• Title
  Item 1: Alec Tzannes interview by Colin Bisset, 14 November 2017
• Level of description
  item
• Date
  
  14 November 2017
• Type of material
  Nonmusical Sound Recordings, Oral Histories
• Reference code
  9627452
• Physical Description
  3 audio files (96 minutes) - digital, WAV, stereo (48 kHz, 24 bit)
  
• Scope and Content
  Architect Alec Tzannes speaks of his parents, Stratis and Phofo, who arrived from Greece in the first half of the 20th century, and his own childhood in Sydney, playing in Centennial Park and getting to know their famous neighbour, writer Patrick White. In 1960, ten-year-old Alec travelled to Kythera with his mother when his father temporarily abandoned the family. Due to his mother’s illness he lived there for a year, and his experience of Greek towns appears to have been critical to his awareness of the built environment.
  After graduating in architecture at Sydney University, he won a scholarship to study urban planning in New York. He also travelled to Europe and was especially struck by Sir John Soane’s house in London. Back in Sydney, he set up his own practice in 1983 and immediately drew attention by winning the competition to design the Federation Pavilion in Sydney’s Centennial Park, which brought him further commissions. He talks broadly about architecture in general and the way styles evolve, including his battle with local authorities as he worked on the rule-breaking Henwood House in Paddington, Sydney, from 1983 onward, a project passed to him by architect Glenn Murcutt. He concludes this session by explaining why he hasn’t sought work internationally.
  Reference:
  Library correspondence file
• Copying Conditions
  Copyright status:: In copyright
  Copyright holder:: State Library of New South Wales
  Rights and Restrictions Information:: Download available for research, personal use and public use
  Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
• General note
  
  Recorded at Surry Hills, New South Wales, on 14 November 2017
  
  Acquired in digital format; access copy available online
• Subject
  Architects--Interviews.
  Tzannes, Alexander--Interviews.
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE13672880

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