The Architecture Foundation Australia, a not-for-profit cultural association, will be holding the eighth Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Master Class in Australia 05 - 19 July 2008.

Commenced in 2001, the annual Master Class has been described by many participants as ”a life changing experience” and has created a wonderful international alumni network which includes architects (older and younger), academics, postgraduates and senior students from Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Dominica, Denmark, England, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, France, Germany, Guernsey, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, S.Korea, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Mexico, Nepal, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philipines, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Uruguay, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vietnam, Wales, many states of the US and, of course, Australia.

The Master Class is a two-week residential program and is limited to 30 places. The first week is held at "Riversdale", the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre on the Shoalhaven River south of Sydney, and participants live in what has been described as Glenn’s ‘Master Work’. The second week in 2008 will be held at the University of Sydney School of Architecture. Glenn personally leads the Master Class, stays at "Riversdale" with the participants and tutors all groups.

Glenn Murcutt is Australia’s best known architect. He was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize for 2002 (the "Nobel" Prize of Architecture), is a Visiting Professor at Yale and his other awards include the Gold Medal of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, the Alvar Aalto Medal (Finland), 2001 Thomas Jefferson Medal (USA), the "Green Pin" International Award for Architecture and Ecology (Denmark) and the 2001 Asia Pacific Culture and Architecture Design Award.

Other tutors on the Master Class include seminal Australian architect and educator Richard Leplastrier, internationally published and award winning architect Peter Stutchbury. Professor Brit Andresen from the University of Queensland, and former Dean of Architecture at the University of Newcastle, Lindsay Johnston. Richard Leplastrier is an RAIA Gold Medalist, was 2004 recipient of the ‘Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award’ in Finland and an invited tutor on the Utzon Summer School in Denmark – he worked with Jørn Utzon at the time of the Sydney Opera House. Peter Stutchbury has been recipient of numerous Royal Australian Institute of Architecture awards, including the two top awards in 2003 - for Public Buildings and Private Residences – and two top awards in 2005 - the first architect to receive both awards in the one year. He has also lectured and been published internationally. Brit Andresen, is the first woman recipient of the RAIA Gold Medal and has been internationally published.

Subject to confirmation, the program will include excursions with Glenn Murcutt to see houses such as the Fletcher-Page House or the Walsh House in Kangaroo Valley, the Simpson-Lee House at Mt.Wilson and a new house by Glenn and Wendy Lewin in the Blue Mountains. There will also be visits to see some very special houses by Richard Leplastrier and Peter Stutchbury. Details are yet to be finalised and are dependent on client consent to get access to these properties.

The intensive two-week design studio program involves a design project undertaken in groups and culminating, at the end of week two, with a design presentation by participants and a critique by Glenn Murcutt and the other tutors. The studio program, associated lectures and supporting events equate to 150 hours high-level study at Masters level. The spirit of the event is that participation is the focus and there is no formal assessment. A certificate of satisfactory completion will be issued to all participants completing the program. Universities internationally have, over the years since its inception, accepted this event as gaining credit towards their programs.

There are only 30 places available and applications will be assessed on credentials and merit, with preference to early applicants.

For detailed information, program, tutor portfolios and application form:
www.ozetecture.org or email info@ozetecture.org