyatt
Hotel at Kings Cross
, and several stadiums and office buildings with firm Meldrum Burrows. In 1973 she began working in the newly established conservation office of architectural firm Yuncken Freeman
, and extensively documented and drew historic buildings and streetscapes throughout Melbourne. During this time, Edmond was also active in community-based campaigns against demolition and for conservation outside of her role at Yuncken-Freeman.
The practice of Edmond and Corrigan was officially formed in 1975, though the pair had gradually been collaborating and associating on projects after Corrigan's return from America in 1974. Much of their early work consisted of church buildings and community buildings for the Catholic
communities of suburban Melbourne.
The Keysborough Church of the Resurrection, completed in 1977, and later buildings in Keysborough, are considered key projects in establishing the practice's approach and architectural language. Critics have identified an affinity in this project with American architectural pluralism and with the period's reform of church design, Cities of Hope, p54 but also an interpretation of Australian Federation architecture
, Structural Expressionism, and references to rural
and suburban vernacular
architecture. The project was published in 1977 and became a pivotal part of the contemporary debate between the prevalent regional architectural modernism and an emerging architectural post-modernism.
The practice's subsequent projects – many of them in suburban sites, rather than the prevailing architectural arenas of rural
houses and urban
buildings – continued to engage the idea of an Australian architectural language, visible in their competition entries for the Parliament House, Canberra
Competition in 1977, The Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame and the State Library of Victoria
, their many projects for community buildings, and their work for universities.
The practice's success and controversy during these years allowed them to undertake larger scaled projects. Many of their larger projects, particularly RMIT's Building 8, pursued the idea of 'a city in a single building'. Their Athan House of 1986 was published widely and brought the practice to international attention.
They also worked extensively in stage and set design for Opera Australia
, Melbourne University Theatre Group, and La Mama
.
Walsh House, Scheme for Pool Pavilion, 1993–94
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology: Building 8 Extension, RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic., 1990–94
Windsor Fire Station, Windsor, Vic., 1993–96
Ringwood Library Complex, Civic Plaza, Ringwood, Vic., 1994–95
Stage I, Exhibition Centre Showgrounds, Ascot Vale, Vic., 1996
Niagara Galleries, Richmond, Vic., 2001.
In 2003 Peter Corrigan was awarded the RAIA Gold Medal, 2003, the highest accolade of the Australian architecture profession. In 1993 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Architecture from RMIT University.
and is widely recognised for his writing both about his own practice's work and about others, wherein he makes explicit the practice's goal of creating or fostering a particularly Australian architectural language. He was, alongside Robin Boyd
, active in maintaining the architectural journal Smudges during his time at The University of Melbourne. In the early seventies and with Ian McDougall, he was also a key figure in the initiation of the architectural magazine Transitions, which became a hugely influential publication in Australian architecture. He was also a central participant in the notorious 'Half-Time Club', a boisterous regular meeting of architectural practitioners and critics in Melbourne that continued into the 1990s.
He is also widely known for his design studio at RMIT, which has been running for over 30 years, and for his extensive library
of rare architectural books. Maggie Edmond continues to work with Deakin University
in both an administrative and architectural and planning capacity.
Architectural firm
An architectural firm is a company which employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture.- History :Architects have existed since early in recorded history. The earliest recorded architects include Imhotep and Senemut . No writings exist to describe how these...
based in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia, founded in the late 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
by partners Maggie Edmond
Maggie Edmond
Maggie Leonie Edmond is one half of the Melbourne-based architectural firm she runs with her husband Peter Corrigan, Edmond and Corrigan. She has been described by Neil Clerehan as "probably the nation's foremost female architect"....
and Peter Corrigan
Peter Corrigan
Peter Russell Corrigan was born in 1941, Australia. As an Australian architect and has been involved in the completion of works in stage and set design.-Early Life and Life Achievements:...
, who remain the firm's principals. The practice's work, both built and written, has been widely associated with the emergence of architectural postmodernism in Australia, an interest in suburbia and a search for an Australian architectural identity. Peter Corrigan is also known for having taught design studios at RMIT University for over 30 years.
Early life and studies
Born into a Catholic family, Peter Corrigan first studied commerce for two years before he decided to pursue architecture, enrolling at the University of Melbourne in 1961. Corrigan's student work attracted the attention of his teachers for being unique, complex and contradictory, and began to play out many of the concerns which came to characterise the practice's body of work. A foreshadowing of the practice's engagement with symbolism is also apparent in a 1961 letter to the University of Melbourne's FarragoFarrago
First published on 3 April 1925, Farrago is Australia's oldest student newspaper. Farrago is published by the Melbourne University Student Union.- Name :...
student newspaper, defending Roy Ground's design for the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...
against the contemporary tide of functionalist critique and arguing for the value of expression in public buildings.
He obtained his Bachelor of Architecture in 1966 from the University of Melbourne, though his relationship with the school's Architecture department was uneasy and he was required to repeat his final year there. In 1967, however, he received a scholarship from Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
university and travelled to the United States, driven by an interest in the American theatre and the volatile architectural climate.
Maggie Edmond
Maggie Edmond
Maggie Leonie Edmond is one half of the Melbourne-based architectural firm she runs with her husband Peter Corrigan, Edmond and Corrigan. She has been described by Neil Clerehan as "probably the nation's foremost female architect"....
had decided on architecture relatively early and progressed more smoothly through Architecture school, obtaining her degree three years after Corrigan in 1969 and winning several awards for general excellence during her studies. During their studies, doth Edmond and Corrigan were engaged in different groups within the Melbourne theatre community and specifically in theatrical set design.
Architectural practice
Before returning to Australia, Corrigan worked in various large architectural practices in the United States, alongside work for the theatre and tutoring at Yale. After working briefly with the New Haven Redevelopment agency as a senior urban planner, he became a design architect at the firm of Roche-DinkelooRoche-Dinkeloo
Roche-Dinkeloo, otherwise known as Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates LLC , is an architectural firm based in Hamden, Connecticut founded in 1966....
, which had been the office of Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
, where he worked from 1969–1971. He then moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to work with Paul Rudolph
Paul Rudolph (architect)
Paul Marvin Rudolph was an American architect and the dean of the Yale School of Architecture for six years, known for use of concrete and highly complex floor plans...
, who had been an influence on Corrigan during his time as the dean of Yale's architecture school. Subsequent work in the United States included time under César Pelli
César Pelli
César Pelli is an Argentine architect known for designing some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. In 1991, the American Institute of Architects listed Pelli among the ten most influential living American architects...
and Phillip Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...
.
During much of this time, Edmond was working on large-scale projects in Melbourne and Sydney, including the Hyatt
Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation , is an international operator of hotels.Hyatt Center is the headquarters for Hyatt corporation...
Hotel at Kings Cross
Kings Cross, New South Wales
Kings Cross is an inner-city locality of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
, and several stadiums and office buildings with firm Meldrum Burrows. In 1973 she began working in the newly established conservation office of architectural firm Yuncken Freeman
Yuncken Freeman
Yuncken Freeman is an Australian architecture firm. Yuncken Freeman has grown steadily over the years particularly from the economic boom from the 1950s to 1980s to be a sizeable firm in Australia...
, and extensively documented and drew historic buildings and streetscapes throughout Melbourne. During this time, Edmond was also active in community-based campaigns against demolition and for conservation outside of her role at Yuncken-Freeman.
The practice of Edmond and Corrigan was officially formed in 1975, though the pair had gradually been collaborating and associating on projects after Corrigan's return from America in 1974. Much of their early work consisted of church buildings and community buildings for the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
communities of suburban Melbourne.
The Keysborough Church of the Resurrection, completed in 1977, and later buildings in Keysborough, are considered key projects in establishing the practice's approach and architectural language. Critics have identified an affinity in this project with American architectural pluralism and with the period's reform of church design, Cities of Hope, p54 but also an interpretation of Australian Federation architecture
Federation architecture
Federation architecture refers to the architectural style in Australia, which was prevalent from around 1890 to 1920. The period refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the Australian colonies collectively became the Commonwealth of Australia...
, Structural Expressionism, and references to rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
and suburban vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...
architecture. The project was published in 1977 and became a pivotal part of the contemporary debate between the prevalent regional architectural modernism and an emerging architectural post-modernism.
The practice's subsequent projects – many of them in suburban sites, rather than the prevailing architectural arenas of rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
houses and urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
buildings – continued to engage the idea of an Australian architectural language, visible in their competition entries for the Parliament House, Canberra
Parliament House, Canberra
Parliament House is the meeting facility of the Parliament of Australia located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. The building was designed by Mitchell/Giurgola Architects and opened on 1988 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia...
Competition in 1977, The Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame and the State Library of Victoria
State Library of Victoria
The State Library of Victoria is the central library of the state of Victoria, Australia, located in Melbourne. It is on the block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets, in the northern centre of the central business district...
, their many projects for community buildings, and their work for universities.
The practice's success and controversy during these years allowed them to undertake larger scaled projects. Many of their larger projects, particularly RMIT's Building 8, pursued the idea of 'a city in a single building'. Their Athan House of 1986 was published widely and brought the practice to international attention.
They also worked extensively in stage and set design for Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
, Melbourne University Theatre Group, and La Mama
La Mama Theatre (Melbourne)
The La Mama Theatre is a theatrical venue located at 205 Faraday St, Carlton, Victoria. It opened in a former factory building on 30 July 1967 and still operates today under the direction of Liz Jones....
.
Notable Projects and Awards
Athan House, Monbulk, Vic., 1986–88- RAIA Vic. Chapter Bronze Medal for Outstanding Architecture Award,
- New Residential Category, 1989
Walsh House, Scheme for Pool Pavilion, 1993–94
- Architecture Australia Prize for Unbuilt Work, 1994
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology: Building 8 Extension, RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic., 1990–94
- RAIA Vic. Chapter Architecture Medal, 1995
- City of Melbourne Building and Planning Award, Institutional Buildings Category, 1995
- RAIA Vic. Chapter Institutional Alterations and Extensions Award, 1995
- RAIA Walter Burley Griffin National Award for Urban Design, 1995
Windsor Fire Station, Windsor, Vic., 1993–96
- Metal Building Award, Certificate of Merit, 1996
- RAIA Vic. Chapter Award of Merit, BHP Colorbond Steel Award, 1997
- RAIA Vic. Chapter Award of Merit, Commercial Category, 1997
Ringwood Library Complex, Civic Plaza, Ringwood, Vic., 1994–95
- RAIA Vic. Chapter Urban Design Award, 1995
- RAIA Vic. Chapter Award of Merit, Institutional Category, 1996
Stage I, Exhibition Centre Showgrounds, Ascot Vale, Vic., 1996
- RAIA Vic. Chapter Award of Merit, Commercial Category, 1997
Niagara Galleries, Richmond, Vic., 2001.
- Dulux Colour Awards, Commercial Exterior Winner, 2002
- R.A.I.A. Vic. Chapter BHP Colorbond Award, 2002
In 2003 Peter Corrigan was awarded the RAIA Gold Medal, 2003, the highest accolade of the Australian architecture profession. In 1993 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Architecture from RMIT University.
Academic and educational work
Peter Corrigan has been described as "the engine of postmodern architectural change in Australian architecture"and is widely recognised for his writing both about his own practice's work and about others, wherein he makes explicit the practice's goal of creating or fostering a particularly Australian architectural language. He was, alongside Robin Boyd
Robin Boyd
Robin Gerard Penleigh Boyd CBE was an influential Australian architect, writer, teacher and social commentator...
, active in maintaining the architectural journal Smudges during his time at The University of Melbourne. In the early seventies and with Ian McDougall, he was also a key figure in the initiation of the architectural magazine Transitions, which became a hugely influential publication in Australian architecture. He was also a central participant in the notorious 'Half-Time Club', a boisterous regular meeting of architectural practitioners and critics in Melbourne that continued into the 1990s.
He is also widely known for his design studio at RMIT, which has been running for over 30 years, and for his extensive library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
of rare architectural books. Maggie Edmond continues to work with Deakin University
Deakin University
Deakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...
in both an administrative and architectural and planning capacity.