Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Lust for Lifestyle: Modern Adelaide Homes 1950 -1965
“We used to watch John Chappel’s clients come in from our front window. They always seemed to arrive in Mercedes Benzes and ours came in Volkswagens.” Newell Platten, 1992
'Lust for Lifestyle: Modern Adelaide Homes 1950 – 1965' explores the allure of modern living in a changing South Australia after World War II. A booming economy and emerging consumer culture led to a desire for enjoyment and celebration of the pleasures of ‘everyday life’. These consumptive practices began to challenge the traditional markers of social status and a new generation of socially mobile individuals sought to define themselves through modern architecture.
What was the relationship between the owners and their new homes? Who were these people and what inspired them to leave (or demolish) their traditional family home to commission or move into a modern, architect-designed home? What were their backgrounds? What was their social network?
The confidence and optimism of the period is signalled on the one hand by the 1956 hosting of the 6th Australian Architectural Convention in Adelaide (and the parallel exhibition in Botanic Park by a new generation of architects), and on the other by a changing profession, where architects became increasingly involved with builders and developers.
In contrast to the United States, where modernism increasingly become commonplace through tract and ‘good-life modernism, modern architecture in Adelaide moved up within the social context and became associated with the social elite.
Bringing together photographs, drawings and plans, and newspaper and magazine articles from the State Library of South Australia’s collections, as well as material from other organisations and private family records, this exhibition celebrates the diverse work of architects and firms such as John S Chappel, Robin Boyd, Dickson & Platten, Peter Muller, Lawson, Cheesman & Doley, Don Thompson, Günter Niggemann, Brian Vogt, Langdon Badger, E Caradoc Ashton and others.
The allure of modern living is presented here under five themes that deal with degrees of intimacy, circulation of narratives, provisions of support, relationship with nature and framings of modern lifestyle. Together they provide us with a model for ‘everyday life’ that is still just as relevant today.
Dr. James Curry
School Architecture and Built Environment, University of Adelaide
Camera Paul Moses, Direction Sam Jozeps
State Library of South Australia : the stories that make us https://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/events/lust-for-lifestyle-modern-adelaide-homes-1950-1965
Lust for Lifestyle: Modern Adelaide Homes 1950 -1965
“We used to watch John Chappel’s clients come in from our front window. They always seemed to arrive in Mercedes Benzes and ours came in Volkswagens.” Newell Platten, 1992
'Lust for Lifestyle: Modern Adelaide Homes 1950 – 1965' explores the allure of modern living in a changing South Australia after World War II. A booming economy and emerging consumer culture led to a desire for enjoyment and celebration of the pleasures of ‘everyday life’. These consumptive practices began to challenge the traditional markers of social status and a new generation of socially mobile individuals sought to define themselves through modern architecture.
What was the relationship between the owners and their new homes? Who were these people and what inspired them to leave (or demolish) their traditional family home to commission or move into a modern, architect-designed home? What were their backgrounds? What was their social network?
The confidence and optimism of the period is signalled on the one hand by the 1956 hosting of the 6th Australian Architectural Convention in Adelaide (and the parallel exhibition in Botanic Park by a new generation of architects), and on the other by a changing profession, where architects became increasingly involved with builders and developers.
In contrast to the United States, where modernism increasingly become commonplace through tract and ‘good-life modernism, modern architecture in Adelaide moved up within the social context and became associated with the social elite.
Bringing together photographs, drawings and plans, and newspaper and magazine articles from the State Library of South Australia’s collections, as well as material from other organisations and private family records, this exhibition celebrates the diverse work of architects and firms such as John S Chappel, Robin Boyd, Dickson & Platten, Peter Muller, Lawson, Cheesman & Doley, Don Thompson, Günter Niggemann, Brian Vogt, Langdon Badger, E Caradoc Ashton and others.
The allure of modern living is presented here under five themes that deal with degrees of intimacy, circulation of narratives, provisions of support, relationship with nature and framings of modern lifestyle. Together they provide us with a model for ‘everyday life’ that is still just as relevant today.
Dr. James Curry
School Architecture and Built Environment, University of Adelaide
Camera Paul Moses, Direction Sam Jozeps
State Library of South Australia : the stories that make us https://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/events/lust-for-lifestyle-modern-adelaide-homes-1950-1965
