ABSTRACT

In 1947 in Victorian Modern, Robin Boyd named a group of leading modern architects, including many who had trained at Geelong’s Gordon Institute. Yet Boyd omitted successful graduates whose work did not fit his narrowly defined parameters of modern design. Significant amongst these was Noel Coulson, RAIA, whose architecture and interior design practice made him highly desirable to Jewish immigrant clients. Like many whose work traversed both aesthetic and professional boundaries, Coulson has been overlooked by an Australian historical field profoundly shaped by Boyd’s preferences. Via a detailed study of Loti and Victor Smorgon’s Toorak house designed by Coulson in 1953, this paper argues that previously under-researched client histories have value in contesting such historiographical limitations. Client-centred methodologies reveal interior designers’ roles as hybrid practitioners — both cultural producers and mediators — supporting an understanding of modernity determined by the home as the locale of modern life rather than prescriptive aesthetic values. This paper proposes a re-assessment of post-war interior design historically marginalised within hierarchies of cultural production; and the role of the client as integral to a more inclusive understanding of the modern interior in post-war Australia.

摘要

1947年在维多利亚现代，罗宾博伊德命名了一群领先的现代建筑师，其中包括许多曾在吉朗的戈登学院接受过培训的人。然而，博伊德忽略了那些工作不符合他狭隘定义的现代设计参数的成功毕业生。其中重要的是 RAIA 的 Noel Coulson，他的建筑和室内设计实践使他非常受犹太移民客户的欢迎。像许多作品跨越审美和专业界限的人一样，库尔森被博伊德的喜好深深塑造的澳大利亚历史领域所忽视。通过对 Coulson 于 1953 年设计的 Loti 和 Victor Smorgon 的 Toorak 住宅的详细研究，本文认为，以前研究不足的客户历史在挑战这种史学局限性方面具有价值。以客户为中心的方法揭示了室内设计师作为混合从业者的角色——文化生产者和调解者——支持对由家庭决定的现代性的理解，作为现代生活的场所，而不是规定的审美价值。本文提出了对战后室内设计的重新评估，该设计在文化生产的等级制度中历来被边缘化；以及客户作为对战后澳大利亚现代内部的更包容性理解不可或缺的角色。