John and Phyllis Murphy
Encyclopedia
John and Phyllis Murphy were architect
s in Australia
. Phyllis was also known for her work with wallpaper design and restoration.
The Murphys completed a number of conservation projects through the National Trust
(Victoria) in the 1960s and 70s. Their most notable design work was created during the 1950s, some examples of which are in their home city, Melbourne, including the 1956 Olympic pool.
John Murphy died in 2004.
, Peter McIntyre
and engineer Bill Erwin, the couple's business turned to residential commissions, but soon grew to involve the design of commercial and school buildings. Of their early residential work, Phyllis Murphy has written; "we started our architectural practice when there were severe shortages of building materials, manpower and finance... Despite these restraints, the immediate post-war period was marked by optimism and resilience... The houses we designed were influenced by a... visit to Sweden
where living spaces were small but the buildings had a simplicity that we found fresh and elegant."
Their houses, like those of Kevin Borland and others, were all "vivid and improvisatory in structure, coloration and materials. They spoke of austerity and limited means, lingering from the depression and the 1940s, and reasserted another Melbourne tendency, making big architectural gestures with limited finances and dimensions." Architect and friend Neil Clerehan
has described their houses as modest, "but their version of contemporary design was elegant and timeless."
In the 1960s they became actively involved in the preservation of historic buildings, and foundation members and honourary architects for the National Trust of Australia
. Of their conservation work, Phyllis Murphy has written; "This work is often thought to be dull and staid, but, though it may be hard to believe [now], it was exciting and almost experimental in the fifties. This was a new approach for Melbourne many years after such movements gained importance in the United States and Europe."
Their commercial work included buildings for Fintona Girls' School
, Caulfield Grammar School
, commercial buildings including a television station in Shepparton, and a number of works in collaboration with other Architects. Private residential, conservation and restoration work continued in the 1960s and 70s, including Emu Bottom Homestead
and the Collins Street facade of the Block Arcade
.
The Murphys were also active in the foundation of the Collins Street Defence Movement in the mid 1970s, with "a strategy to halt demolition of historic and low rise buildings in Melbourne's main street...It failed"
The couple worked together until retirement in 1982.
Three years after establishing their practice, in 1952, John and Phyllis together with Peter McIntyre
and Kevin Borland
won the competition for the Melbourne Olympic Pool, which is considered one of Australia’s finest modernist buildings. The pool was built to house the aquatic events for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Bacchus Manor (restoration).
Built by Captain Henry Bacchus at Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
, circa 1838-1840, this imposing building looked "fit for little but demolition" by 1956. "The VIctorian Housing Commission, needing land to build houses for Bacchus Marsh's growing population, began negotiating with [the owners] for the six acres on which the manor house stood." Local MP Vance Dickie matched the Housing Commission's offer and the long process of restoration began in 1959.
La Trobe's Cottage
(removal and restoration).
The 1839 timber cottage, built for Port Phillip District's first superintendent Charles La Trobe
was moved to its current location and restored in 1961-3.
Emu Bottom Homestead
(restoration).
The 1836 stone farmhouse and buildings near Sunbury, originally built for settler George Evans, were restored under the Murphy's guidance in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Collingwood Town Hall
(restoration).
The Collingwood Town Hall, built in 1885-90 by George Johnson, had suffered severe deterioration in certain areas when in 1975 the Collingwood Council initiated a program of external restoration.
“No particular effort of research was required…except locating on the old Hotham Town Hall in North Melbourne urns of pattern which were missing at Collingwood.”
John and Phyllis Murphy were appointed the primary consultants of the restoration project. One of the biggest problems they faced was the matching of the repaired and unrepaired surfaces to avoid patchy effect. Their reputation of being one of Melbourne’s best practices for restoration didn’t fail them, the Town Hall won an RAIA award for outstanding building renovation (in collaboration with Peter Lovell) after completion.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Phyllis was also known for her work with wallpaper design and restoration.
The Murphys completed a number of conservation projects through the National Trust
National Trust of Australia
The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
(Victoria) in the 1960s and 70s. Their most notable design work was created during the 1950s, some examples of which are in their home city, Melbourne, including the 1956 Olympic pool.
John Murphy died in 2004.
Working Life
John Murphy was born in 1920, son of prominent Melbourne architect Gordon Murphy. Phyllis née Slater, was born in 1924. Following the completion of their studies in Architecture at the University of Melbourne in 1949, the two collaborated and set up a private practice of their own, a year before they married in 1950. After the success of the 1956 Olympic pool design, with colleagues Kevin BorlandKevin Borland
Kevin Borland was an influential Australian post-war Architect. His career saw works evolve from an International Modernist stance into a Regionalist aesthetic for which he became most recognized...
, Peter McIntyre
Peter McIntyre
Peter McIntyre may refer to:*Peter McIntyre official New Zealand war artist during the second world war*Peter McIntyre *Peter McIntyre *Peter McIntyre *Peter McIntyre...
and engineer Bill Erwin, the couple's business turned to residential commissions, but soon grew to involve the design of commercial and school buildings. Of their early residential work, Phyllis Murphy has written; "we started our architectural practice when there were severe shortages of building materials, manpower and finance... Despite these restraints, the immediate post-war period was marked by optimism and resilience... The houses we designed were influenced by a... visit to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
where living spaces were small but the buildings had a simplicity that we found fresh and elegant."
Their houses, like those of Kevin Borland and others, were all "vivid and improvisatory in structure, coloration and materials. They spoke of austerity and limited means, lingering from the depression and the 1940s, and reasserted another Melbourne tendency, making big architectural gestures with limited finances and dimensions." Architect and friend Neil Clerehan
Neil Clerehan
Neil Clerehan was born in Melbourne in 1922. He is a President’s Prize for the Hall of Fame Award -winning Australian Architect. Clerehan established several architecture firms: Neil Clerehan Architects , Guilford Bell and Neil Clerehan , Neil Clerehan and Associates , Clerehan – Cran and Neil...
has described their houses as modest, "but their version of contemporary design was elegant and timeless."
In the 1960s they became actively involved in the preservation of historic buildings, and foundation members and honourary architects for the National Trust of Australia
National Trust of Australia
The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
. Of their conservation work, Phyllis Murphy has written; "This work is often thought to be dull and staid, but, though it may be hard to believe [now], it was exciting and almost experimental in the fifties. This was a new approach for Melbourne many years after such movements gained importance in the United States and Europe."
Their commercial work included buildings for Fintona Girls' School
Fintona Girls' School
Fintona Girls' School is a small, independent, non-denominational, day school for girls, located in Balwyn, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
, Caulfield Grammar School
Caulfield Grammar School
Caulfield Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, Anglican, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield began admitting girls exactly one hundred years later...
, commercial buildings including a television station in Shepparton, and a number of works in collaboration with other Architects. Private residential, conservation and restoration work continued in the 1960s and 70s, including Emu Bottom Homestead
Emu Bottom Homestead
Emu Bottom Homestead is a historic homestead near Sunbury, Victoria, Australia. Built circa 1836, Emu Bottom is the oldest existing farmhouse constructed by settlers in Victoria...
and the Collins Street facade of the Block Arcade
Block Arcade, Melbourne
Block Arcade is a heritage shopping arcade in Melbourne, Victoria. Melbourne's Golden Mile heritage walk runs through the arcade.It forms a short, narrow laneway, connecting Collins Street to Little Collins Street in the central business district of Melbourne...
.
The Murphys were also active in the foundation of the Collins Street Defence Movement in the mid 1970s, with "a strategy to halt demolition of historic and low rise buildings in Melbourne's main street...It failed"
The couple worked together until retirement in 1982.
Notable works
1956 Olympic pool.Three years after establishing their practice, in 1952, John and Phyllis together with Peter McIntyre
Peter McIntyre
Peter McIntyre may refer to:*Peter McIntyre official New Zealand war artist during the second world war*Peter McIntyre *Peter McIntyre *Peter McIntyre *Peter McIntyre...
and Kevin Borland
Kevin Borland
Kevin Borland was an influential Australian post-war Architect. His career saw works evolve from an International Modernist stance into a Regionalist aesthetic for which he became most recognized...
won the competition for the Melbourne Olympic Pool, which is considered one of Australia’s finest modernist buildings. The pool was built to house the aquatic events for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Bacchus Manor (restoration).
Built by Captain Henry Bacchus at Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
Bacchus Marsh is an urban centre and suburban locality in Victoria, Australia located approximately west of Melbourne and west of Melton. The population of the urban area is estimated at over 17,000 people, while the central locality is home to 5,566 people...
, circa 1838-1840, this imposing building looked "fit for little but demolition" by 1956. "The VIctorian Housing Commission, needing land to build houses for Bacchus Marsh's growing population, began negotiating with [the owners] for the six acres on which the manor house stood." Local MP Vance Dickie matched the Housing Commission's offer and the long process of restoration began in 1959.
La Trobe's Cottage
La Trobe's Cottage
La Trobe’s Cottage is a historic cottage in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1839 for the first superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, Charles La Trobe, and his family. The cottage was constructed out of prefabricated materials imported from England on 50,000 square...
(removal and restoration).
The 1839 timber cottage, built for Port Phillip District's first superintendent Charles La Trobe
Charles La Trobe
Charles Joseph La Trobe was the first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria .-Early life:La Trobe was born in London, the son of Christian Ignatius Latrobe, a family of Huguenot origin...
was moved to its current location and restored in 1961-3.
Emu Bottom Homestead
Emu Bottom Homestead
Emu Bottom Homestead is a historic homestead near Sunbury, Victoria, Australia. Built circa 1836, Emu Bottom is the oldest existing farmhouse constructed by settlers in Victoria...
(restoration).
The 1836 stone farmhouse and buildings near Sunbury, originally built for settler George Evans, were restored under the Murphy's guidance in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Collingwood Town Hall
Collingwood Town Hall
Collingwood Town Hall is a civic building located on Hoddle Street in Abbotsford, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia.The hall was built between 1885 and 1890 to the design of local architects George R. Johnson in the Second Empire style, rich in detail and prominent mansard roofs and pyramid domes...
(restoration).
The Collingwood Town Hall, built in 1885-90 by George Johnson, had suffered severe deterioration in certain areas when in 1975 the Collingwood Council initiated a program of external restoration.
“No particular effort of research was required…except locating on the old Hotham Town Hall in North Melbourne urns of pattern which were missing at Collingwood.”
John and Phyllis Murphy were appointed the primary consultants of the restoration project. One of the biggest problems they faced was the matching of the repaired and unrepaired surfaces to avoid patchy effect. Their reputation of being one of Melbourne’s best practices for restoration didn’t fail them, the Town Hall won an RAIA award for outstanding building renovation (in collaboration with Peter Lovell) after completion.
Awards & Competitions
- VASS prize - 1944 (Phyllis Murphy)
- Light in Architecture Competition, third prize - 1947 (John and Phyllis Murphy)
- Olympic Swimming Pool (Melbourne) Competition 1952 joint winners.
- RAIA Victorian Chapter Award (John and Phyllis Murphy)
- Merit Award for Outstanding Building Restoration, Collingwood Town Hall (John and Phyllis Murphy, in association with Peter Lovell)-1982
- RAIA Life Fellow - 2009 (Phyllis Murphy)