Index
Architect Personal DetailsArchitectural works in South Australia
Firms or Professional PartnershipsBibliographic Sources

Architect Personal Details

Surname

Claridge

First name

Philip George Brian (Brian)

Gender

Male

Born

05/06/1924

Died

01/01/1979

Biography

Brian Claridge was the son of prominent Adelaide architect Philip Rupert Claridge (1884-1968) and Evelyn (nee Degenhardt) who had married in 1911. Brian was born on 5 June 1924 at Rose Park Hospital. He was educated at Prince Alfred College, Kent Town and lived with his parents at 112 Grant Avenue, Toorak Gardens. He completed his schooling and enrolled in a Bachelor of Engineering course at the University of Adelaide in 1942 and was articled to his father’s architectural firm, Claridge, Hassell and McConnell. Brian’s architectural education was guided by working with his father and partners, in particular by Jack Hobbs McConnell, who was regarded as a pioneer of architectural modernism in Adelaide (Bird 2007: 16-17).

The Claridge, Hassell and McConnell partnership was dissolved in November 1949. Philip Claridge then joined with Ronald Gunn before setting up his own office until his retirement in 1964. Brian Claridge was described on his marriage certificate as ‘Architectural Draughtsman’ with Claridge & Gunn. He stayed with his father until the end of the decade, working mainly on residential and kindergarten designs as well as various alterations to buildings and structures at Adelaide Oval and a new Still House for Renmark Growers’ Distillery Limited (1959). In 1959 Claridge moved to Stephenson & Turner, a Melbourne based architectural firm with an Adelaide office, for whom he worked until he retired from private practice in 1969.

Throughout his career Brian Claridge was active as an architectural advocate, critic and author. From 1950 he wrote letters to the editors of newspapers complaining about the sub-standard training of architects; he offered architectural criticisms of local buildings and urban design; and defended the experimental art of recently arrived migrants. He was, indeed, a leader of his generation of graduates. In 1953 Claridge wrote a particularly provocative letter to the editor of the Advertiser challenging the established order. It concerned unfavourable criticism of Australian architecture by noted American critic Dr John Ely Burchard, who visited South Australia in 1952 as part of a national tour. Claridge concurred with Burchard and declared that ‘Architecturally Adelaide is dead’ (‘Architecture in Adelaide’ 2 January 1953: 4). Shortly after Burchard’s tour the South Australian Institute of Architects commissioned Claridge to write four of six influential articles for the Advertiser. The first, titled ‘Good Architecture Reflects Spirit of our Times’, reads like a personal manifesto (‘Good Architecture’ 21 Feb 1953: 8). In it Claridge articulates the concerns and ideas he addressed in the design of his own home at Stonyfell, completed in 1952 and which underpinned his subsequent practice. In his article ‘Good Architecture Reflects Spirit of our Times’ Brian Claridge wrote of the benefits of using the free plan which assisted in the creation of a three dimensional space where ‘the continuity of the floor and wall surfaces and increased visual range’ featured. His comments also revealed his aversion to contrived detail and ornamentation. Generally the series highlights his broad architectural knowledge and contemporary international influences among them Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, Walter Gropius, Mies Van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen, Alvar Aalto, Oscar Niemeyer, Erich Mendelssohn, Serge Chermayeff and Marcel Breuer.

In 1949 Claridge was elected Vice President of the Contemporary Art Society of South Australia and became Acting President the following year. The Society aimed for a greater degree of professionalism and in April 1950 the committee announced a programme to ‘promote a greater lift to the cultural life of the community generally (Dutkiewicz 2000, chpt. 5). Claridge himself became a collector of art and patron of CASSA artists. Brian Claridge was a regular contributor to Ivor’s Art Review, edited by local artist and critic and CASSA founding member Ivor Francis, writing feature articles and reviewing a number of art exhibitions.

From 1952 Claridge and a number of other young, ambitious and progressive local architects met under the monikers of the Architectural Research Group (ARG) (est. 1952) and the Contemporary Architects’ Group (CAG). In addition to Claridge, the CAG included John Morphett, Keith Neighbour, Dick Roberts, John Chappel, Laurie Brownell, Alan Godfrey and Newell Platten. Members were interested in using new materials and design innovations. In 1954 CAG published ‘Modern Houses: Adelaide and Suburbs’ in which were listed and located a number of Adelaide’s avant-garde houses. Among them were several attributed to Philip Claridge and his various partners and one solely attributed to Brian – his Stonyfell home. In 1963 Claridge was one of a panel of four researchers (also Robert Dickson, Douglas Michelmore and Ian Mac Donald) who prepared a paper that traced the history of the development of the South Australian capital (‘The Development of Adelaide’ 1963).

Brian Claridge was involved in the formation of the Small Homes Service (SHS) of South Australia together with his peers from CAG. In mid 1953 they invited Robin Boyd, the well known Victorian modernist architect and author, who was heading Melbourne’s SHS, to spend an evening explaining the service and providing advice to Adelaide enthusiasts. Subsequently in October 1953 they established a local branch of the SHS under the chairmanship of Jack Cheesman (Collins 2006 p.11).

The Contemporary Architects’ Group staged a substantial exhibition of contemporary architecture to accompany the RAIA’s Sixth Australian Architectural Convention held in Adelaide in 1956. Brian Claridge and Robert Dickson ‘sparked enthusiasm for the project among their peers, and an exhibition committee was formed which won the support of the SAIA, the Architectural Students’ Association, the building industry and the South Australian Government’ (Schumacher 1998, pp.26-7). Claridge is credited with the original exhibition site plan dated 25 August 1955. The Sixth Australian Architectural Convention Exhibition project included the design and erection of twelve temporary buildings and a number of artworks. All were underpinned by modern design principles and featured novel uses of materials. Claridge was associated with the Timber House, Plastic Pavilion (also described as a Geodesic Dome) and the Concrete Pavilion. The exhibition has been described as changing architecture in Adelaide and beyond. It was covered in international and national architecture journals and in the Australian and overseas press.

Claridge enjoyed stripping back to economical solutions and compensated for the lack of ornamentation by incorporating natural textures since his preferred ecological aesthetic gravitated towards what is now referred to as Organic Architecture. Like others of his time Claridge was attracted to flat roofs which provided a leaner look and were economical as they required less timber and cover. They were a consistent feature of his entire oeuvre, even in large commercial designs.

In 1957, when his father was approaching retirement, Brian was commissioned by Philip to design a small home on a site at Giles Street, Toorak Gardens. The house was conceived according to post-war restrictions and consequently was of modest scale and materials. The PR Claridge House was essentially designed as two off-centre intersecting cubes of roughly equal size. With a sandstone façade and fence, low pitched gable roof and wrought iron window grilles the house stood until 2007 when it was demolished.

Brian Claridge’s Stonyfell home (1952) was his first major statement as a fully fledged modern architect and a vehicle for his then radical design ideas. He insisted on not clearing the block before building, as preliminary photographs of the site and early photographs of the house indicate; consequently a large eucalyptus tree and much of its under-storey were accommodated. In the structure he explored his taste for relating external and internal elements by using decking and large window walls with an open- plan design. He provided texture by using varnished timbers and bare stone. The continuation of sandstone in the garden retaining walls at the front of the house enhanced the sensation of the merging of the house and its environment.

The Sedunary House (1957) was constructed on a considerable slope in bushland at Crafers in the Adelaide Hills. The Sedunary House was a classic example of modern residential design responding to a war Mediterranean climate with cold winters. It boasted a central fireplace, concrete block work and mostly prefabricated cladding. The Sedunary House was included in ‘Houses around Adelaide’ (1964) and had previously been featured in Victorian architect Neil Clerehan’s book ‘Best Australian Houses’ (1961).

Claridge undertook two projects for suburban kindergartens in the 1950’s, both of which applied ideas trialled in his Sixth Australian Architectural Convention Exhibition structures. The durability of these kindergartens and their continuity of use, with only minor adjustments, testifies to the suitability of their original conception. Claridge reworked the architectural design of the Timber House for the Rose Park Kindergarten, completed in 1958, when he was still connected to the office of PR Claridge (cross-section 65, 1958). Claridge completed another kindergarten, Newlands Park, Erindale, in 1959. It featured an open plan floor space totalling approximately 22 squares, a concrete floor, timber arch construction, soundproof ceilings, cement block walls and a flat roof (Architecture in Australia June 1961: 76-8).

Brian Claridge changed firms after the kindergarten projects, moving to Stephenson and Turner. Projects varied and although undertaken collaboratively Claridge claimed principal involvement in several. The first were two school commissions, both of which successively magnified his previous working budgets from around 6,000 pounds to 20,000 pounds initially and then to over 100,000 pounds. Claridge conceived the Loreto Convent Junior School design as a scaled-up conceptual multiplication of the rooms he devised for the kindergartens. Its budget and scale enabled him a previously unavailable freedom although he contrived to maintain a keen eye for economies. The rectangular structure incorporated materials and features familiar in Claridge’s buildings including timber floors, notably jarrah in the assembly hall, caneite ceilings timber panelling and large window areas. The pronounced verandah provided massive shade to keep the rooms cool in summer and to protect children in hot weather. The Loreto Junior School was officially opened in 1962. Cabra Senior School (1963-65) was a double storied building which included laboratories, a large, slightly curving lecture theatre on the south-east corner and an administration area, demarcated by a discrete timber panel ceiling. On the north side stucco and red brick were used as the principal external materials with striking repetition of elevated rectangular design elements. A crucifix was a prominent external feature above the original entrance way.

Around the same time as his school commissions Claridge also designed two buildings for the English, Scottish & Australian Bank, one is in Gouger Street, Adelaide and the other in the main street of Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. The Gouger Street branch was constructed mainly of brick left in a natural state, with timber panelling on the counter and ceilings. A striking window wall on its north face allowed in more light from the street. The wall was exposed to an overhanging verandah, an extension of the gently arched sections in the wood panel ceiling. Like most of Claridge’s buildings it featured an organic aesthetic, open plan design and psychologically inviting entrance. As his initialled plans reveal, during the late 1960’s Claridge was involved in a number of alterations to Catholic churches and buildings in central Adelaide while he was employed at Stephenson & Turner. Additionally he was closely involved in designing the St Joseph the Worker Church on Ridge Street at Lobethal, dating from 1964.

Brian Claridge married Nancy (nee King) on 19 January 1952. They lived as newlyweds at Brougham Place, North Adelaide and had two daughters, Lisa and Radha. Nancy was a talented classical musician and composer who worked as a scriptwriter at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and as a journalist on architecture, interior design, art and music before her untimely death in 1966. Brian Claridge remarried in 1969 to Elisabeth (Lissa) McLachlan, who was then working as a receptionist for Stephenson & Turner. They had two children together, Adam and Emily. He left professional practice as an architect after his second marriage to take up a lecturing position in architecture at the University of Adelaide. He continued to write and publish until his premature death in early January 1979, at which time he was Senior Lecturer in Architecture.

It is important to recognize Brian Claridge’s contribution not only as a modernist architect who extracted pleasing minimalist designs from the contemporary limitations imposed by flat plane forms but also as a writer of considerable critical intelligence on both architecture and art. He designed with a masterful grasp of the use of textures, light and space in his buildings and he played a pivotal role in the broadening of artistic and architectural horizons in Adelaide and in the local exchange of ideas between art and architecture.

Adam Dutkiewicz

This biography is an abridged version of the book by Dutkiewicz, Adam (2008), Brian Claridge: Architect of Space and Light, published by the Architecture Museum, University of South Australia, Adelaide. It was abridged by Julie Collins in 2013.

Citation details
Dutkiewicz, Adam, 'Claridge, Philip George Brian', Architecture Museum, University of South Australia, 2013, Architects of South Australia: [http://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=119]

SponsorTitle

SponsorImage

Top

Architectural works in South Australia

Name Suburb Year Designed
P.R. Claridge House Toorak Gardens 1951
P.G.B. Claridge House Stonyfell 1952
Sedunary House Crafers 1959
Rose Park Kindergarten Rose Park 1958
Newlands Park Kindergarten Erindale 1959
Loreto Convent Junior School Marryatville 1961
Cabra senior School Cumberland Park 1963
ES&A Bank Tanunda Tanunda 1966
ES&A Bank Adelaide Adelaide 1966
St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church Lobethal 1964
Top

Firms or Professional Partnerships

Name Dates Worked
Claridge, Hassell and McConnell 1942-1949 
Claridge and Gunn 1949-1959 
Stephenson and Turner 1959-1969 
Top

Bibliographic Sources

Name

PUBLISHED
Books
Apperly, R., Irving, R. and Reynolds, P. 1989, A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture, Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Bird, Louise 2007, Russell S. Ellis: Pioneer Modernist Architect, University of South Australia, Adelaide: 16-17.
Claridge, B. ‘An Explication of Wladyslaw Dutkiewicz’s Theory of Space-Time Painting’ ca.1957 in Adam Dutkiewicz, 2006, A Matter of Mind: An Introduction to the Art of Wladyslaw Dutkiewicz (1918-1999), Moon Arrow Press, Norwood: 49.
Clerehan, Neil 1961, Best Australian Houses: recent houses built by members of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Cheshire, Melbourne.
Dutkiewicz, Adam (2008) Brian Claridge: Architect of Space and Light, University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Van Zyl, F. Wallace 1964, Houses around Adelaide, RAIA SA Chapter, Adelaide.

Journals
‘Kindergarten & Clinic, Erindale, SA’, Architecture in Australia, June 1961: 76-8.
‘Trends in Design’, Architecture, October 1949: 126.
untitled, Architecture and Arts, 36 August 1956.
untitled, Art and Architecture, 73, 10 October 1956: 30-1.
untitled, Cross-Section, 65, 1 March, 1958.
untitled, Cross-Section, 97, 1 November 1960).
untitled, Cross-Section, 122, 1 December, 1962.
untitled, Building & Architecture, 6, 1963: 19.
Claridge, B,. Michelmore, D. P., MacDonald, I. and Dickson, R. H., 1963 ‘The Development of Adelaide, 1837-1963’, Building Ideas 2, 4 (June).
Claridge, B. and panel, 1965 ‘An Exercise in Redevelopment: Kensington, South Australia’, Building & Architecture 4: 32-6.
Collins, Julie 2006, ‘Raising the architectural standard of small homes’, Fabrications, 16, 2: 11.
Fargher, P., ‘Brian Claridge’, Ivor’s Art Review, 4, 1 November 1959, p.1.
Northcote, H. Stafford, 1956 ‘Art and Architecture’, CASSA Broadsheet, July : 3-5.
Schumacher, C. 1998 ‘Architecture in the Park’, Architect SA, Winter: 26-7.
1956, ‘Sixth Australian Architectural Convention Exhibition’, Special Issue of the Quarterly Bulletin of the SAIA Inc., May.

Newspapers
‘Architecture – A News feature’, News, 22 May 1956: 23.
‘Family Notices’, Mail, 7 June 1924: 4.
‘Family Notices’, Register, 17 November 1911: 6.
Claridge B., ‘Good Architecture Reflects the Spirit of our Times’, Advertiser, 21 Feb 1953: 8.
Claridge, B. ‘Architecture in Adelaide’, Advertiser, 2 January 1953: 4.
Claridge, B., ‘How Architecture can aid production’, Advertiser, 14 March 1953: 8.
Claridge, N., ‘Wall Murals emphasize Room’s Character’, Sunday Advertiser, 18 June 1955: 47.

UNPUBLISHED
Reports
Claridge, P.G.B. Brian, Studio Design Work in First Year Architectural Education Adelaide: University of Adelaide, 1979.
Dutkiewicz, Adam 2007 ‘Brian Claridge: Architectural Works, ca.1950-1970’ Report produced for the Department of Environment and Heritage, South Australian Built Heritage Research Fellowship 2006/07 at the Architecture Museum, School of Art, Architecture and Design, University of South Australia.

Theses
A. Dutkiewicz, ‘Raising Ghosts: Post-World War Two European Émigré and Migrant Artists and the Evolution of Abstract painting in Australia, with special reference to Adelaide ca.1950-1965,’ PhD Thesis’ University of SA, 2000. See Chapter Five (c)(i).

Archival
‘Exhibition Site Plan, Drawing 01, 24/8/55 Sixth Australian Architectural Exhibition’, Neighbour collection, AM, S294/1/7.
‘Ground Floor Plan 21/1/63, Drawing No. 3625’ (25/1/1963), Cabra Dominican Convent Museum Archive.
‘Sixth Australian Architectural Convention Exhibition Monthly Report’, 25 January 1956, p.1, 9. Neighbour Collection, AM, S294/6.
Bull, F. W., ‘Recollections of the 1956 Architectural Exhibition’, RAIA collection, AM S215/1/8/1-4.
Dickson, R. ‘Adelaide Botanic Park Exhibition 1956’, reminiscences, RAIA collection, AM, S215/1/7.
Godfrey, A., ‘The 1956 Architectural Exhibition: Recollections of the 6AACE’. Neighbour collection AM S294/7.

Other
RAIA (1983) RAIA South Australian Significant 20th Century Architecture, card index, AM S301.
S. J. Ostoja-Kotkowski, Architectural exhibition film, 1956, 20 minutes, colour film group no. 919/1/3, State Library of South Australia (SLSA).

Top
Home Page | Close Window