Harry & Penelope Seidler House: commemorating 50 years
Saturday 28 October 2017 was the 50th anniversary of the iconic Harry & Penelope Seidler House in Killara.
The Sydney Living Museums Foundation fundraising evening was hosted by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Michael Rose AM, and Penelope Seidler AM, who were joined by Minister for the Arts The Hon Don Harwin MLC, and more than 50 distinguished guests to pay tribute to the vision of the late Harry Seidler.
Guest speaker Professor Philip Goad from the University of Melbourne eloquently described the importance of the house (Professor Goad’s speech is reproduced in full below) and its place in history:
As a work of modernist architecture in Australia, it’s exceptional ...
... Not only does it represent one of the high points in the Seidlers’ move towards mass, texture, structural bravura and permanence in their architecture after the 1950s, it also continues career-long themes of the search for a total work of art that encompasses architecture, landscape, interiors, furniture all in combination with the collecting of paintings, sculpture and textiles.
The event was a rare opportunity for guests to see this house and its surrounding landscape, and we would like to thank Penelope for opening her home, and our generous donors for their continuing support of the organisation.
Our thanks to Edward Simpson, Chair of the SLM Foundation, and everyone who contributed to the evening. The event raised much-needed funds to support our work of conserving heritage properties.
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