Rigour and poetry: Selected works (1985–2021 ) and anecdotes Hayley Franklin Associate Director, Sean Godsell Architects Peter Sanders Architect
Godsell's friends, colleagues and clients reflect on his singular vision, his evolving architecture and the experience of collaborating with him, both inside and outside the office.
After almost 25 years working in Sean's practice, it is difficult to find a single anecdote to reflect and celebrate such an important achievement as the Gold Medal.
“Draw more, talk less” was chalked on the office blackboard for quite some time. It is a sentiment that reflects the rigorous work and critique to which every project is consistently subjected. The work speaks for itself. Sean works bloody hard – I don't know anyone who works harder. His commitment, perseverance, dedication and stamina are to be admired. After all, in his own words: “You can't complain if you haven't drawn the detail,” and “There's nothing better than a fresh sheet of tracing paper and a 1:20 section.”
I have, over the years, kept a record of notable quotes from the office that includes the following gems:
“There's nowhere to hide when you're a professional.”
“Buildings exist on sites, not in exhibitions or on walls.”
“The first rule of architecture is get the client's name right.”
“That's not a failure; a failure would have been keeping those drawings!”
Sean has been my teacher and role model, and I thank him for his contribution to architecture and to my own training (even if I have been fired more times than I can count!).
Sean's work is, like Sean, one of a kind. Congratulations to him. Richly deserved. I am a big admirer. His architecture is super-refined, open to the world and to nature, uncompromising. Michael Kimmelman Architecture critic for The New York Times
I first met Sean when he worked with my firm soon after his graduation. The abilities that have contributed to his outstanding architectural career were clear at that time – a focus and a determination to produce high-quality building design. He was eager to learn about construction and architectural practice, and he had a keen interest in historical precedents, particularly from the twentieth-century masters.
Sean's buildings at this time, such as his own houses in Carlton and Kew, demonstrated his ability to design innovatively using strong symbolism and to produce a consistent central theme in each project. Sean has been a warm friend since then.
The mid-1980s were extraordinary years in London, as the softening regulatory touch of government unleashed central control of industries and services. The City of London burgeoned towards its position as the world's financial capital, to the soundtrack of post-punk and new-wave music.
This wave of change swept across the architectural landscape just as two aspiring Australian architects made their acquaintance in the office of Sir Denys Lasdun. Discussions with this towering figure of early Modern British Architecture (then in the twilight of his career) left us in no doubt of his belief that the modern movement was a bona fide tradition evolved from classicism. For Sean, this was a reaffirmation, not a revelation. He was already well and truly inscribed by the profound impact of modernism through his grasp of the work of Le Corbusier and, more importantly, Kazuo Shinohara. The paradox between past and renewal, plus explorations of the tension between Western and Japanese traditions in Shinohara's houses, were, I believe, seminal influences in Sean's early thinking.
It wasn't all work and no play, though. Dissecting the merits of man-on-man contests in what was then the VFL and perfecting torpedoes in Holland Park maintained the connection to home, while an unplanned collision into Mark Knopfler's MercedesBenz kept us engaged with the spirit of the times.
Further to many published reviews of his work, I can only confirm that Sean's commitment to excellence has been unwavering, and it is a pleasure to celebrate this well-deserved recognition.
Marino Rossi
Director, Thomson Rossi
Around 2000, I sat on a panel to select the architect for the Tarrawarra Museum of Art in Victoria's Yarra Valley. It was a limited competition and by invitation. Following an exhaustive interview and presentation process, the invited architects were narrowed down to Allan Powell and Sean Godsell. Powell's scheme for a delicate fortress of rammed earth won.
It was Godsell's proposal, however – a tough, elongated rectangular extrusion in rusted steel, with a glass lantern, clinging to the side of a hill, overlooking a lake – that created the most debate and discussion. Relentless in its pursuit and exploration of purity of line and materials, it left no room for compromise.
Godsell has never forgotten (nor forgiven) the loss and, 22 years later, the scheme remains on his website, “consol[ing] ourselves with stories of famous architects whose schemes have been passed by and ... of how Le Corbusier sometimes depicted himself as a boxer, a fighter. We determined [then] to always fight for what we believed in.”
Joe Rollo Writer, editor