Winter - Australian Institute of Architects

More: the architecture of Lyons 1996-2011The latest monograph tofocus on Australian practicesis More, focusing onMelbourne based Lyons. Itis a well-timed assemblage,with the practice producingsome large and well discussedprojects, including the PerthCentral TAFE project andthe immense RMIT SwanstonAcademic building.Format: HardcoverPublisher: Thames & HudsonPublished: 24 May 2012ISBN-13: 9780500500286Price: $120.00More is a thick, well designed andbeautifully presented cloth bound bookthat covers 15 years of work. The bookpresents over 50 projects, broken upwith varying, colour coded text elements.The text is divided into guest essays onbeige paper, Lyons own words on redpaper and what appear to be notes froma lecture on black. The parts writtenby the office are the most useful andinsightful here, with the lecture notesprovide interesting snippets to piecetogether. Reference images, newspaperclippings and sketches are scatteredthroughout the book, and is roundedout with a comprehensive project listand a summary of works currently underconstruction.Lyons have made a significantcontribution to an understanding andexploration of our relationship withAustralian built culture and modes ofpractice. Their work is uncompromisingand like the best of their contemporaries,often difficult and confronting. So muchof the key to their work can be found inearly texts like Carey Lyons’ Towards aBrand New City and various discussionspublished in Transition and ArchitectureAustralia. The essays within touchupon these early, pivotal ideas but arenot expanded or developed upon in asufficient manner to develop a continuityor thread to follow through the work.To a reader with a casual interest in thefirm, or completely new to the practice, itseems a lot of these important ideas anddiscussions might elude them.Lyon Mathieson, which I think is vital increating a thorough understanding ofthe practice. But nothing is explainedbefore 1996. The history building upto the practice is not touched on atall, and significant projects, like theTelecom Corporate Centre (1992) andthe Moorabbin Industry Training Centre(1996) are ignored. One coming cold tothis book, must assume that straightoff the bat they were getting significantTAFE and cultural commissions, resultingin a disjointed history.It is fascinating to see these Avant-gardepractices translated to a coffee tablebook a decade or so down the track, andhow they handle the presentation oftheir work to a wider public. With a newmonograph on Edmond and Corriganalso due out on Thames and Hudson,and a retrospective on ARM surely longoverdue, it will be interesting to see howtheir work is presented. I just hope theydon’t skip the early work!Andrew Murray63THE ARCHITECT 2012 ISSUE 002The absence of early work and thefoundations of the practice followthrough the whole book. While Lyons asa practice commenced in 1996, the workhas its genesis in family practice Perrott