Melbourne, Australia: Art Deco & Modernism

Join us for an evening focusing on Art Deco down under. In this illustrated talk, author of the award-winning Melbourne Art Deco, Robin Grow, explores the Art Deco and Modernist treasures in Melbourne, Australia. Though Melbourne––founded in 1834 at the bottom of Australia––was one of the British Empire's great Victorian cities, this talk illustrates how the interwar years fostered a new spirit of modernism. Much like New York, the 1920s and '30s brought Melbourne motor cars, the modern woman, females as consumers, stunning jazz age fashion, vivacious dance and music scenes, and of course cocktails!

During the 1920s and '30s Melbourne was transformed into a wonderful Art Deco center that featured the first truly international style. As new facing materials were introduced, such as terracotta and terrazzo, the city became colorized and steel reinforced concrete revolutionized building processes. And, it wasn't only brand new buildings featuring these modern materials––existing buildings shed their excessive ornamentation in favor of Art Deco's smooth and unadorned surfaces, murals, large expanses of glass, stylized building signs, and cantilevered balconies. In his engaging talk, Grow illustrates how the Art Deco style can be seen everywhere––from A (apartment blocks) to Z (the Melbourne Zoo), and of course the famous train––the Spirit of Progress.

Robin Grow, longtime President of the Art Deco & Modernism Society of Australia, is an expert on the Art Deco in Melbourne. He writes and presents extensively on the era, assists organizations with exhibitions, and leads engaging tours of Melbourne and its suburbs. In 2009, he wrote and published the award-winning book Melbourne Art Deco, which is now being re-published. Grow is also the Vice President of the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies.

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