DESIGN Anytime - Enrico Taglietti

Enrico Taglietti
Self-guided architectural tour
One city
200+ events
9—29 November
DesignCanberraFestival.com.au
DESIGN
Anytime

Introduction
DESIGN Canberra celebrates and promotes
Canberra as a global city of design. It is an
annual festival that has been running seven
years strong.
The festival is presented by Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre, a respected
and nearly 50-year-old membership organisation which represents the
Canberra region’s designers, artists and craftspeople at every stage of
their careers. Craft ACT is home to a community of glass artists, furniture
makers, textiles artists, ceramic artists and jewellers, and collaborates
with designers and architects across many disciplines.
CANBERRA
DESIGN
FESTIVAL
Front cover: McKeown House.
Photo: Philip Goad.
Back cover: The Apostolic
Nunciature Canberra, Architect Dr
Encirco Taglietti. Photo: From the
collection of the NAA. 2

H1
Heading
H2 Heading
The self-guided Quote –“It was tour the biggest job ever built in
To connect with audiences
Australia
who
at
cannot
the time
physically
– a million square feet – it
make it to Canberra during the festival, DESIGN
Canberra is curating was a DESIGN a city not Anytime a building! program. And I’m much more
This new program includes interested self-guided in the tours building of iconic as part of the city,
architecture and contemporary design throughout
in the urban forms of things, than I am in the
Canberra. This will promote and celebrate Canberra as
a global city of design individual every day of gem.” the year.
This zine was created for the 2020 DESIGN Canberra
festival, as a curated collection of highlights of Enrico
Taglietti’s architectural career in Canberra. This design
experience can be enjoyed as a series of leisurely
reflections over a week or an exciting day trip through
the city.
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Guidelines and etiquette
When taking this self-guided tour please be respectful
of the occupants of Body the buildings. – Design Canberra By using celebrates this zine and promotes Canberra
you agree to comply as with a global the city following of design. housekeeping It is an annual program that has
rules:
been running six years strong. The festival is presented by
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre, a respected and nearly
• View private property from the street or footpath.
50-year- old membership organisation which represents the
Do not step onto private property at any time.
Canberra region’s designers, artists and craftspeople at every
• Do not take photographs stage of their of house careers. interiors Craft or ACT the is home to a community
buidling owners of and glass occupants artists, furniture and respect makers, their textiles artists, ceramic
property. artists and jewellers, and collaborates with designers and
architectsacross many disciplines.
Access. Body –Access details

Enrico Taglietti
Enrico Taglietti is recognised as an important architect and a leading
practitioner of the late 20th century organic style of architecture. Since
his arrival in Australia in the 1950s, Taglietti designed many houses,
schools, churches and commercial buildings in Canberra, Sydney and
Melbourne. The powerful, sculptural forms of Taglietti’s architecture are
a recognisable feature of Canberra’s architectural landscape.
There are a number of important and recurring themes present in
Taglietti’s architecture. His buildings place great importance on arrival,
where the qualities of a building are revealed subtly after moving
through a space or series of spaces. The idea of interlocking internal
volumes is central to many of his houses, with the interconnected
and overlapping volumes creating interest and spatial drama. Details
like battered and stepped or curved walls and window reveals create
attractive sculptural forms. The use of deep, overhanging timber lined
eaves with timber boarded fascias for shelter and protection from the
harsh Australian light is one of his most recognisable elements.
In March 2007 Enrico was awarded Australia’s most prestigious
architecture prize—the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA)
Gold Medal for Architecture.
Photo: Dr ET outside the Canberra Town House. Photo: Dpt
of Immigration & Multicultural & Indigenous Affairs, From the
collection of the NAA.
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Travel Route
Scan the QR code or click on
this link to access the map
A. War Memorial Annex
B. Giralang Primary School
C. Paterson House
D. High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
E. Chancellery of Italy
F. Apostolic Nunciature
4 Callan Street, Mitchell
Atalumba Close, Giralang
7 Juad Place, Aranda
4 Perth Avenue, Yarralumla
12 Grey Street, Deakin
2 Vancouver Street, Red Hill

War Memorial
Annex
1977-1978
ADDRESS. 4 Callan Street, Mitchell
War Memorial Annex. Photo: Darren Bradley.
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Completed in 1979, the Australian War Memorial Annex is a large,
utilitarian building. Its purpose is to provide a repository and conservation
facilities for items in the War Memorial’s collection.
The building is immediately recognisable as a Taglietti work, with its use
of overlapping roof planes and deep overhanging eaves and interior
detailing.
It’s best described by Taglietti himself: “They do not do anything, they do
not mean anything, but why not create something beautiful and allow
space to go out and come in from any angle when you can do it for the
same cost as something ugly.The façades of the apartment blocks are
of particular interest. They are carefully composed to produce abstract,
balanced patterns across the development.”
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Giralang Primary
School
1975
Giralang Primary School was designed by Taglietti
in 1975, with the vision of fostering an enriching
learning environment filled with fun and creativity.
The building reflects the educational philosophy
that was introduced to Canberra in the 1970s.
It is a complex plan based on a cross with
interconnected teaching areas centred on the
library and its courtyard. Inside, angled and curved
subdivisions create an extraordinary series of
spaces. This complexity is apparent as you view
the exterior of the building with its steeply pitched
roofs, buttressed brick gable ends, deep horizontal
fascias and playful details.
Giralang Primary School is Taglietti’s most highly
regarded building, receiving the Canberra Medallion
in 1977 and the Twenty-Five Year Award in 2001
from the ACT Chapter of the Australian Institute of
Architects.
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ADDRESS. Atalumba Close, Giralang
Architect: Dr Taglietti. Giralang Primary School. Photo:
From the collection of the NAA.

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Paterson House
1970
The Paterson House was commissioned in 1967 by
geophysicist Mervyn Paterson and his wife Katalin
Paterson. It is regarded as one of Taglietti’s most
important residential works.
The house is one of Taglietti’s most private, with a
fortress-like, windowless street facade of grey cement
brick and stained timber fascia. Complex, interlocking
volumes inside the house create a series of intricate,
connected spaces with each room having views of the
surrounding bushland. The large, flat roofs have deep
fascias of timber boarding and the roof plane visible
from the street appears to float over the large masonry
mass.
The home was awarded the Twenty-Five Year Award in
2006 from the ACT Chapter of the Australian Institute
of Architects.
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ADDRESS. 7 Juad Place, Aranda
Paterson House, Photo: Anthony Basheer.

High Commission
for the Islamic
Republic
of Pakistan
2013
The High Commission of Pakistan is one of Taglietti’s
final works, completed in 2013.
The building is a modern interpretation of Pakistan’s
Mughal-inspired building style, demonstrating
symmetry and balance, but displays Taglietti’s
recognisable themes and details.
The use of stepped and curved walls and window
reveals achieves a balance between privacy and
human interaction and creates attractive sculptural
forms. The dramatic cantilevered portico and deep roof
overhangs provide sun protection and are themselves
a sculptural element.
The mural on the exterior wall by Shehzar Abro depicts
two early leaders of Pakistan – Muhammad Ali Jinnah
and Allama Iqbal.
ADDRESS. 2 Vancouver Street, Red Hill
High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,
Photo: Pam Saunders.

Chancellery
of Italy
1967 - 1974
Shortly after arriving in Australia in 1955, Taglietti
was invited by the Italian Government to choose
a site for their embassy in Canberra. Taglietti
would go on to prepare the working drawings for
the Ambassador’s residence which was designed
by the Italian State Department of Works in Milan.
He supervised the building’s construction in time
for a visit by the Italian President.
In 1974 Taglietti designed the embassy’s
Chancellery, located next door to the residence.
The Chancellery consists of two buildings. The
entry building, visible from Grey Street, is a
rectangular, reinforced concrete building, with
protruding spandrels and piers on battered bases.
The rear block, visible from Adelaide Avenue,
displays Taglietti’s horizontal lines and splayed
profiles on a deep overhanging roof and concrete
balustrades.
ADDRESS. 12 Grey Street, Deakin
Embassy of Italy. Photo: Craft ACT.

Apostolic
Nunciature
1977
Completed in 1977, the Apostolic Nunciature is the physical
presence of the Catholic Church in Australia, containing a
residence, living areas for the diplomatic representatives
of the Holy See, offices and a small chapel. Taglietti has
commented that the design process for the building posed
many questions, forcing him to reflect upon the relationship
between the functional use of a space and its symbolic
purpose.
While Taglietti’s earlier buildings were characterised by
deep, spreading roof overhangs with banded fascias, the
Apostolic Nunciature achieves a pronounced horizontality
courtesy of massed, red-tiled roofs. They appear to float over
the building form. This horizontal emphasis is relieved by a
cantilevered porte-cochere with a large cross displayed on
the building. The spreading, massed roofs produce an effect
similar to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Houses.
A feature of Taglietti’s work is the integration of building
and site through the use of hard landscape elements such
as retaining walls and fences. By using the same materials as
the building, it has the effect of extending the composition
of the building beyond its own boundaries.
This design was a recipient of the Australian Institute of
Architects Certificate of Merit in 1978 and 1980 and earned
Taglietti a Papal Knighthood of St Gregory the Great. It is also
on the Commonwealth Heritage List.
ADDRESS. 2 Vancouver Street, Red Hill
Apostolic Nunciature. Photo: 5 Foot Photography.

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