Ian Athfiled Tribute
Architecture Foundation Convener Lindsay Johnston introducing the event - on the screen, Ian Athfield with Imelda Marcos after he was winner of the 1977 international competition for low cost housing in the Philippines - never realised. Photo : Sydney Architecture Festival
Our dear friend and colleague Ian Athfield - ‘Ath' as he has been generally known - died unexpectedly on 16 January 2015, only a few weeks after receiving a knighthood in the New Years Honours.
What a loss, what a talent, what a character.
Richard Leplastrier, Peter Stutchbury and Lindsay Johnston had the great privilege to spend quality time with Ath on several Master Classes at his wonderful holiday retreat at Awaroa, in the Abel Tasman National Park, top left of the South Island of New Zealand, the last one in September 2014.
A tribute - a celebration – was held on Sunday 4 October as part of the 2015 Sydney Architecture Festival in the Museum of Sydney.
Two wonderful documentaries about Ath were screened.
+ ‘Athfield Architect’ made during the 1970’s by the, now famous, Sam Neill at the time that Ath and colleagues won an international competition for social housing in the Phillipines.
+ ‘Architect of Dreams’, made in 2008, by Geoffrey Cawthorn, Richard Riddiford, Messenger Films, which tracks Ath’s incredible life and work with his wife Clare.
Tributes were presented by Richard Leplastrier, Lindsay Johnston, and Professor Xing Ruan (Director of Architecture,UNSW, who worked with 'Ath') each spoke about both the serious side and the hilarious side of Ath’s fantastic career.
For those who did not know of Ath and his work, this was an opportunity to undo a great oversight. For those who had the privilege of knowing him, it was a chance to be reminded and to rejoice.
See the obituary by Lindsay Johnston, published in Architecture AU –
http://architectureau.com/articles/vale-ian-athfield-1940-2015/
To view a powerpoint looped at the event
- originally prepared by John Walsh of NZIA for the memorial service in Wellington, edited and expanded by Lindsay Johnston for the Sydney tribute – see
The event was presented by the Architecture Foundation Australia and was supported by the University of Newcastle.