Peter Neil Muller
AO (3 July 1927 – 17 February 2023) was an Australian architect with works in New South Wales,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
,
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
,
Bali
Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
, and
Lombok
Lombok, is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is rou ...
.
Early life and education
Muller was born in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
on 3 July 1927. He was educated at
St Peter's College from 1942 to 1944. He studied at the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...
graduating with Bachelor of Engineering degree together with the
South Australian School of Mines and Industries graduating with a Fellowship in Architecture in 1948.
Muller won the
Board of Architectural Education
The Board of Architectural Education is no longer appointed. It had been a statutory body in the United Kingdom constituted under section 5 of the Architects (Registration) Act, 1931.
The Act was citable with two amending Acts as the Architects ...
and
Royal Australian Institute of Architects
The Australian Institute of Architects, officially the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (abbreviated as RAIA), is Australia's professional body for architects. Its members use the post-nominals FRAIA (Fellow), ARAIA (Associate Member) an ...
travelling scholarship in 1947. He won a
Fulbright Scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
and was awarded a Graduate Tuition Scholarship at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
in 1950/1951, where he obtained a Master of Architecture degree. Muller became an Associate of the
Royal British Institute of Architects. He began private practice in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
in 1952.
In 1953, Muller married Rosemary Winn Patrick. They had three children named Peter, Suzy, and James. In 1964, they divorced and he married Carole Margaret Mason, whom he also divorced in 1991. He remarried, but three years after the death of his third wife, Helen Hayes, in 2001, he returned to Sydney and reunited with Carole.
[Architects Database]
"Peter Muller"
Accessed 8 April 2011.
Career
Muller took an alternative design approach to the then-contemporary
modern movement
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
.
[Professor Philip Drew]
"Profile on Peter Muller"
Accessed 12/04/2011. He travelled and lived in many places around the world which included France, London, Bali, South Australia and Sydney.
He had several influences including
Adrian Snodgrass
Adrian Bousfield Snodgrass (2 April 1931 – 22 January 2025) was an Australian architect and scholar in Buddhist studies and Buddhist art. He developed theories in the area of hermeneutical philosophy and its application to knowledge productio ...
(1952), Albert Read (1954) and lastly,
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
(1952) whom only "influenced him on the Audette house at the beginning of his practice".
[Quotation by Peter Muller]
"Influences"
Accessed 8 April 2011 In Sydney 1953, Muller worked in his own architectural practice called 'The Office of Peter Muller'. He avoided synthetic finishes and instead used natural materials, as he felt strongly about the Australian landscape. This is reflected in many of his Sydney contemporaries.
Muller later moved to
Marulan, New South Wales where he practised at home in his grazing property "Glenrock".
In 1962 Muller tutored at the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949.
The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...
and worked as a director of the National Capital Branch of the
National Capital Development Commission
The National Capital Authority (NCA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government that was established to manage the Commonwealth's interest in the planning and development of Canberra as the capital city of Australia.
Timeline of th ...
in
Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
from 1975 to 1977. This helped and allowed him to author 'The Esoteric Nature of Griffin’s Design for Canberra’ in 1976.
Later, in 1978, he was the founding Principal of Regional Design and Research and he has acted independently from locations all around the world as a consultant for 'Peter Muller International'.
In the
2014 Australia Day Honours, Muller was appointed
Officer of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
(AO) "for distinguished service to architecture, to the adaptation and preservation of Indigenous design and construction, and to the integration of the built and environmental landscape".
Personal life and death
Muller died on 17 February 2023, at the age of 95.
Notable projects
Richardson House
949 Barrenjoey Road, Palm Beach, Sydney, Australia, 1956
Like many of Peter Muller’s designs, the Richardson House began with extensive research of the site. Muller designed this house to sit on the edge of a cliff face, seven metres below the adjoining road and fifteen metres above the water. One design key was the use of circles as the primary motif. This motif came from the form of a large rock already on the site. Twenty-nine hollow cylinders, made of curved concrete blocks and of a natural grey and green appearance, made up the main support system. Muller was a designer of organic architecture and all of the interior spaces of this design are connected and freely flowing.
Hoyts Cinema Centre
134-144 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Australia
The Hoyts cinema Centre, designed in 1966 and completed in 1969, is considered unique due to the shape of the building, taking similar traits to an upside down oriental pagoda was seen to be of considerable interest in the local area. In fact the design was based on a structural idea of bracketing each floor out similar to the way in which very wide eave overhangs were created in Chinese and Japanese roofs. This particular building is the largest built project by Peter Muller and was the first 'cinema centre' of its kind in Australia; housing three screens in the complex.
Publications
[Peter Mulle]
"Peter Muller - Architect"
Accessed 5 April 2011
Publications by Peter Muller
Monograph
* The Esoteric Nature of Griffin's Design for Canberra, Canberra 1976
Books
* The New and Permanent Parliament House, with others, Canberra 1977
* Canberra and the New Parliament House, with others, Dee Why West, New South Wales 1983
Publications on Peter Muller
Books
* An Australian Identity by Jennifer Taylor, Sydney 1972
* Fine Houses of Sydney by Robert Irving, John Kinstler and Max Dupain, Sydney 1982
* Architecture Bali by Bingham-Hall, Pesaro Publications 2000
* Peter Muller by Jacqueline C. Urford (398 page editions) 2013
* Eight books on or by Peter Muller
Viewable Online)
Articles
* "Molinari House" in Architecture and Arts (Melbourne), July 1954
* "Audette House" in Architecture in Australia (Sydney), July/September 1955
* Special issue on Peter Muller in Architecture and Arts (Melbourne), December 1955
* "Peter Muller House" in Architecture in Australia (Sydney), January/March 1956
* "Richardon House" in Architecture and Arts (Melbourne), August 1956
* "House by Peter Muller" in La Architettura (Rome), August 1958
* "Craftbuilt Houses" in Architecture in Australia (Sydney), September 1961
* Article by David Saunders (architect), David Saunders in ''Art and Architecture'' (Sydney), June 1971
* Numerous illustrated articles in The Australian Home Beautiful, Vogue Australia/ France, Belle, 1955–1999
Theses
* "Peter Muller Domestic Architecture-The First Ten Years" by J.C.Urford 1984, in 6 Volumes, University of Sydney
* "The Architecture of Peter Muller " by J.C. Urford 1993 in 9 Volumes, University of Sydney
* "Discriminating Eyes in Bali, Indonesia" by Vanessa R. Preisler, University of Oregon, U.S.A.
Complete list of works
* 1952
**Audette House, Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag, Sydney
**Olympic Stadium Competition, Melbourne, Vic.
* 1953
**Molinari House, Forestville, Sydney.
* 1954
**Winns Department Store, Ware St, Fairfield, Sydney
**Muller House, 42 Bynya Road, Whale Beach, Sydney
* 1955
**Walcott House. 40 Bynya Road. Whale Beach, Sydney
**Palm Beach Real Estate offices, Palm Beach
**Sydney Opera House Competition
**Barnaby House, Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...
, U.S.A.
**Slyper House, Holland.
* 1956
**Richardson House, 949 Barrenjoey Road, Palm Beach,
* 1957
**McGrath House, 4 Dunara Gardens. Pt Piper,Sydney
**Nicholson House, Angophora Cres, Forestville, Sydney
**Commonwealth Bank, Taree
**Commonwealth Bank Eastwood.
**Coogee Apartment Block for Dr. R. Stewart-Jones
* 1958
**Walker House, 21 Arterial Road, St. Ives, Sydney
**Palm Beach Kindergarten, Palm Beach, NSW
**Victa H.O., 318 Horsley Road, Milperra, Sydney •
**Ward House, Foote St. Templestowe. Melboume, Vic.
* 1959
**Sculfer House, Livistonia Lane, Palm Beach.Sydney
**Richardson Ski Lodge, Thredbo Village. N.S.W.
**Fogarty House, Dunalister Stud, Elmore, Victoria
Elmore is a town in Victoria, Australia, north-east of Bendigo
Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west ...
* 1960
**Southside Plaza Shopping Centre, Rockdale, Sydney
**Rockdale Plaza Ten Pin Bowling Centre
**McGrath/O'Neill Ski Lodge, Thredbo Village, NSW
**Gunning House, 369 Edinburgh Rd, Castlecrag, NSW
**Hoyts Cinema Centre, Newcastle, N.S.W.
* 1960/78
**Eight Craftbuilt Prototype Houses, various locations.
* 1961
**Patrick House, The Scarp, Castlecrag, Sydney
**Park House, Prince Alfred Parade, Newport, Sydney
* 1962
**Creaser House, I Womerah Street, Turramurra, Sydney
**Hamilton House, I Pindari Place, Bayview, Sydney
**Purcell House, 14 Fisher Street, Balgowlah, Sydney
**Lance House, I Lindsay Avenue, Darling Point, Sydney
**Barling House, 4 Paradise Ave., Clareville, Sydney.
* 1963
**Barton House. Morella Place, Castlecove, Sydney
**Green House, 7 Wolseley Road, Point Piper, Sydney
**Walder House, Cabarita Road, Stokes Point, Sydney
* 1964
**Lance House, Coolong Road, Vaucluse, Sydney
**Mitchell House, 20 Robe Terrace, Medindie, S.A.
**I.P.E.C. H.O. 259 Glen Osmond Rd. Frewville, S.A.
**Greenwood House, Mulgowrie Ave, Balgowlah, Sydney.
* 1965
**Walder House, 61a Kambala Road, Bellevue Hill.
**I.P.E.C. Airfreight Terminal, Launceston, Tasmania
**Carroll House, Rockbath Road, Palm Beach, Sydney
**McArthur House, Tor Walk, Castlecrag, Sydney.
* 1966
**Dickson Hotel, Dickson, Canberra, A.C.T.
**Hoyts Drive-in theatre, Tamworth, N.S.W.
* 1967
**Hoyts Drive-in theatre, Casula, Sydney
**Hoyts Cinema Centre, Bourke St. Melbourne
* 1968
**McGrath House, 8 Castra Pl, Double Bay, Sydney
**Hoyts Drive-in theatre, Bulleen Rd., Melbourne.
**Hoyts Drive-in theatre, Wantirna, Vic.
**Regent/Paris theatres & arcade, Rundle St. Adelaide (Redesigned and rebuilt by a local firm of architects)
**Walsh house, 7 St. Andrews Drive, Glen Osmond.
**Schwartz house, Palmerston St. Watson's Bay, Sydney
* 1969
**Townhouses, Trelawney St., Woollahra, Sydney
**Turner House, 8 Sylvan Ave. East Lindfield, Sydney
*1969–1971
**Five projects for Tony Bambridge, Tahiti
* 1970
**Matahari Hotel, Sanur Beach Bali
**Dulhunty homestead, Nant Lodge, Glen Innes, N.S.W.
**Steidler house, 7a Wentworth St. Pt. Piper, Sydney
**"Winderadeen" homestead restoration + manager's house (Lake George, for Mr. & Mrs. Garner Anthony, Honolulu).
**Coolangata Apartment Tower, Queensland.
* 1971
**Snider house, 12 Wolseley Rd. Pt. Piper, Sydney
**Woolf house, 7 Gulliver Ave. Vaucluse, Sydney
**Burrell Homestead, Rockdale, Armidale, N.S.W.
* 1972
**Peter Muller house, Campuan, Bali, Indonesia
* 1973
**Kayu Aya Hotel, Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia.
* 1975–77
**Director, National Capital Development Commission to set up criteria for Parliament House competition
* 1977–2001
**The Bali Oberoi, (continuous upgrading of Kayu Aya)
* 1978
**Establishment of Regional Design and Research RDR
**Lian Cove Beach hotel, Batangas, Luzon, Philippines
**1,200 luxury housing settlement, Jubail, Saudi Arabia
* 1979
**Peter Muller house, Unawatuna Beach via Galle, Sri Lanka, begun 1977.
**Travelodge Condominium Apartments, Papette, Tahiti
* 1980
**The Oberoi Kolva Beach resort hotel, Goa, India
Goa (; ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan Plateau, Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian sta ...
* 1982
**The Karnak Oberoi hotel, Luxor
Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...
, Egypt
**Si-Rusa resort hotel development, Pt. Dickson, Malaysia
* 1983
**67 Townhouses, Sailfish Pt. Gold Coast, Queensland
The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...
* 1985
**Williams House, 64 Minkara Rd. Bayview Heights, Sydney
* 1988–89
**Amandari Hotel, Kedewatan, Bali, Indonesia.
* 1994
**Amandari Village (13 luxury estates), Kedewatan, Bali
* 1995–1998
**Antap West Bali Luxury housing estate.
**The Oberoi Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.
**The Oberoi Bedugal, Bali, Indonesia.
**Canyon Ranch Health Complex, West Bali, Indonesia.
* 1997
**The Oberoi Lombok, Indonesia
* 1998
**Canyon Ranch health complex, Masala Alam, Red Sea
**Amandari Village Show Villa built.
* 2007
**Prickle Farm, Ilford, NSW for daughter Suzy Flowers
**Restorations
* 1964–85
**"Glenrock" homestead, Marulan for Peter Muller
* 1970
**"Winderadeen" homestead, Lake George, N.S.W. for Mr. & Mrs. Garner Anthony, Honolulu.
* 1972–87
**Peter Muller house, Campuan, Bali
* 1977
**Peter Muller house, Unawatuna Beach (Galle) Sri Lanka
* 1997–2003
**Hayes Lodge, Loches
Loches (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, France.
It is situated southeast of Tours by road, on the left bank of the river Indre (river), Indre.
History
Loch ...
, France (1679). for Helen Hayes
**"Kookynie" homestead, Clare, S.A. for Peter Muller
References
External links
*
''Peter Muller''
on Architects Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Peter
1927 births
2023 deaths
People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide
Architects from Adelaide
University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni
Officers of the Order of Australia