George Freedman
| George Freedman | |
|---|---|
the maestro's legacy
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| Born |
George Henry Freedman March 6, 1936 Brooklyn, New York USA |
| Died | July 21, 2016 Sydney, NSW Australia |
| Residence | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | American Australian |
| Education | Bachelor of Architecture |
| Alma mater | Syracuse University |
| Occupation | Interior Designer / Interior Architect |
| Spouse(s) | Peter O'Brien |
| Parent(s) | Nathan Freedman & Rose Freedman |
| Website | http://www.dedeceblog.com/2014/01/29/george-freedman-a-life-in-design/ |
George Freedman (Brooklyn, New York, USA, 6 March 1936 - Sydney, NSW, Australia, 21 July 2016) was Australia’s leading Interior Designer/ Interior Architect from 1970 until a younger generation became prominent in Sydney during the 1990s. Born in New York, where he studied architecture at Syracuse University, Freedman arrived in Sydney in 1968 and later designed many prestigious interiors, often including custom-made furniture. His notable interior schemes included executive suites for the Bank of New South Wales (1970) and the State Bank of NSW (1985), cultural institutions including Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum/Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (1988), businesses, government premises, restaurants, residences and historic monuments, including a refurbishment of the Queen Victoria Building shopping centre (2009)[3].
In 2005, Freedman was described by The Sydney Morning Herald as ‘the Godfather of Interior Design’. He was recognised by design and architecture industry experts for his daring and widely emulated combinations of colours, inventive uses of materials, attention to detail, and commitment to high-quality furnishings (often imported signature classics)[5]. He was respected also for his sophisticated understandings of optical perception and volumetric manipulations of interior space. For this reason he was highlighted by design writers as practising more like an architect than his colleagues who were educated as interior decorators and designers[6]. Although he never finalised his American degree studies to register as an architect, Freedman worked repeatedly with Sydney’s leading architects of the late-twentieth century—including Glenn Murcutt, Peter Stronach, Richard Johnson and Ken Woolley. He also trained some of Sydney’s outstanding younger architects and designers—including Iain Halliday, Sam Marshall, Stephen Varady, William MacMahon, Arthur Collin, Robert Puflett, Tim Allison and his late-career partner, Ralph Rembel. In 2005 the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) awarded Freedman Rembel an Interior Architecture commendation for its design of executive offices at the AMP Insurance building overlooking Circular Quay.
Freedman’s 1970s and 1980s furniture designs, often finished with luxury European veneers and eye-catching flourishes, were often promoted in Australia’s most stylish design magazines, especially Belle and Interior Design. His cocktail trolley for Bilson’s restaurant (1988) is in the collection of Sydney’s Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. He was a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia and the Academy of Design Australia.
Freedman was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Nathan Freedman, a colour designer for an American paint manufacturer, and Rose Freedman (née Hirsch). His childhood memories included riding horses in Manhattan’s Central Park, and their home interior paint colour was changed every second year to challenging new colours.
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