Updated 23 October 2011
+ Twelfth Glenn Murcutt Master Class.
+ 08 – 22 JULY 2012 AUSTRALIA
First it must be architecture, second it must work with the issues of energy consumption and responsibility to the planet .... I've been working for 35 years on harnessing the planet's gifts for homo sapiens - the wind, sun, shade, perfumes of plants, water, prospect, geology, flora, fauna, water table, drainage patterns, topography/contour, oh! it goes on .... (Glenn Murcutt, unpublished note on 'Green Architecture’)
The future lies with our younger architects and with our understanding of the conservation and the ecology of our planet .... I think that the landscape is really the appropriate common thing to all of us .... I am talking about the conservation of materials, the conservation of land, the keeping of old growth forests, the understanding of how we might be able to find a sustainable building. (Glenn Murcutt, Freemann, P. and Vulker, J. (Eds.) The Australian Dwelling, Canberra, RAIA)
+ The Architecture Foundation Australia, a not-for-profit cultural association, will be holding the twelfth Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Master Class in Australia 08-22 July 2012. Those interested should complete and submit an ‘Application Form’ under ‘Register’ on this web site NOW. In 2011 there were over 80 applications for the 32 places. Offers of places will be based on credentials. First round offers will be made before Christmas 2011. Subsequent applications will be offered as places are available.
+ Commenced in 2001, the annual Master Class has been described by many participants as ”a life changing experience” and has created a wonderful active international alumni network which includes practising architects (older and younger), academics, postgraduates and senior students from Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Denmark, England, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Guernsey, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, S.Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Mexico, Montserrat, Nepal, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rica, Romania, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Uruguay, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wales, many states of the US and, of course, Australia.
Attending the Glenn Murcutt Master Class was exciting, challenging and mind stretching. I sincerely think it has offered me the relevance I was looking for. I desired to be better equipped both theoretically and practically to allow me to design low energy and environmentally sustainable buildings. I wasn’t disappointed. The quality of the teaching was astonishing. I believe that the approach used in the Master Class maximises the learning benefit. On one hand, the use of site analysis, design sessions and lectures was an essential experience that motivated me. On the other hand, sharing opinions within groups and subjecting ideas to the criticism of our professors has helped to develop my critical thinking and hopefully enhance my design skills. The result, I think, is a continuing intellectual stimulus. Now I understand better how to design low energy and environmentally sustainable buildings keeping in mind how to adapt the concepts to any topography and climate, how to capitalize practically on natural light, how to safeguard the surrounding landscape and why… Furthermore, I had the opportunity to meet classmates and mentors whose interests are very different from mine. But what has really struck me was the honesty, modesty and humbleness of Glenn Murcutt, Peter Stutchbury, Richard Leplastrier and Lindsay Johnston. Meeting everyone was a major benefit. Wanting to develop my potential to the full, I consider the Master Class the best pragmatic way to do so, a unique lifetime experience. (Claude Marenne, Practising Architect, Belgium).
+ The Master Class is a two-week residential program and is limited to 32 places. The first week is held at ‘Riversdale’, the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre on the Shoalhaven River south of Sydney, and participants live in what has been described as Glenn’s ‘Master Work’. The second week in 2012 will be held at the Carriageworks Centre for Contemporary Arts and Culture in Sydney adjoining the University of Sydney. Glenn personally leads the Master Class, stays at ‘Riversdale’ with the participants and tutors all groups.
+ Glenn Murcutt is Australia’s best known architect. He was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize for 2002 (the ‘Nobel’ Prize of Architecture), has been a Visiting Professor at numerous prestigious universities and his other awards include the Gold Medal of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, the Alvar Aalto Medal (Finland), 2001 Thomas Jefferson Medal (USA), the ‘Green Pin’ International Award for Architecture and Ecology (Denmark), the 2001 Asia Pacific Culture and Architecture Design Award and the 2009 Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects.
+ Other tutors on the Master Class include seminal Australian architect and educator Richard Leplastrier, internationally published and award winning architect Peter Stutchbury. Professor Brit Andresen from the University of Queensland, and former Dean of Architecture at the University of Newcastle, Lindsay Johnston.
+ Richard Leplastrier is an RAIA Gold Medalist, was 2004 recipient of the ‘Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award’ in Finland (also won by Richard Rogers, Kengo Kuma, Peter Zumthor, José Cruz Ovalle) and the 2009 Dreyer Foundation Prize of Honour (Denmark). He has been an invited tutor on the Utzon Summer School in Denmark – he worked with Kenzo Tange and with Jørn Utzon at the time of the Sydney Opera House.
+ Peter Stutchbury has been recipient of numerous Australian Institute of Architects awards, including the two top awards for Public Buildings and Private Residences - the first architect to receive both awards in the one year. He was winner of the 2008 International Iron and Steel Institute competition for extreme climate housing in Russia. He has been published and lectured internationally including the 2008 Catedra (Chair) Luis Barragan in Mexico and Ghost Studio in Nova Scotia 2010 and 2011.
+ Brit Andresen, is the first woman recipient of the RAIA Gold Medal and her work with partner Peter O’Gorman has been internationally published, including the Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture.
+ Subject to confirmation, the program will include excursions with Glenn Murcutt to see houses such as the Simpson-Lee House at Mt.Wilson in the Blue Mountains. There will also be visits to see some very special houses by Richard Leplastrier and Peter Stutchbury. Details are yet to be finalised and are dependent on client consent to get access to these properties.
+ The intensive two-week design studio program involves a design project undertaken in groups and culminating, at the end of week two, with a design presentation by participants and a critique by Glenn Murcutt and the other tutors. The studio program, associated lectures and supporting events equate to 150 hours high-level study at postgraduate level. The spirit of the event is that participation is the focus and there is no formal assessment. A certificate of satisfactory completion will be issued to all participants completing the program. Professional institutes and universities internationally have, over the years since its inception, accepted this event as gaining professional development or academic credit points.
+ There are only 32 places available and applications will be assessed on credentials and merit, with preference to early applicants. An ‘Application Form’ is available for submission on-line under ‘Register’ on this web site.
+ TUTORS. Portfolios of images and information on projects by the tutors are available on this web site under ‘Tutors’. click here to visit
+ SCHOLARSHIPS. In order to support participation from poorer nations, two 50% scholarships will be offered to applicants from “developing countries” with a low GDP per capita (eg. below $US6000 GDP per capita?). To apply for these scholarships, please submit an official application form and include in the ‘Statement’ on the application form that you wish to be considered for a scholarship.
+ DETAILS. A draft day-by-day program detail is available on this web site under ‘Details’.
+ COST. The total cost for the 2012 Master Class including tuition fees, twin share accommodation, excursions, lectures, coach transfers, and most meals (except free evenings in Sydney on the second week) is being reduced from previous years due to the high value of the Australian $$ to AUS$6600 - AUS$6000 + 10% GST (October 2011 - approx. US$6700, EUR4900, UKStg4300). The fee does NOT include international travel.
+ APPLICATIONS. An 'Application Form' is available on this web site under ‘Register’, which may be submitted on-line or copied and e-mailed to info@ozetecture.org. All the relevant information is on this web site – there are no brochures or printed materials available. For clarification - please e-mail info@ozetecture.org
It is difficult to put into words what happened to me during those two weeks. Sharing work and free time with all of you was great, something I hadn´t done for a long time. It was also great to see that we could achieve something really good working with sensitive, talented people. Different situations and experiences added and freshened up the creative process. Great tutors with a positive frame of mind brought out the best in everybody. The students who helped us where amazing. I was astonished by the quality and sensitivity of all the final schemes. They were all interesting and original. Showing the great amount of the participants’ creativity and work and the sensible tutoring which made such outcomes possible. The country and the people amazed me - and best, I rediscovered that architecture might have a reason. Thank you all for sharing work, rooms or beers, in my group or the Master Class in general for the most wonderful time. I thought it was going to be a vacation, but it was busy as hell. (Diego Montero Espina, Practising Architect, Uruguay)
I just returned from the Australian visit and would like to express my very special thanks for the great time that I had with you all during the Master Class. Not only was it exceptionally well organized and put together, but it was a very enjoyable experience for me in particular. The quality of the tutorship was exceptional and I must say I learned a great deal from all the crit sessions notwithstanding the fact that I have been in business for 30 years. To sum it up from my side, it was an absolutely unforgettable experience, which I shall cherish for many years. (Henk Boogretman, Practising Architect, South Africa)