Alistair Samuel Knox (8 April 1912 – 30 July 1986) was an Australian designer, builder and

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

who used recycled materials and

mudbrick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...

in his constructions and is considered to be a pioneer of modern mudbrick building, having designed more than 1,000 houses throughout the Nillumbik region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

as well as in other parts of Australia.

Career

Born in the

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 ...

suburb of Middle Park, Knox attended Scotch College before leaving, aged 15, to work as a bank clerk in the

State Savings Bank of Victoria The State Bank of Victoria was an Australian bank that existed from 1842 until 1990 when it was taken over by the Commonwealth Bank. It was owned by the Government of Victoria, State of Victoria. History A government-controlled savings bank had ...

.Woodhouse, Fay (2007)
Knox, Alistair Samuel (1912–1986)
, ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed online 21 April 2017. From June 1942, he devoted spare time to the Volunteer Defence Corps, transferring to the Naval Auxiliary Patrol in 1943. In 1944 he joined the

Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) was a reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy. Formation In late 1920, the Navy Board proposed the creation of an Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve scheme, with approaches made to yac ...

serving on ''HMAS Martindale'', in the waters off

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Following his discharge he returned to the bank, and in 1946 began to study building construction at

Melbourne Technical College 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 ...

; during his studies, he started building two houses near

Eaglemont Eaglemont is an established suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Banyule local government area. Eaglemont recorded a population of 3,960 at the 202 ...

. Post-war shortages of building materials led Knox to consider using mudbrick, and in 1947 he built a mudbrick house in Montmorency. He later actively campaigned for banks to lend capital for earth-built housing projects, and as a result he helped popularise and legitimise mudbrick buildings in mainstream society. Largely self-taught, Knox believed that houses should be built using available resources and by working in harmony with the environment. He pioneered an 'Australian' architectural look characterised by a lower, flatter roof line, often with a

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

to introduce light to the centre of the house and large windows to the living areas to bring the 'outside in'. Second-hand bricks, large eaves,

verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

s, natural materials and finishes,

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

walls, timber linings and large beams, brick and slate floors became a feature. These ideals were formed by the strictures of the immediate post-WWII period, as well as his circle of friends in the artistic community, and an independent view of the world. Knox's main influences were

Justus Jorgensen Justus Jorgensen (12 May 1893 – 15 May 1975) was an Australian artist and architect. He is best known for establishing the artist colony Montsalvat, located in Eltham. He was born in East Brighton, Melbourne. He was a student of Max Meld ...

Montsalvat Montsalvat is an artists' colony in Eltham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established by Justus Jorgensen in 1934, the colony is set among gardens on five hectares (12 acres) of land, and is home to dozens of buildings, including ho ...

, Francis Greenaway,

Walter Burley Griffin Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He is known for designing Canberra, Australia's capital city and the New South Wales towns of Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith and ...

and

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

. In landscape design Knox was particularly impressed by the work of

Ellis Stones Ellis Andrew Stones (1 October 1895 – 9 April 1975) was an Australian landscape architect of private and public gardens—many displaying naturalistic rockwork—and a conservationist whose work and ideas influenced approaches to public lands ...

and

Gordon Ford Gordon Ford (1918–1999) was an Australian landscape designer who created rugged gardens which were noted to be of a distinctly Australian style. After returning from service in New Guinea in WWII, he settled near Montsalvat, where he dug out ...

, whose espousal of 'bush gardens' he helped to promote. As a building practitioner Alistair Knox played a key role in encouraging and facilitating the self-builder movement. By demystifying the building process he helped empower people to build for themselves. Knox was a founding member and fellow (1983) of the

Australian Institute of Landscape Architects The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) is the Australian non profit professional institute formed to serve the mutual interests of Australian landscape architects. History The AILA was established in 1966 with an interim committ ...

. After more than 30 years of designing and building Alistair Knox was awarded an honorary degree as a Doctor of Architecture by 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 ...

in 1984.

Projects

Nanga Gnulle is one of two houses that Alistair Knox designed in the area of Bendigo. It was designed in the early 1970s, and was built with reclaimed materials, including pieces of the demolished Bendigo Natives Association (ANA) Hall, 19th century railway parts, and bricks made by convicts from Bruny Island. The house is a rare example of Knox's mudbrick modernist style, and in 2017 was granted heritage protection.

Legacy

The

Alistair Knox Park Eltham () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km north-east of the Central Business District, located within the Shire of Nillumbik local government area. Eltham recorded a population of 18,847 at the 2021 census. Eltham ...

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

is named after him and many of Knox’s buildings are heritage listed and can be visited during the annual Eltham mudbrick tours.Eltham Mudbrick Tours
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Publications

*''Living in the Environment'', Mullaya Publications, 1975. *''We Are What We Stand On: A personal history of the Eltham community'', Adobe Press, 1980. *''Alternative Housing: Building with the head, the heart and the hand'', Albatross Book, 1980. *''Mud and Man: A history of earth building in Australasia'', Earthbuild Publications, 1992. Chapter 8, ''Victoria - the mud brick state''.

References

General references *''Mud and Man, a history of earth building in Australasia'' Ted Howard 1992 *Interview with Alistair Knox, B. Blackman (transcript, 1986, National Library of Australia)

External links

Alistair Knox
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, Alistair 1912 births 1986 deaths People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne People from Melbourne Australian landscape architects