FLOOR TALK: DISCOVERING THE LIGHT
Friday 25 February 2022 + Friday 25 March 2022 / 3:30 to 4:30pm / State Library of South Australia, Gallery
Floor talk by Viesturs discussing the themes and threads which created the mid-century Modernist garden in Adelaide circa 1950-1965 found in the Lust for Lifestyle exhibition.
The gardens of this period had two main influences and they played into very different patterns of garden making.
These two movements have influenced the way that garden design and making is practiced today.
VIESTURS CIELENS
Viesturs Cielens is a designer and gardener whose work in South Australia now spans some 45 years.
His work practice specialises in small intimate projects, school-play environs, and community projects.
Viesturs work currently specializes in domestic gardens.
FLOOR TALK: THE BILLAM HOUSE
7 March 2022 / 12:30 to 1:30pm / State Library of South Australia, Gallery
What can a house tell us about the lives of its inhabitants – the modernist elite of mid-century Adelaide? Catch Dr. James Curry of the University of Adelaide in conversation with Jessie Plush as they discuss the nature of ‘domesticity’ through the award winning Billam House designed by John Chappel in 1965.
The conversation will take the plans and photographs of this Modern Ranch at Hove as a point of departure and explore the nature of everyday life and domestic labour that defined Modern Adelaide Homes 1950-65. The talk is offered in conjunction with the exhibition ‘Lust for Lifestyle: Modern Adelaide Homes 1950-65’ currently on display at the State Library of South Australia.
DR. JAMES CURRY
Dr. James Curry Ph.D is Lecturer in the University of Adelaide. He has previously worked in various internationally recognized Architecture offices and held teaching positions at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and The University of South Australia. As a researcher Dr. Curry has published on the architecture of Rudolph Schindler, Australian architecture and contemporary spatial practices in art.
MODERNIST ADELAIDE: AN ARCHITECTURAL REVOLUTION!
DISCOVER ADELAIDE’S MID-CENTURY ARCHITECTURE 1940S–1970S
Tuesday 29 March 2022 / 5:30 to 7pm / Hetzel Lecture Theatre, Institute Building (Ground floor)
Adelaide was fertile ground for architectural experimentation in the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s, when a new breed of forward-thinking architects redefined the city by embracing the aesthetic, technological and social aspirations of modernist architecture.
To celebrate the Lust for Lifestyle Modern Adelaide Homes 1950 –1965 exhibition at the State Library of South Australia, join Stuart Symons, Founder of Modernist Adelaide, for this engaging talk through time to discover the mid-century jet-age of Mad Men era Adelaide.
Stuart Symons
is a mid-century architecture enthusiast and founder of Modernist Adelaide, which celebrates Adelaide’s 1940s–70s architecture through tours, events, online and his book, Modernist Adelaide: 100 Buildings 1940s–1970s. Stuart was awarded the City of Adelaide Prize Commendation 2021 and South Australian Emerging Historian of the Year 2019.
FLOOR TALK: LANGDON BADGER
Friday 22 April 2022 / 3:30 to 4:30pm / State Library of South Australia, Gallery
Join Joanne Cys as she talks about Langdon Badger one of South Australia’s first interior and product designer. Discover the significance of Langdon’s design consultancy and retailing work, including the educative and cultural contributions Langdon made personally and through his long-standing business Langdon Badger Furnishings. Joanne will also provide insight into Langdon’s personal design philosophy from her perspective as one of his employees between 1983-1995.
JOANNE CYS
Joanne has extensive academic leadership experience and has held previous positions as Executive Dean, Pro Vice Chancellor, Head of School, and Dean: Academic. She has also been Deputy Chair of UniSA Academic Board.
In her field of design, Joanne’s research focuses on the disciplinary sociology and directions of interior design as an expansive field of practice and research. She also works in the applied areas of continuing professional education for design practitioners and education policy for the design profession.