He may be best known for his work on TV and radio but comedian Tim Ross has always had a passion for architecture and design.
At different times he has hosted both the number-one breakfast and drive shows in Sydney. Yet his interest in architecture stems back to growing up in Melbourne’s beachside suburbs.
Noosa and the Sunshine Coast have become part of Tim’s life with a number of visits and speaking engagements through the years.
He returns to Noosa on Friday evening, 6 October, as part of the lead-up to the 2023 Sunshine Coast Open House program.
Over the past 11 years, Tim has performed his live Man About the House show in architecturally-significant buildings and homes all over the world.
A passionate supporter of important issues in Australian architecture and design, he was awarded the National Trust Heritage Award for Advocacy in 2018.
The following year he was awarded the National President’s Prize from the Australian Institute of Architects, then in 2022 Tim was not only asked to be a member of the National Architecture Awards jury, but also awarded an honorary member of the Australian Institute of Architects.
Tim’s first two-part series on Australian architecture, Streets of Your Town, on ABC TV in November 2016 became the most-watched arts program on the ABC for the year. Based on the golden era of Australian architecture in the 1960s and 1970s, it wasn’t just the design of the houses that caught my attention but even the way the streets were connected by parkland and walkways.
It was, as Tim said, when we had a standard of architecture that was the envy of the world. Not just in price, but in the way it reflected aspirations.
His latest TV series about why architecture matters, Designing A Legacy, features Australian families whose lives have been shaped within the walls of modern masterpieces. It poses the question of what will happen to these legacy homes?
A second series, with a broader look at Australian architecture, aired on ABC in June 2023.
That will be the background of his talk at Noosa.
Part slideshow, part stand-up comedy and part architecture talk, Designing a Legacy Live sees him telling stories anchored by his passion for Australian architecture and design.
In addition to regularly hosting his local pre-school’s annual fundraiser and writing books, Tim has performed live in more than 100 architecturally-significant buildings across Australia, the UK and US.
Through his passion he shows that good design can create a sense of community, a sense of place, and offer visions for the future.
Australian architect Glenn Murcutt is someone who has inspired Tim, for his ability to design innovative, climate-sensitive private houses that sit so well in the landscape.
He was the one at the fore of Australia’s new designers – an architect of sustainability and integrity.
However, much of Australia has gone from Dame Edna to Neighbours. and then to Kath and Kim.
We became demanding of space – less interested in outdoors and the neighbourhood.
Suburban streets have become less of a playground as we spend more and more time inside.
We enter through the garage, not the front door.
Owning a house is still an Australian dream … but how the house has changed is dramatic.
“Architecture forms so much what I do now,” Tim said in a phone interview, while changing a tyre on the family car as they headed north from Sydney.
“That comes from growing up in the suburbs … the ’60s-’70s architecture got into my skin.
“I got more and more into it, and now basically it’s become my life.
“There is some great architecture in Noosa and on the Sunshine Coast.
“It’s a really interesting time for the region.
“More and more people are moving to Queensland for all number of reasons – lifestyle, the environment, the Olympics.
“The economy is pushing people to Queensland. How you deal with that is a huge issue.
“Hold onto your better buildings and do not erase the past.
“Hold onto the simple yet beautiful beach houses.
“I’d like to see better access instead of a reliance on cars.
“Recently I was standing in a national park watching more car parks being built.
“How much better would it be to have a simple access method?
“We were warned about the Sydney Olympics and there would be traffic gridlock. But everyone stopped driving … there was a collective spirit of people coming together.
“Are we still the same country as we were in 2000?
“Queensland still has such a sense of friendliness.
“How we design the country for the future, how we tell the stories of the past 200 years, is so important.
“We always have had good and bad housing.
“Like a record collection, we need to have some bad things to remind us of the exceptional.”
Having spent time on the Sunshine Coast in the past six-to-seven years, Tim will be making his stories far more local in his Noosa presentation.
“I’m falling in love with the architecture,” he said, “particularly the way the houses relate to the environment.
“Some of the things are not going as well as they should … the housing crisis is, like other areas, a sad thing.
“Be aware that what drove people here will continue.
“The interesting thing is the way we build houses.
“We are less connected. Less connected with the street and less connected with other people.
“Everyone is leaning on clubs and pubs to find a sense of community.
“Parents with children in sporting groups have learnt this.
“Otherwise we are not understanding what is happening.
“Community is what unites us.”
SUNSHINE COAST OPEN HOUSE 2023
Hosted by the Sunshine Coast chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, the Open House program is held in more than 50 cities around the world to highlight the value and importance of good design.
It does this by opening up a selection of houses and buildings on the weekend of October 21-22.
However, there will be a number of events in the lead-up, such as Tim Ross in the House on October 6; an architecture walking tour and lunch in Noosa with John Mainwaring on Saturday, 8 October; a Cooroy Precinct Tour with architect Shaun Walsh on Saturday, 21 October; and Urban Sketching with Peter Richards at Cooran on Sunday, 22 October.
Events are ticketed or may require booking. Explore the Sunshine Coast list of events and buildings at: SunshineCoastOpenHouse.com.au
