Robin Boyd and the Vernacular

Abstract

In Australian architectural history, the name Robin Boyd is almost always associated with the design and critique of the single-family house. Boyd’s involvement as inaugural director of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects’ Small Homes Service in 1947 and its associated weekly articles for The Age newspaper until 1953, and his 1952 book, Australia’s Home, still in print today, have been seen as intrinsic to his quest for a new and improved house for everyday Australians. A question, though, that is rarely asked of Boyd’s writings and his architecture, is: why this quest, and to whom is this quest being directed?