Neville Gruzman, AM (14 November 19251 May 2005) was an Australian architect, mayor of Woollahra, writer and architectural activist. He is considered to have exerted a decisive influence on Sydney's architecture, mostly through his dedication to designing architecture that reacts to the landscape and to the needs of the client.
Life
Gruzman was born in Sydney, Australia. His parents—Sam Gruzman and Rosalind Gunzburg—were of Russian origin. He was the middle son, with Laurence, the eldest and Des, the youngest. His childhood near Cooper Park, Bellevue Hill, exerted a certain influence on him regarding his attitude towards landscape. He initially intended to fulfill his mother's wish to study medicine but enrolled for architecture after graduating from Sydney Boys High School. His brother Laurence studied Law and became a barrister and later Queen's Counsel in 1966.
In the late 1940s Neville entered the University of Sydney, where Beaux Arts was a main subject. The first three years of his studyings were difficult for him as he wasn't good in drawing. However, he profited from his work experiences. He developed an interest in ballrooms, particularly mirrors and reflections, and won some skills with glamorous decoration from an interior decorator, Margaret Jaye. In his fourth year at university, he was attracted to the European Modernists, who influenced and furthered him. Before he graduated, he designed the Lapin House, Rose Bay for his aunt. He graduated in 1952 and traveled to Europe with other graduates. Returning to Australia, he opened an office with Bill and Ruth Lucas. He read the work Architectural Beauty in Japan. He later travelled to Japan on a four-and-a-half month study visit — a journey that would be followed by numerous others to the country. Later, Gruzman was amazed by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. His understanding of the aspects of planning and of the necessities of an ongoing development grew decisively, in this period. In about 1967, he devoted himself to teaching; he is reported to have reassured his students attended the classes, regularly, and to have renounced holidays to provide extra tutorials for his students. He also participated in politics, to improve the quality of built environment.
Gruzman had poor health. He suffered from asthma and heart attacks but managed to recover. He also had an accident that led to brain surgery causing the loss of most of his memory, including for details such as door dimensions, which he most attentively relearned.
Architecture
Gruzman mostly built residential houses in Sydney. His works are varied forms of Modernism known as Organic Modernism, or Regionalism; some show a strong influence by the works of Frank Lloyd Wright. The impressions exerted on him on his trips to Japan—mainly by the traditional post and beam architecture he saw at places like Katsura Imperial Villa—influenced some of the homes he created and into which he eventually included Japanese elements (Goodman House, Middle Cove). In the 1960s Gruzman gained recognition for private homes built for wealthy and sometimes eccentric clients along Sydney's north shore, such as the Hill's House (1966), designed for a nudist and the "theatrical" Holland House (1962),built for an actress, who would both delight and scare her guests by dancing on the house's handrail-less balcony hanging over a cliff face. His work has been described as "major gestures, very Hollywood glamour."
Gruzman's architectural principles included maximum exposure to sunlight and privacy visually and audibly.
Gruzman is loosely connected to the 'Sydney School' of architects of the 1950s and 1960s—a movement that started in opposition to the International Style of modernism supported by other Australian architects and that has recently been re-discovered by home buyers and architectural fans, leading to a trend to preserve the homes from the period. However, Gruzman's work deviates from the Sydney School style in important traits; Gruzman himself denied a connection to the movement.
Notable projects
Montrose Apartments — Neutral Bay, New South Wales (1954–55)
Located at 445 Alfred Street, Neutral Bay, this lightweight glass and steel block of eight double-storey apartments was designed by Gruzman in his first year of practice. The building was highly innovative in its planning and visual impact in the landscape. It is a very early example of modernist residential curtain wall construction in Australia.
Hills House — Turramurra, New South Wales (1966, 1983)