From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Emil Sodersten
Emil Sodersten
Emil Sodersten - Architect ers, Erik and Karl, later changed their surnames by deed
poll to Sodersten.
Education
In 1915 Sodersten was articled in architecture to Ross &
Rowe and in the ensuing five years studied at Sydney
Technical College. During 1921 he attended lectures at
the University of Sydney given by the new Dean of Archi-
tecture, Leslie Wilkinson.
Architectural career
Studio portrait of Emil Sodersten in 1940
Born 30 August 1899(1899-08-30)
Balmain, NSW
Died 14 December 1961(1961-12-14) (aged 62) The Australian War Memorial
Manly, NSW
Nationality Australian The Queensland firm Hall & Prentice were commissioned
to design Brisbane City Hall in the early 1920s and Soder-
Work
sten worked on the project with Bruce Dellit and Peter
Buildings Birtley Towers, Elizabeth Bay (1935) [1] Kaad. He returned to Sydney in 1923 and was registered
City Mutual Building, Sydney (1936) [2] as an architect whilst working for John P. Tate & Young.
Nesca House, Newcastle (1939) [3]
Two years later Sodersten went into private practice. In
Design Australian War Memorial, Canberra (1925) [4] 1927-28 he became a council-member of the Institute of
Architects of New South Wales and was made a fellow of
Emil Lawrence Sodersten (30 August 1899 - 14 December the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 1931. He
1961) was an Australian architect active in the second entered the international competition to design the Aus-
quarter of the 20th century. His work encompassed the tralian War Memorial in Canberra. His design was consid-
Australian architectural styles of Art Deco and Function- ered exceptional but, as with most of those entered, was
alist & Moderne. His deign for the Australian War Me- over budget. The only entry within budget was by John
morial was "the first national architectural monument in Crust and so the two architects were commissioned to
Australia".[5] The Australian Institute of Architects pre- work together on an amended design. Crust project man-
sents the Emil Sodersten Interior Architecture Award an- aged the new building to Sodersten’s even more mon-
nually in his honour.[6] umental design. After conflict arose with Crust, Soder-
steen withdrew in 1938.
Family In Sydney he designed numerous apartment blocks,
including Birtley Towers at Elizabeth Bay, and office
Sodersten was born in the inner-Sydney suburb of Bal- buildings, including the City Mutual Life Assurance So-
main, the second of seven children born to Julia (née ciety. During the 1930s he worked in association with
Dolleen) and Emil Sodersteen. Emil Junior and his broth- his brothers Erik Sodersten, an architect, and Karl Soder-
sten, a structural engineer. When Emil visited Europe in
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Emil Sodersten
1935 he was impressed with the work of Willem Mari- • K. Sodersten, Emil Sodersten FRAIA (B.Arch. thesis,
nus Dudok and Hendrik Petrus Berlage and from then on University of Sydney, 1967)
worked in the functionalist style. In the late 1930s Nesca • P. Biazos (Becerra), The Life and Works of Emil
House, Newcastle was his major project. Lawrence Sodersten (B.Arch. thesis, University of
New South Wales, 1987)
War Service
During World War II, Sodersten served with the Royal
References
Australian Air Force in Papua and New Guinea and [1] NSW Heritage Branch - Birtley Towers
Queensland as a flight lieutenant.[7] [2] Art Deco Sydney
[3] Nesca House
Later life [4]
[5]
The Twentieth Century Heritage Society of NSW
Australian Dictionary of Biography - Sodersten,
Sodersten married a 37-year-old secretary, Elsie Vera Emil Lawrence (1899 - 1961
Wynn, in the Catholic Church in 1951. After World War [6] Architecture Australia
II he rarely designed any new buildings. In 1951, he de- [7] Australian War Memorial Record
signed a Canberra chancellery and residence for the High Persondata
Commissioner of Pakistan but the project remains un-
Name Sodersten, Emil
built. He died of a coronary occlusion at home in Manly
and was survived by his wife. Alternative names
Short description
Bibliography Date of birth 30 August 1899
• H. Tanner (ed), Architects of Australia (Melb, 1981) Place of birth Balmain, NSW
• M. McKernan, Here is Their Spirit (Brisb, 1991) Date of death 14 December 1961
• Architecture, 16, Apr 1927, p 57, 23, Apr 1934, p 79 Place of death Manly, NSW
• Art in Australia, 15 Nov 1934, p 91
• Building (Sydney), 57, Jan 1936, p 24, 59, Oct 1936, p
28
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emil_Sodersten&oldid=423772215"
Categories:
• 1899 births
• 1961 deaths
• People from Sydney
• New South Wales architects
• Australian architects
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