Glenn Murcutt

Life

Murcutt was born in London to Australian parents. He grew up in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea, where he developed an appreciation for simple, vernacular architecture. After moving to Sydney, he was educated at Manly Boys' High School and studied architecture at the Sydney Technical College, from which he graduated in 1961, and where he became friends with other soon-to-be-prominent students, including director Jim Sharman, theatre designer Brian Thomson and film producer Matt Carroll. Murcutt's early work experience was with various architects, such as Neville Gruzman, Ken Woolley, Sydney Ancher and Bryce Mortlock, which exposed him to their style of organic architecture focussing on relationships to nature. By 1969, Murcutt established his own practice in the Sydney suburb of Mosman.

Murcutt works as a sole practitioner, producing residential and institutional work all over Australia. Although he does not work outside the country or run a large firm, his work has a worldwide influence, especially since Murcutt teaches master classes for beginning and established architects. Filmmaker Catherine Hunter, who is making a documentary on the architect, has said: "He gives everything, he can’t help himself. He’s unstoppable, he’s this force. Long before we started talking about things such as sustainability, Glenn was practicing those things."

Murcutt's motto, 'touch the earth lightly', leads him to design his works to fit into the Australian landscape features. His works are highly economical and multi-functional. Murcutt also pays attention to aspects of the environment such as wind direction, water movement, temperature and light surrounding his sites before he designs the building itself. Materials such as glass, stone, timber, concrete and steel are often included in his works.

Testament to his influence internationally was the award of the 2002 Pritzker Architecture Prize, one of the highest distinctions in architecture. In the words of the Pritzker jury: "In an age obsessed with celebrity, the glitz of our 'starchitects', backed by large staffs and copious public relations support, dominates the headlines. As a total contrast, Murcutt works in a one-person office on the other side of the world ... yet has a waiting list of clients, so intent is he to give each project his personal best. He is an innovative architectural technician who is capable of turning his sensitivity to the environment and to locality into forthright, totally honest, non-showy works of art." In 2009 Murcutt won the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal.

Murcutt currently lectures and teaches architectural studies as a professor at the UNSW Faculty of Built Environment.

His latest project is a new mosque in the Melbourne suburb of Newport. In 2016, Murcutt’s mosque project became the focus of a critically acclaimed documentary, “Glenn Murcutt: Spirit of Place”, by renowned filmmaker Catherine Hunter. The film documents the growing acceptance of Murcutt’s strikingly contemporary design, weaving into the narrative the stories of his famous domestic commissions, interviews with those involved, and an intimate biography of his life.

Murcutt's son Nicholas (1964-2011) was also a practicing architect.

Building projects

Honours and awards

Prestigious awards include:

He is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), an International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, an Honorary Fellow of the Finnish Association of Architects as well as Honorary Member of the Architects Institutes in Taiwan, Scotland and Singapore. In 2008 he was elected an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2010, he was named a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council. He was founding President of the Australian Architecture Association and is Chair of the Architecture Foundation Australia (annual Murcutt International Master Class).