Harold Desbrowe-Annear

Harold Desbrowe-Annear (16 August 1865 – 22 June 1933) was an influential Australian architect who was at the forefront of the development of the Arts and Crafts movement in this country. During the 1890s he was an Instructor in architecture at the Working Men's College (now RMIT University) where he founded the T-Square in 1900. The club acted as a meeting point for Melbourne’s architects, artists and craft workers and helped to develop a strong Arts and Crafts culture in the city. Desbrowe-Annear was also a supporter of the Victorian Arts and Crafts Society, founded in 1908.

Born in Happy Valley, Bendigo, Victoria in 1865, Desbrowe-Annear was the elder son of James Annear, mining contractor, and Eliza Ann (née Hawkins). He had six older stepsisters, two sisters and a brother. After the family moved to Melbourne in 1875 Desbrowe-Annear attended Hawthorn Grammar School, matriculating in 1882. On 25 July 1891, he married Florence Susan Chadwick but by the end of World War I, due to irreconcilable differences, they had separated. Desbrowe-Annear died on 22 June 1933 of heart disease; he was survived by Florence whom he had not divorced and their two sons James and Hector.

In 1883, Desbrowe-Annear was articled to Melbourne architect William Salway and during this time his interest and knowledge of architecture grew extensively. In 1889 he chose to pursue a practice of his own having already received recognition for his architectural sketches and papers delivered to the Victorian Institute of Architects. During the 1890s he became an advocate of the Arts and Crafts movement and he established the T-Square Club on an Arts and Crafts agenda of collaborative work and the promotion of the building crafts. He was sympathetic to the theory of a 'democratic architecture' which underpins his most recognised work, the Eaglemont houses (1903) as well as his journal For Every Man his Home (1922) which expressed the idea of domestic Australian architecture suitable for everyone.

In 1996, The Royal Australian Institute of Architects introduced the Harold Desbrowe-Annear Award to the best residential project of the year in Victoria. It is the highest honour in the state for Residential Architecture.

The ephemeral triumphal arch erected on Princes Bridge by the City of Melbourne was designed by Desbrowe-Annear in 1901 to mark the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York for the Federation celebrations. It was influenced by Beaux-Arts civic design and the 'Arc de Triomphe' in Paris.

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