Design Legacy: 5 Lessons Peter Muller Taught Us About Architecture
Site-specific architecture that inventively and harmoniously melds building and landscape
Rebecca Gross
4 April 2015
Design writer and historian. I write about contemporary architecture and design, and I study cultural history through the lens of architecture, design and visual culture. I have a Masters in the History of Decorative Arts and Design from Parsons The New School for Design, New York. My latest book is called "Ornament is not a crime: Contemporary Interiors with a postmodern twist."
Design writer and historian. I write about contemporary architecture and design,... More
Adelaide-born Peter Muller AO (1927-) established his architecture practice in Sydney in 1952. Right from the outset – and over the span of his career – he produced inventive, captivating and visually stunning designs for residential, commercial and resort architecture. Rather than being dependent on style, Muller’s work has been inspired and influenced by his feeling for the landscape and his understanding of the spiritual principles within a culture, manifesting in architecture that is a devoted union between building and site.
Muller is recognised as a practitioner of ‘organic architecture’ and defines this concept as site-specific architectural solutions. Accordingly, he has produced an array of houses that echo their surroundings as each site yields a diverse building design in order to maintain the integrity of that site.
Architect at a Glance
Name: Peter Muller AO (1927-)
Design philosophy: Site-specific architectural solutions that have a feeling for human scale and respect for the environment
Distinctive style: Ambiguous relationships between the interior and exterior; axial designs that extend into the landscape; simplicity of theme; natural materials
Selection of residential projects: Audette House (1952); Muller House (1954); Richardson House (1956-57); Garry Richardson Ski Lodge (1958); Mitchell House (1964)
Honours include: First winner of the South Australian Travelling Scholarship from the Architects Board of South Australia, 1947; first Australian architect to win a Fulbright Travelling Scholarship, 1950; awarded Officer of the Order of Australia, 2014.
Muller is recognised as a practitioner of ‘organic architecture’ and defines this concept as site-specific architectural solutions. Accordingly, he has produced an array of houses that echo their surroundings as each site yields a diverse building design in order to maintain the integrity of that site.
Architect at a Glance
Name: Peter Muller AO (1927-)
Design philosophy: Site-specific architectural solutions that have a feeling for human scale and respect for the environment
Distinctive style: Ambiguous relationships between the interior and exterior; axial designs that extend into the landscape; simplicity of theme; natural materials
Selection of residential projects: Audette House (1952); Muller House (1954); Richardson House (1956-57); Garry Richardson Ski Lodge (1958); Mitchell House (1964)
Honours include: First winner of the South Australian Travelling Scholarship from the Architects Board of South Australia, 1947; first Australian architect to win a Fulbright Travelling Scholarship, 1950; awarded Officer of the Order of Australia, 2014.
Muller’s conception of organic architecture has set his work apart from other Mid-century architects, securing him an instrumental place in 20th-century Australian architecture. Here are five lessons he taught us about architecture and how they remain relevant today.
While the following architectural lessons may not all be unique to Muller, he brought them to the fore – and in inventive and striking unison – at a time when many Australian houses proved to be derivative. They borrowed stylistically from European and American residential architecture, rather than being designed with purpose for the Australian landscape, climate, and culture.
1. Seek new and innovative solutions in response to a site
For Muller, architecture is an intuitive design response to a site. Through his comprehensive study and meditative contemplation of a site and its intricacies – along with a thorough understanding of the client’s practical needs and finances – a three-dimensional image of a harmoniously conceived building emerges.
Muller began his architectural concept for Richardson House (1956-57) with extensive consideration of the site – an area of bushland covering a steep cliff face near Sydney’s Palm Beach. He sited the house at the edge of that cliff face – seven metres below the road and 15 metres above the water – and embraced a circular geometry inspired by a sizeable round concrete water tank already on the site. Truly ahead of its time, the house is a composition of three horizontal wings that radiate from the core of the living area, anchored by an elevator shaft that descends to the waterfront. Through these intersecting vertical and horizontal planes that nestle into the bushland and cliff face, occupants can easily move from one space to another.
Photo by Max Dupain, courtesy of Peter Muller
While the following architectural lessons may not all be unique to Muller, he brought them to the fore – and in inventive and striking unison – at a time when many Australian houses proved to be derivative. They borrowed stylistically from European and American residential architecture, rather than being designed with purpose for the Australian landscape, climate, and culture.
1. Seek new and innovative solutions in response to a site
For Muller, architecture is an intuitive design response to a site. Through his comprehensive study and meditative contemplation of a site and its intricacies – along with a thorough understanding of the client’s practical needs and finances – a three-dimensional image of a harmoniously conceived building emerges.
Muller began his architectural concept for Richardson House (1956-57) with extensive consideration of the site – an area of bushland covering a steep cliff face near Sydney’s Palm Beach. He sited the house at the edge of that cliff face – seven metres below the road and 15 metres above the water – and embraced a circular geometry inspired by a sizeable round concrete water tank already on the site. Truly ahead of its time, the house is a composition of three horizontal wings that radiate from the core of the living area, anchored by an elevator shaft that descends to the waterfront. Through these intersecting vertical and horizontal planes that nestle into the bushland and cliff face, occupants can easily move from one space to another.
Photo by Max Dupain, courtesy of Peter Muller
A CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE: Architects Destination Living designed this house in Flinders to be at one with its surroundings. Through the use of cantilevers and extensive glazing on the lower level, the house appears to almost levitate above the ground. It allows the light and sea breeze to circulate through the home, while the contemporary lines and low lying form echo the rolling country in which it sits.
2. Find a theme within the site and play on it
Going hand in hand with formulating a building in response to a particular site, Muller designs to a theme – one that emerges from the smallest details of the environment. His design process then plays on that theme in both gross and delicate forms.
For Richardson House, Muller’s theme emanated from the cylindrical water tank. For Garry Richardson Ski Lodge (1958) in Thredbo, it originated from the crystalline structures of winter. The house emerges from the embankment in a form that draws on the angles and points of a snowflake, and with a roof plane that mimics the trajectory of the site. In winter, the landscape and building – like snowflakes – become one.
Photo by Peter Muller
Going hand in hand with formulating a building in response to a particular site, Muller designs to a theme – one that emerges from the smallest details of the environment. His design process then plays on that theme in both gross and delicate forms.
For Richardson House, Muller’s theme emanated from the cylindrical water tank. For Garry Richardson Ski Lodge (1958) in Thredbo, it originated from the crystalline structures of winter. The house emerges from the embankment in a form that draws on the angles and points of a snowflake, and with a roof plane that mimics the trajectory of the site. In winter, the landscape and building – like snowflakes – become one.
Photo by Peter Muller
A CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE: Architect Brent Dunn took the theme “one’s place in time” for the Copper House in Coogee. Inspired by the 1830s cottage that formerly sat on the site, Dunn explored subtler themes around “longevity and decay” as well as “patterns and rituals of living … and quality of space and place…” Undertaking thorough historical research to explore the history of the old cottage, Dunn formulated a contemporary expression.
Copper cladding is used on the exterior of the house. In the coastal location – effected by the salty and humid atmosphere – it has already developed a patina that only improves with age. Copper has also been used throughout the interior of the home in unfinished flat sheets and fitting to encourage an understanding of one’s place in time. After a few years, the most exposed copper has started to show some of the richer green tones in the shadows.
Read more about this house
Copper cladding is used on the exterior of the house. In the coastal location – effected by the salty and humid atmosphere – it has already developed a patina that only improves with age. Copper has also been used throughout the interior of the home in unfinished flat sheets and fitting to encourage an understanding of one’s place in time. After a few years, the most exposed copper has started to show some of the richer green tones in the shadows.
Read more about this house
3. Design with a strong sense of geometry and axial composition
Muller’s houses are often a composition of parts that intersect at a core. Repeated geometric elements provide a sense of unity, while axial elements reach out into the landscape creating patterns and facilitating movement and flow. He employed a mixed rectilinear-circular geometry in Richardson House (lobby pictured).
Photo by Max Dupain, courtesy of Peter Muller
Muller’s houses are often a composition of parts that intersect at a core. Repeated geometric elements provide a sense of unity, while axial elements reach out into the landscape creating patterns and facilitating movement and flow. He employed a mixed rectilinear-circular geometry in Richardson House (lobby pictured).
Photo by Max Dupain, courtesy of Peter Muller
For his own house, Muller House (1954) in Whale Beach, he utilised rectangular shapes organised on opposing axes. A main spine – accommodating the main living space – extends over the rocky sandstone formation supported by grey brick piers. This spine is intersected by a transverse axis of open galleries, and a third axis at one end of the open galleries that houses the bedrooms.
Photo by Max Dupain, courtesy of Peter Muller
Photo by Max Dupain, courtesy of Peter Muller
A CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE: This new residence on the Mornington Peninsula maximises its battle-axe block, which has influenced the entire design of the house. Designed as a composition of geometric parts, two parallel rectangular forms – accommodating the bedroom wings – are intersected by the transverse living area. This achieves a gentle sense of enclosure and privacy around a grassy courtyard, while taking advantage of the northern light. Salvaged material has been used to add texture and interest along with a palette of recycled timber, steel and stone.
4. Connect interior and exterior spaces
Muller’s architecture broke away from typical boxy plans of 1950s housing. Doing away with walls and partitions, he created houses with free-flowing floor plans and flexible and spacious interiors. He incorporated elements from nature and emphasised stunning vistas that could be seen from within the home.
In his devoted effort to integrate the building into the landscape, Muller House is a perfect expression of the ambiguous relationship he created between the interior and exterior. Inside, he accommodated a cave-like rock formation that jutted into the living area by surrounding it with glass; twin roofs separated by glass directed the gaze upwards into a huge overhanging angophora tree; and floor to ceiling plate glass windows provided frame views of the unspoiled outside world.
Photo by Max Dupain, courtesy of Peter Muller
Muller’s architecture broke away from typical boxy plans of 1950s housing. Doing away with walls and partitions, he created houses with free-flowing floor plans and flexible and spacious interiors. He incorporated elements from nature and emphasised stunning vistas that could be seen from within the home.
In his devoted effort to integrate the building into the landscape, Muller House is a perfect expression of the ambiguous relationship he created between the interior and exterior. Inside, he accommodated a cave-like rock formation that jutted into the living area by surrounding it with glass; twin roofs separated by glass directed the gaze upwards into a huge overhanging angophora tree; and floor to ceiling plate glass windows provided frame views of the unspoiled outside world.
Photo by Max Dupain, courtesy of Peter Muller
A CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE: A two-storey cavern separates two sides of this suburban home, establishing the ambiguous nature of whether one is inside or out. This relationship between the interior and exterior is enhanced by seamless transitions, the consistent use of a restrained palette of materials (generally timbers left to weather naturally, zin, and self-finished oxide renders) and horizontal and vertical detail.
5. Use natural materials, avoid synthetic finishes, consider client restrictions
Muller selects his materials, finishes and forms in light of aesthetics and in consideration of client restrictions. However, driven by his instinctive feeling for the landscape, he has a definite inclination towards natural materials.
For Audette House (1952) in Castlecrag, Muller used both untreated Australian hardwood, copper, timber and stone to merge the building with the surrounding flora. He also invented a distinctive style of brickwork that came to be known as ‘Snotted Brickwork’. Muller intended for the house to be built in sandstone, but the owner of the house had come to possess a batch of red wire-cut bricks for a good price. Disappointed at having to utilise the bricks, Muller devised a technique of squeezing out the cement mortar along the horizontal alignments of the bricks to distract from the material and provide texture.
Photo by Max Dupain, courtesy of Peter Muller
Muller selects his materials, finishes and forms in light of aesthetics and in consideration of client restrictions. However, driven by his instinctive feeling for the landscape, he has a definite inclination towards natural materials.
For Audette House (1952) in Castlecrag, Muller used both untreated Australian hardwood, copper, timber and stone to merge the building with the surrounding flora. He also invented a distinctive style of brickwork that came to be known as ‘Snotted Brickwork’. Muller intended for the house to be built in sandstone, but the owner of the house had come to possess a batch of red wire-cut bricks for a good price. Disappointed at having to utilise the bricks, Muller devised a technique of squeezing out the cement mortar along the horizontal alignments of the bricks to distract from the material and provide texture.
Photo by Max Dupain, courtesy of Peter Muller
A CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE: In this three level house sited adjacent to a golf course, the natural material palette of copper, timber and concrete withstands the coastal conditions, gaining patina and character over time.
TELL US
Can you identify elements of Peter Muller’s organic architectural style in your house?
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Can you identify elements of Peter Muller’s organic architectural style in your house?
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Fab article. Thanks.