Next MELBOURNE CHINESE STUDIES GROUP seminar
Date: Friday 3 September 2010, 6pm
Admission $2   All Welcome
Venue: Jenny Florence Room, 3rd Floor, Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne (between Swanston and Elizabeth Streets)
Topic: The forgotten Chinese architecture of Arthur Purnell
Speaker: Derham Groves

Arthur Purnell was an Australian architect who lived and worked in Guangzhou, China, between 1900 and 1910. In 1904 he and American engineer Charles Paget established an architectural and engineering firm over there. Purnell & Paget designed a number of important buildings in Guangzhou, including a marvellous cement factory that became Chinese political leader Sun Yat-sen’s headquarters. Almost all of the firm’s buildings in Guangzhou were European-style.  Purnell returned to Australia in 1910 and maintained a busy architectural practice, working either alone or in partnership, virtually up until his death in 1964. He designed hundreds of buildings in Melbourne, ranging from humble garages to huge grandstands. A significant number of these were influenced by his years in Guangzhou: some buildings were for local Chinese clients, some had Chinese-style elements, and some had Chinese names. Unfortunately Purnell has been totally forgotten in Guangzhou and largely forgotten in Melbourne.

Last week I spoke at the St. Kilda Historical Society’s ‘Memories of St Moritz’ evening at the St. Kilda Public Library. The St. Moritz ice skating rink was a famous St. Kilda landmark. However, the building was originally a dance hall called the Wattle Path Palais De Danse, which was designed by Arthur Purnell in 1923. Purnell’s initial design (the first and second images) was influenced by Islamic architecture, which I prefer to his final design (the third image and the model). Nevertheless, it was yet another iconic Purnell building.

Purnell’s 1924 sketch of Barlow Motors, 20 – 28 LaTrobe Street, Melbourne.

Newspaper advertisement of 1927 for Barlow Motors.

One of the most colourful clients of Melbourne architect Arthur Purnell (1878 – 1964) was Alexander George Barlow (1880 – 1937), a highly innovative—if slightly shady—businessman, who was a pioneer of the car retail industry in Melbourne. After his new car dealership Barlow Motors failed in 1930 during the Great Depression, he leased the Lower Melbourne Town Hall and installed a miniature golf course. Alas, this business went bust too. When things finally got too much in 1937, tragically Barlow killed himself. A.G. Barlow’s son Alexander (‘Alec’) Arthur Barlow (b. 1908) worked for Barlow Motors. In 1926 the company sponsored him and the Australian adventurer Frances Birtles to drive a Bean sports car from Darwin to Melbourne in the shortest possible time. They completed the 3391-mile journey in 205 hours, with many adventures along the way. If that wasn’t enough, Alec Barlow was also an aviator. In 1929 he crashed his plane on its maiden flight and then matter-of-factly bought a new plane a fortnight later.

This past semester at the University of Melbourne, where I teach, I asked a group of third year architecture students to imagine that A.G. Barlow and A.A. Barlow were alive today and needed a new building for Barlow Motors—consisting of a car showroom, a car service centre, a car park, a ‘bachelor’s apartment’ for A.A. Barlow, and a rooftop miniature golf course—which reflected the adventurous spirit of the Barlows. Since the types of cars sold by Barlow Motors no longer exist, the students had to choose a current brand for the company to sell. Following is a sample of the students’ buildings:

Designed by Samuel Liew.

Designed by Gabriella Muto.

Designed by Muhamad Firadaus Khazis Ismail.

Designed by Jason Ma.

Designed by Robert Smith.

Designed by Yong Hui Ying.

Designed by Rivkah Stanton.

Designed by Michael Collins.

Designed by Roselyn Tan.

Designed by Sheldon Williamson.

Designed by Andrew Jenner.

Designed by Wei Ren Choo.

Designed by Nick Robinson.

One of the first houses—if not the first house—designed by Arthur William Purnell is currently for sale for just under $AUS1,000,000. ‘Tarina’ in Newcombe Street, Portalington, was designed and constructed by Purnell & Sons, Arthur’s father’s firm, for Mr. P.M. Browne, in 1896. Arthur began working for Purnell & Sons only the year before. The Bellarine Herald praised the house’s ‘very wide verandah, with its deep roof in Queensland style, which must so greatly add to the comfort of the inmates during the worst days of our too intense summer’. Because ‘Tarina’ was so unlike any of Purnell & Sons’ previous houses, it may very well have been designed by the firm’s ‘new blood’—Arthur. Following are images of the house in 1896 (top) and today: