Sean Godsell (born 9 September 1960) is an Australian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Biography

Godsell was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, the son of David Godsell, also an architect. In his early years he lived in

Beaumaris Beaumaris ( ; cy, Biwmares ) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town of Anglesey. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from ...

and attended Kostka Hall a preparatory school to

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. Th ...

where he completed his secondary education. He later studied at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, graduating in 1984. He also undertook postgraduate study at

RMIT RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

. From 1986 to 1988 he worked in the London office of

Sir Denys Lasdun Sir Denys Louis Lasdun, CH, CBE, RA (8 September 1914, Kensington, London – 11 January 2001, Fulham, London) was an eminent English architect, the son of Nathan Lasdun (1879–1920) and Julie (''née'' Abrahams; 1884–1963). Probably his be ...

, returning to Australia in 1989. In 1994, In 1980 and 1981, Godsell played for St Kilda in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

. He made two VFL appearance and kicked two goals. His work has been published in the world's leading Architectural journals including Architectural Review (UK) Architectural Record (USA) Domus (Italy) A+U (Japan)

Casabella ''Casabella'' is a monthly Italian architectural and product design magazine with a focus on modern, radical design and architecture. It includes interviews with the world's most prominent architects. History and profile Casabella was founded i ...

(Italy) GA Houses (Japan) Detail (Germany) Le Moniteur (France) and Architect (Portugal). In July 2002 the influential English design magazine wallpaper listed him as one of ten people destined to 'change the way we live'. He was the only Australian and the only Architect in the group. He has lectured in the US, UK, China, Japan, India, France, Italy and New Zealand as well as across Australia. He was a keynote speaker at the Alvar Aalto symposium in Finland in July 2006. In July 2003 he received a Citation from the President of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

for his work for the homeless. His Future Shack prototype was exhibited from May to October 2004 at the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York. In the same year the Italian publisher Electa published the monograph Sean Godsell: Works and Projects. Time Magazine named him in the 'Who's Who -The New Contemporaries' section of their 2005 Style and Design supplement. He was the only Australian and the only Architect in the group of seven eminent designers. In July 2013 he was visiting professor at Iuav University of Venice and delivered the UNESCO chair open lecture in Mantova, Italy.

Selected projects

* Kew House (1996–97) * St Andrews Beach House (2007) *

RMIT Design Hub The RMIT Design Hub is a design hub that houses research, archive, exhibition, and studio space of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Completed in May 2012, the Design Hub was designed by Sean Godsell Archi ...

(2012)

Awards

He has received numerous local and international awards. In 2006 he received the Victorian Premier's Design Award and the RAIA

Robin Boyd Award The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture is an Australian architectural prize presented by the Australian Institute of Architects since 1981. The award is presented in memory of the Australian architect Robin Boyd, and is awarded to res ...

and in 2007 he received the Cappochin residential architecture award in Italy and a Chicago Athenaeum award in the USA – all for St Andrew's Beach House. In 2008 he was recipient of his second AIA Record Houses Award for Excellence in the US for Glenburn House. In 2008 architectural historian

Kenneth Frampton Kenneth Brian Frampton (born 20 November 1930) is a British architect, critic and historian. He is the Ware Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York. He has be ...

nominated him for the inaugural BSI Swiss Architecture Award for architects under the age of 50 and his work was exhibited as part of the Milan Triennale and Venice Biennale in the same year. In 2010 the prototype of the RMIT Design Hub façade was exhibited in Gallery MA in Tokyo before being transported in 2011 to its permanent home at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in London. In 2012 he was shortlisted to design the new Australian Pavilion in Venice. In 2013 he received the RAIA Victorian Medal and William Wardell Awards for the RMIT Design Hub and the Harold Desbrowe Annear award for the Edward St House. The Australian Institute of Architects has awarded its highest honour - the Gold Medal - to “master craftsman” Sean Godsell. At the 2022 National Prizes announcement, the jury commended Godsell’s body of work, describing it as demonstrating “an extraordinary commitment to excellence in design, detail and resolution.�
AIA
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References

External links

National Design Museum, New York, May 2004Sean Godsell.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Godsell, Sean 1960 births Living people Architects from Melbourne St Kilda Football Club players University of Melbourne alumni RMIT University alumni Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Old Xaverians Football Club players People educated at Xavier College People from Beaumaris, Victoria 20th-century Australian architects 21st-century Australian architects

Biography

Selected projects

Awards

References

Further reading

External links