Harold Desbrowe-Annear


Harold Desbrowe-Annear was an influential Australian architect who was at the forefront of the development of the Arts and Crafts movement in the country. During the 1890s he was an Instructor in architecture at the Working Men's College where he founded the T-Square in 1900. The club acted as a meeting point for Melbourne’s architects, artists and craft workers and helped to develop a strong Arts and Crafts culture in the city. Desbrowe-Annear was also a supporter of the Victorian Arts and Crafts Society, founded in 1908.

Personal life

Early life and education

Born in Happy Valley, Bendigo, Victoria in 1865, Desbrowe-Annear was the elder son of James Annear, mining contractor, and Eliza Ann. He had six older stepsisters, two sisters and a brother. After the family moved to Melbourne in 1875 Desbrowe-Annear attended Hawthorn Grammar School, matriculating in 1882. On 25 July 1891, he married Florence Susan Chadwick but by the end of World War I, due to irreconcilable differences, they had separated.

Practices

In 1883, Desbrowe-Annear was articled to Melbourne architect William Salway and during this time his interest and knowledge of architecture grew extensively. In 1889 he chose to pursue a practice of his own having already received recognition for his architectural sketches and papers delivered to the Victorian Institute of Architects. During the 1890s he became an advocate of the Arts and Crafts movement and he established the T-Square Club on an Arts and Crafts agenda of collaborative work and the promotion of the building crafts. He was sympathetic to the theory of a 'democratic architecture' which underpins his most recognised work, the Eaglemont houses as well as his journal For Every Man his Home which expressed the idea of domestic Australian architecture suitable for everyone.

Death

Desbrowe-Annear died on 22 June 1933 of heart disease; he was survived by Florence, whom he had not divorced, and their two sons James and Hector.

The Harold Desbrowe-Annear Award

In 1996, The Royal Australian Institute of Architects introduced the Harold Desbrowe-Annear Award to the best residential project of the year in Victoria. It is the highest honour in the state for Residential Architecture.

Notable projects

Federation Arch, Princes Bridge 1901

The ephemeral triumphal arch erected on Princes Bridge by the City of Melbourne was designed by Desbrowe-Annear in 1901 to mark the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York for the Federation celebrations. It was influenced by Beaux-Arts civic design and the 'Arc de Triomphe' in Paris.

Chadwick Houses, Eaglemont 1903

The three houses that Desbrowe-Annear erected in Eaglemont were commissioned by his father-in-law James Chadwick in 1903. They were 36–38 The Eyrie, built as a residence for the architect and his family; 32–34 The Eyrie, known as Chadwick House and 55 Outlook Drive, known as the Officer House. While relatively modest in size, their design indicates that the architect was prepared to grasp the issue of the "small home" as one of the most challenging of the 20th century. They embody the principles of William Morris in their truth to materials and place, structural 'honesty', functionalism and celebration of the builder's craft. They are weatherboard with rough cast and half-timbering and exhibit many technological innovations including wall recessed, sliding window sashes, modular wall-framing and convection heating vents to fireplaces. Each house was thoughtfully positioned on the slope of the hill, with increasing setbacks from the street, so as not to block the views from within.

Springthorpe Memorial, Booroondara Cemetery, Kew, 1897–1900

The Springthorpe Memorial in the Boroondara Cemetery, Kew, was Desbrowe-Annear's first Arts and Crafts venture. The design was influenced by William Lethaby’s writings on the iconography of the domed temple form in “Architecture: Mysticism & Myth”. Consequentially the architecture is symbolic. The geographic alignment of the tomb ascertains that the intense light of the afternoon sun lights up the temple with brilliant colour. It explores the idea of the hoped-for union of souls.

Inglesby, South Yarra 1915

Inglesby, also called the Francis house, in South Yarra was one of Desbrowe-Annear's most famous houses, identified by Robin Boyd as an example of Melbourne's 'pioneer modernism'. It was timber-framed with plain white roughcast walls inspired by Californian architect Irving Gill. The plan of Inglesby centred on a large hall entered from the porch. It was flanked either side by the dining room and the living room accessed through sliding doors which when opened extended into a huge living area across the front of the house. Inglesby's low ceilings and horizontal flow aligned it also to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Heritage listed residential houses