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Born and educated in Melbourne – a metropolis about which he had an encyclopaedic data – Hugh O’Neill left a legacy that prolonged far past his homeland. A number of generations of scholars in Southeast Asia, China, India and Sri Lanka have been impressed by his mentoring.
O’Neill’s experience in his chosen discipline of structure was the technical foundation for his appointment as a lecturer within the School of Structure, Constructing and Planning on the College of Melbourne in 1961. (He had studied there himself from 1951 to 1956.) However that was solely a part of his achievement, for he was a unprecedented trainer. It’s unimaginable to quantify the significance of devoted academics, however the skill to encourage in college students a need to transcend the technical necessities of a selected discipline is uncommon. O’Neill embodied that high quality, which was integral to his understanding of individuals and society. He might at all times see the connection between structure and people who lived with it. He understood context and had an appreciation for the important position of city planning, for the necessity to contemplate a constructing as a part of the entire and never only a single showpiece. He taught on the college till after 2000, when he was additionally appointed as an adjunct professor at Deakin College’s Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific.
Hugh O’Neill on the drafting board in Ormond School, 1954.
Picture:
Courtesy O’Neill household
O’Neill’s deal with the social worth of structure was particularly necessary for the lots of of scholars who got here to Australia from growing nations beneath post-World Struggle II instructional help schemes, such because the Colombo Plan. Many of those international locations have been shaping their cities after a colonial interval, and the message of integrating civic and humanitarian points into administrative and housing building was not at all times understood. O Neill’s broad imaginative and prescient was central to the ideas he imparted to many a long time of scholars, and its worth might be measured by the devotion they felt for him. It was, nonetheless, not solely visiting college students who felt this manner; O’Neill was additionally revered by a number of generations of main Australian architects.
For anybody fortunate sufficient to journey with O’Neill, it was a Pied Piper expertise: folks have been drawn to him and opened their hearts and their properties in a means that’s uncommon for a foreigner. His skill to immerse himself within the customs of the locations he visited was inspirational. This skill was integral to his complete interpretation of what structure ought to be. For O’Neill, it was by no means only a theoretical matter. He was at all times hands-on and his grasp of important values in constructing apply was based mostly on his skill to immerse himself into different societies. This was significantly necessary in Indonesia, the place he spent two years (1958–60) as architect and lecturer in what’s now the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Jakarta and Bandung, earlier than two extra years (1967–68) based mostly in Yogyakarta. His experiences there strengthened his conviction that architectural apply and principle wanted to transcend the normal Eurocentric framework and embrace a wider vary of cultural achievements. This led to his establishing in 1962 a novel and intensely influential course on the structure of Asian societies. His pioneering educating led to the College of Melbourne’s conferring of an honorary doctorate in 2013. In 2014, he was made a life fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects.
Hugh O’Neill in Bandung, Indonesia, 1958.
Picture:
Courtesy O’Neill household
Whereas at Deakin, O’Neill was in a position to discover extra deeply the visionary considering and achievements within the Netherlands Indies between 1913 and 1942 of the Dutch architect and concrete planner Thomas Karsten, whose work had impressed him throughout his occasions in Indonesia. In firm with Professor Joost Coté, O’Neill produced a complete publication that not solely established the significance of Karsten’s achievements but in addition offered a report of his personal analysis. His dedication to educating had left O’Neill with little time for private tutorial pursuits, however his chapter within the influential 1994 publication The Mosque additionally demonstrates his profound understanding of the distinctive technical and aesthetic nature of Indonesian structure.1 Additional dedication to the sector was enhanced by his time as a visiting fellow in 1988 and 1990 on the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Structure at Harvard–MIT in Massachusetts.
O’Neill’s love of Indonesia led to his devoted work for and chairmanship of the Volunteer Graduate Scheme for Indonesia (1961–70), the Australian Indonesian Affiliation of Victoria (1961–75), the Abroad Service Bureau (now AVI) (1972–89) and the Indonesian Arts Society, Victoria (1974–02). He was additionally instrumental in a number of exhibitions: Textiles of Indonesia (Nationwide Gallery of Victoria, 1976); Musical Devices of Indonesia (Griffin Gallery, 1983); Masks of Kalimantan (Nationwide Gallery of Victoria, 1991); Behind the Shadows: Understanding a Wayang Efficiency (1996); and AWAS! Latest Artwork from Indonesia (Australian Centre for Up to date Artwork, 1999).
Milton Corridor, the grand Victorian terrace home the place the O’Neill kids grew up (O’Neill and his late spouse, Roma, purchased the home in 1969 and renovated it) mirrored their father’s deep dedication to Indonesian tradition. Its attribute cast-iron lacework and tiled verandah, excessive ceilings and beneficiant areas have been enhanced by refined batik and woven cloths from Sumba and Bali, and different works. These have been integral to the environment, which was usually enriched by the mild strains of gamelan music or of the Bach keyboard works that O’Neill beloved. Ripe mangos from the Queen Victoria Market can be heaped on the desk, round which generations of family and friends loved lengthy, wide-ranging conversations. O’Neill was a devoted father to his 5 kids, and a supportive and heat good friend to extra folks from all over the world than can probably be counted. His beaming smile and real empathy made all who knew him really feel welcome.
In 2013, his nation acknowledged O’Neill’s achievements by conferring on him the Order of Australia – a becoming tribute to a outstanding and much-loved man. A number of quick paragraphs are insufficient to precise the richness of a lifetime of distinctive creativity and dedication. For all who knew him, the void he has left can’t be stuffed.
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