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Architecture & design

Alexander Mackintosh Archive : architectural plans and specifications, 1901-ca.1921: Waterhouse & Lake : architectural plans and specifications, 1909-1924 / B.J. Waterhouse & J.W. Lake [architectural drawing]

The Alexander Mackintosh Archive: revealing records of a master builder

Forgotten for decades, the archive of building contractor Alexander Mackintosh was rediscovered in a roof space in the 1990s. It includes more than 270 architectural drawings and reveals information about the work of many of Sydney’s leading architects of the early 20th century

Designs for elegant cottages and small villas, calculated for the comfort and convenience of persons of moderate and of ample fortune carefully studied and thrown into perspective : to which is annexed, a general estimate of the probable expense attending the execution of each design / by E. Gyfford

The architectural pattern books of Elizabeth Macquarie

The architectural achievements of Governor Macquarie’s era are usually attributed to Macquarie’s architect Francis Greenway. Yet evidence collected during an inquiry into the state of the colony of NSW in the early 1820s includes references to the involvement of the governor’s wife, Elizabeth Macquarie, in matters architectural

Design for a cabinet

The Paul Kafka (Vienna) Archive

The collection consists of over 700 furniture design drawings by various Central European designers dating from between about 1920 and 1939. It originates from Vienna, Austria, where Paul Kafka worked for his father’s furniture business before emigrating to Australia

Designs for villas and other rural buildings : engraved on thirty-one plates, with plans and explanations together with a memoir of the author and an introductory essay, containing remarks on the defects of modern architecture, and an investigation of the style best adapted for the dwellings of modern times. / by Edmund Aikin, architect

Architectural pattern books

Packed with architectural plans, house elevations and patterns, these publications have shaped much of Australia’s architectural history. We hold one of the country’s largest public collections of this format

Colonial (Government) Architect index 1837-1970

Designed to assist research into the history of public buildings for the period 1837 to 1970

Phyllis Murphy in her East Malvern apartment, Melbourne, c1950
Wallpaper

Beyond the wallpaper: the life and work of Phyllis and John Murphy

A significant donation of more than 3,000 wallpaper samples to the Caroline Simpson Library reflects just one facet of the remarkable careers of Phyllis and John Murphy, partners in life, architecture and heritage conservation

Exterior of the engine room at The Mint at the completion of the adaptive reuse project, the wall stabilised and now protected by the new structure

The Mint project: Sydney’s adaptive reuse triumph

Sydney’s urban landscape is a testament to both the city’s rich history and examples of forward-thinking vision. Among the most compelling examples of this fusion of past and future is the revitalisation of the Mint complex

Cartoon drawing of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright

The Wasmuth Portfolio

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wasmuth Portfolio, is regarded as one of the most influential architectural treatises of the 20th century

Giralang Primary School, 1974 Enrico Taglietti architect.

Two Point Perspective podcast

Presenters Rebecca Hawcroft and Kieran McInerney talk aboutbuildings from different points of view