Peter Newell (1916–2010) was an Australian architect, who worked in the

modernist 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 ...

tradition in Queensland and became an architectural critic.

Early life and career

Peter Edward Newell was born on 30 September 1916 in

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He trained as an architect in Melbourne, graduating with his B.Arch (with honours) from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. He was a member of the editorial committee of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Students' Society journals, ''Smudges'' in 1937, along with Robin Boyd and Roy Simpson. In 1939 he proposed that work be reestablished on developing plans for small homes and this was picked up the Royal Victorian Institute of architects (RVIA) Small Homes Service (SHS).

War Service

Newell enlisted in the Australian Army Engineers in 1942. He graduated from the School of Military Engineering 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 ...

and then spent some of his military service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. He remained in Queensland following the War. He was discharged with the rank of Captain and married Betty Thelander in 1945.

Architectural work in Queensland

Newell briefly worked for the firm of Addison and McDonald. He worked for Chambers and Ford, which later became Ford, Hutton and Newell in 1951 when he became a director in the firm. The partnership existed between 1951 and 1975. The Newell family moved to the suburb of

St Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, where the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

had relocated. Newell used his own residence as a means of reaching clients attracted to his design aesthetic. He was instrumental in the modernist movement influencing the design of Queensland homes. He designed homes in Brisbane and the Gold Coast of Queensland with designs that were moving away from elevated Queenslanders to ones which were constructed on a slab, integrated indoor and outdoor living and used overhanging eaves to provide for outdoor terraces. Newell lectured part time at the University of Queensland in the 1960s. Newell wrote several books describing the architecture of Queensland. Robin Boyd remarked that Newell introduced the Victorian tradition of painting exterior brickwork on Brisbane homes, influencing colour in homes in suburbs such as St Lucia.

Later life

Newell took his master's degree in Architecture from the University of Queensland in 1988, with a thesis entitled ''The House in Queensland: From First Settlement to 1985''. He died on 21 May 2010 in Brisbane, Queensland. Five boxes of Newell's papers are held in the University of Queensland Fryer Library. Many of his plans and drawings are held in the Fryer Library collection.

Notable buildings

Christ Church, St Lucia (1949) Winothulo, Roma - conversion to Memorial Club (1952) Yindingi, 66 Channon St, Gympie (1959) 180 Harts Rd, Indooroopilly (1950s)

Books

* Newell, Peter and White, Unk. (1967). ''Brisbane Sketchbook''. Adelaide: Rigby. * Newell, Peter and Jopson, Kevin. (1969). ''Gold Coast and Green Mountains Sketchbook''. Adelaide: Rigby. * Newell, Peter and White, Unk. (1970). ''New England Sketchbook''. Adelaide: Rigby. * Newell, Peter and Roberts, Ainslie. (1971). ''Tropical Sketchbook''. Adelaide: Rigby. * Newell, Peter and Jopson, Kevin. (1972). ''Darling Downs Sketchbook''. Adelaide: Rigby. * Newell, Peter, White, Unk, Jopson, Kevin and Roberts, Ainslie. (1976). ''Queensland Sketchbook''. Adelaide: Rigby. * Newell, P. (2001). ''The Art, Trade and Mystery of Building''. Brisbane: Peter Newell.

Other publications

Boyd, Robin and Newell, P. (1950). St Lucia: A Housing Revolution is Taking Place in Brisbane. ''Architecture'', 106–109. Newell, Peter. (1954). The Case for Contemporary Church Design. ''Church Chronicle'', January 1, pp. 17–18. Newell, P. (1959). Umbigumbi to the Gold Coast. ''Architecture in Australia'', ''48'' (1), 70–73. Newell, Peter. (1965). Rude Forefathers and Non Pedigree Architecture. ''Scarab,'' 1 (1). Newell, Peter. (1969). The heritage architecture of Queensland. ''Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland,'' 8: 737–747. Newell, Peter. (1970). Development of the tropic house: Architecture in North Queensland. ''Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 9(1)'': 162–168. Newell, P. (1979). The origins and development of the Queensland house. ''Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland'', ''10'' (4), 18–28.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newell, Peter 1916 births 2010 deaths Architects from Brisbane University of Melbourne alumni University of Queensland alumni