Australian Ugliness - Text Classics

Boyd, Robin; Tsiolkas, Christos
Australian Ugliness - Text Classics

Australian Ugliness - Text Classics

Boyd, Robin; Tsiolkas, Christos

$14.95

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Fifty years after its first publication, Robin Boyd's bestselling The Australian Ugliness remains the definitive statement on how we live and think in the environments we create for ourselves. In it Boyd railed against Australia's promotion of ornament, decorative approach to design and slavish imitation of all things American.

"The basis of the Australian ugliness," he wrote, "is an unwillingness to be committed on the level of ideas. In all the arts of living, in the shaping of all her artefacts, as in politics, Australia shuffles about vigorously in the middle - as she estimates the middle - of the road, picking up disconnected ideas wherever she finds them."

Boyd was a fierce critic, and an advocate of good design. He understood the significance of the connection between people and their dwellings, and argued passionately for a national architecture forged from a genuine Australian identity. His concerns are as important now, in an era of sustainability, suburban sprawl and inner-city redevelopment, as they were half a century ago. Caustic and brilliant, The Australian Ugliness is a masterpiece that enables us to see our surroundings with fresh eyes.
This handsome anniversary edition is complemented by Robin Boyd's original sketches for the book and a new afterword by major contemporary architects.

Author:   Boyd, Robin; Tsiolkas, Christos
Publisher:   Text Publishing Co
ISBN:  

9781921922442


Pages:   304
Publication Date:   26 April 2012
Bind Format:   Paperback
Availability:  
This item is in stock and will be dispatched immediately.

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Fifty years after its first publication, Robin Boyd's bestselling The Australian Ugliness remains the definitive statement on how we live and think in the environments we create for ourselves. In it Boyd railed against Australia's promotion of ornament, decorative approach to design and slavish imitation of all things American.

"The basis of the Australian ugliness," he wrote, "is an unwillingness to be committed on the level of ideas. In all the arts of living, in the shaping of all her artefacts, as in politics, Australia shuffles about vigorously in the middle - as she estimates the middle - of the road, picking up disconnected ideas wherever she finds them."

Boyd was a fierce critic, and an advocate of good design. He understood the significance of the connection between people and their dwellings, and argued passionately for a national architecture forged from a genuine Australian identity. His concerns are as important now, in an era of sustainability, suburban sprawl and inner-city redevelopment, as they were half a century ago. Caustic and brilliant, The Australian Ugliness is a masterpiece that enables us to see our surroundings with fresh eyes.
This handsome anniversary edition is complemented by Robin Boyd's original sketches for the book and a new afterword by major contemporary architects.

Product Details
Author:   Boyd, Robin; Tsiolkas, Christos
Publisher:   Text Publishing Co
ISBN:  

9781921922442


Pages:   304
Publication Date:   26 April 2012
Bind Format:   Paperback
Availability:  
This item is in stock and will be dispatched immediately.
Reviews

Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!