A retrospective exhibition on the work and life of preeminent Australian architect Harry Seidler, opens at the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum following a highly successful exhibition at San Marco Art Centre (SMAC), in Venice last year.

Open from 18 July, Migrating Modernism: The architecture of Harry Seidler is curated by Chau Chak Wing Museum Senior Curator Ann Stephen, and Dr Paolo Stracchi from the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture Design and Planning. 

Migrating Modernism is an exploration of Seidler’s individual projects and collaborations with architects, engineers and artists. They include Marcel Breuer, Pier Luigi Nervi, Frank Stella and Lin Utzon. It positions Seidler not only as a standout practitioner in Australia, but as a global exemplar of modernism.

Bauhaus and beyond

The free exhibition also explores Seidler’s studies under Bauhaus emigre teachers Walter Gropius and Josef Albers in the USA. 

Artworks by those Seidler worked closely with, including Albers, Alexander Calder, Helen Frankenthaler and Sol LeWitt are a key feature of the exhibition.

A luminary among 20th century architects in Australia and one of the most influential voices of the country’s Modern Movement, Seidler’s legacy spans single-family dwellings, inventive towers, public buildings and progressive housing schemes. His vision was realised around the world, in cities including Acapulco, Paris (where he designed the Australian embassy), Hong Kong and his native Vienna.  

Australia Square, MLC Centre (now 25 Martin Place) and Grosvener Place in Sydney, and Riverside Centre in Brisbane are among his landmark designs in Australia. His first Australian design in 1948-50, Rose Seidler house built for his parents, is now a heritage-listed museum in Wahroonga, Sydney.

“Living in Sydney, we see how Harry Seidler’s modern vision introduced a distinctly cosmopolitan culture to Australian cities—not only through his buildings, but also through the art he commissioned to open up major public spaces,” said Dr Stephen.

Integrating art and architecture

After fleeing Nazi-ruled Austria at the age of 15, Seidler was interned as an enemy alien in England before deportation to Canada, where he later completed his first degree in architecture. He moved to the United States where he studied and worked under a series of masters: Gropius, Albers, Breuer. Seidler came to Australia, aged 24, in 1948. Later, in Brazil, he worked for its famed architect Oscar Niemeyer. 

Among his many collaborations, the one with famed Italian structural engineer Nervi stands out, enriching Seidler’s modernist vision with structural expressionism and giving a sculptural presence to his buildings. As a result, the synthesis of Seidler’s rational architectural approach, research into visual effects, and expressive use of concrete structures represents a major example of the modernist ideal of architecture as a seamless integration of art and technology.

"Beyond its refined formal language, Seidler’s architecture stands as a reflection of the broader cultural, historical, and architectural conditions of its time,” said Dr Stracchi. 

“Migrating Modernism brings to our museum an extraordinary personal story and a global narrative highlighting Harry Seidler’s lasting contribution in Australia, and beyond,” said Chau Chak Wing Director Michael Dagostino. “This is a very Sydney story, reflecting how migration enriches our city through the exchange of knowledge, ideas and experience.”

The Chau Chak Wing Museum will host Migrating Modernism until the end of January 2027. 

Hero image: Julian Rose House, Wahroonga Sydney 1950-54. Architect, Harry Seidler. Photo by Max Dupain 1954. © Penelope Seidler.