| History | Guy Makin (19/6/1879–26/7/1970) was a committed and influential member of the South Australian Institute of Architects (SAIA) and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) for many years. He was known particularly for his imposing domestic architecture, generally in the Georgian style.
Born into a wealthy family at Gawler, South Australia, Makin attended St Peter’s College in Adelaide. He undertook articles with two Adelaide architectural firms before studying at the Architectural Association School in London. As he had independent wealth he chose to practise architecture for the love of it. From 1909 to 1927 his office was at Cowra Chambers, Grenfell Street, the address of his father’s business concerns. He later moved to Cavendish Chambers, 23 Grenfell Street.
The RAIA’s listing of South Australian Significant Twentieth-Century Architecture includes three homes in North Adelaide designed by Makin. The earliest, at 235 Ward Street (1915) is noted for its omission of ornamentation. The other two, at 70 Pennington Terrace (1927) and 117 Barnard Street (1938–39), are both in the Georgian style with the former being cited as an excellent example of that era of architecture. Kingsmead House in Brougham Place, North Adelaide (1865) is listed on the South Australian State Heritage Register. Originally designed by Wright and Woods, Makin remodelled it in the 1920s without losing any of its character. As well as domestic architecture, his work includes the Mission for Seamen at Outer Harbour (1926) and a framed church at Wolseley (1928).
Makin became an Associate of the SAIA in 1907 and a Fellow in 1917. In 1919 he joined the Council and fulfilled numerous roles for the next 22 years, being president from 1927 to 1929. He was one of two South Australian delegates present at the formation of the RAIA in 1929 and although not fully in favour at the outset, he later championed the cause and was president from 1935 to 1936. During his tenure, he was required to intervene over the competition of the rebuilding of St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, enforcing the original conditions.
He became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1937 and in 1940 was the inaugural chairman of the Architects’ Registration Board of South Australia. In 1941, a committee comprising Makin, Norman Fisher and Dean Berry considered the proposal for the SAIA to become a chapter of the RAIA. After extensive deliberation they concluded that ‘things have worked out all right as they are’ and because of the fuss involved the idea was abandoned.
Makin defended Traditionalism against the proponents of modern architecture such as Jack Cheesman and was unimpressed with New York skyscrapers. He held that ‘architecture, music and painting are all governed by similar principles, and standard of beauty, all fixed and dominated by precedent and a following of tradition … if you can’t be original in an accepted style, you have no originality … any architect, who is worth his salt, is not a mere imitator.’ |