Towards an Australian Architecture (First Edition)

SOWDEN, Harry (ed.). Towards an Australian Architecture. Sydney: Ure Smith, 1968.

Square Quarto. Original pale blue cloth boards. Original pictorial dust jacket. Only occasionally paginated throughout, 271pp. Numerous black and white photographic illustrations, plans, and drawings throughout. First edition.

Towards an Australian Architecture, edited by Harry Sowden, was the first book to attempt a comprehensive contemporary survey of the direction Australian architecture was taking in the 1960s, presenting the work of nineteen architectural firms that Sowden identified as representative of an important break from the imported and stereotyped styles that had long characterised Australian building practice. Sowden argues in his introduction that Australia suffered from a general lack of public appreciation of, or engagement with, its own architectural environment, and assembled the volume specifically to give these emerging modernist practices a platform to communicate their ideas directly to a broader readership.

Very good in good dust jacket. Jacket has some wear along edges and a large chip to upper front cover affecting the start of the title. Volume very good. Binding tight. Some rubbing along cloth edges. Textblock a bit yellowed along edges. Internally, contents are complete, clean, and bright. A good copy.

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Catalogue Number: HH000717