IG Anderson
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Illiffe Gordon Anderson (1890–1963), usually known as IG Anderson, was an Australian architect, practicing in Melbourne and later Tasmania, who is noted for his sometimes unusually expressive 1930s commerical and apartment designs.
Career
[edit]Born in South Yarra in Melbourne in 1890, the family relocated to Geelong in 1910.[1][2] After studying architecture at the Gordon Institute of Technology in Geelong, he set up practice in that town by 1916.[3][4]
His first notable commission that still stands is the Mildura Club, in the far northern Victorian town of Mildura, prominently sited on a corner with a round portico entry. The design won a competition with 60 entries, and led to further commissions in town, notably the tall Memorial Clock Tower attached to the library.[5]
Through the 1920s he designed numerous commercial, industrial and residential buildings in Geelong, including the grand CML Building, as well as the Geelong West Town Hall, both in a Stripped Classical style.
In 1930, he relocated to Melbourne, and that year designed the Brunswick Market, intended to be a form of early supermarket.[6] It employed an unusual stylised Spanish/Medieval expression, and was followed by the similarly styled Avon Butter Factory in Fitzroy two years later.[3]
He then embraced the new Moderne (Art Deco) style, including many apartment blocks and private houses. His first designs in this mode were noted for introducing novel forms, for instance the Avenue Court flats in South Melbourne were reported in 1934 as showing how "deeply the machine era is impressing itself on residential work".[7]
Some of his designs are today regarded as outstanding for their period, with more dynamic forms and idiosyncratic details than most contemporary works. For instance the Dorijo Flats and Lonsdale House (demolished) feature a small turret composed of interlocking flat plates, while the Ostend Flats feature a waterfall motif tower, a large stylised version of a common Art Deco motif. The Avenue Court and Park Gate flats both feature curves within curved elements, while Tufnell Lodge at 2 Garden Avenue employs a dense layering of differing angles as well as a curve in the street facade.
In this period he was particularly active in East Melbourne, designing about a dozen small blocks of flats, with many built in the first years of WWII, including five blocks which take up most of the newly laid out cul-de-sac of Garden Avenue.[8] Notwithstanding the sometimes elaborate designs, he was highly regarded by clients for working within budget.[3]
Later during WWII he worked for the United States Army, before relocating to Hobart, Tasmania, in 1947, in practice with his son Leslie Gordon Anderson. Projects included a railway station, government offices, and many motels throughout Tasmania.[3] He also became a councilor of the City of Hobart (1950–54), and designed their Coat of Arms in 1951.[1] He died in Hobart on 1 August 1963.
Selected projects
[edit]1921 : Mildura Club, Deakin Avenue, Mildura[5]
1922 : Memorial Clock Tower, Deakin Avenue, Mildura[9]
1924 : Geelong West City Hall, 153 Pakington Street, Geelong West[10]
1926 : Belcher's Corner, 141-149 Ryrie Street, Geelong[11] (demolished 2020[12])
1927 : The Block, 127 Little Malop Street, Geelong[13]
1927: CML Insurance Building, 74 Malop Street, Geelong[14]
1930 : Brunswick Market, corner Ballarat Street and Sparta Place, Brunswick[6]
1932 : Avon Butter Factory, 218-222 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy[15]
1934 : Dorijo, Victoria Parade, East Melbourne[16]
1934 : Avenue Court, 64 Victoria Avenue, Albert Park[7]
1935 : Ostend Flats, 29 Seacombe Grove, Brighton[17]
1935 : Park Gate, 352 Albert Road, South Melbourne[18]
1936 : Abrahams House, 3 Elwood Street, Brighton[19]
1936 : Lonsdale House, Lonsdale Street, Melbourne (demolished 2010)[20]
1937 : Mon Reve, 35 Hampden Road, Armadale[21]
1938-41 : Flats (5), 1-3 and 2-16 Garden Avenue, 48-50 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne[22]
c1941 : Pair of flats, 25 & 37 George Street, East Melbourne (which back onto Garden Avenue)[22]
1940 : Flats, 51 George Street, East Melbourne[23]
1942: Flats, 53 George Street, East Melbourne[23]
Gallery
[edit]-
Geelong West Town Hall, 1924 -
CML Building, Geelong -
Brunswick Market, 1930 -
Avon Butter Factory, Fitzroy -
Avenue Court flats -
Dorijo, East Melbourne -
Ostend Flats, Brighton -
Lonsdale House -
Abrahams House, Brighton -
Mon Reve, Armadale -
Tufnell Lodge, 2 Garden Avenue, East Melbourne -
14 Garden Avenue, East Melbourne -
51 George Street, East Melbourne
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Illife G. ANDERSON". Torquay Museum Without Walls. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ Heritage Tasmania (2011). "Golden Bee Honey Factory" (PDF). Tasmania Heritage Register.
- ^ a b c d Grow, Robin. "The encyclopedia of Australian architecture / edited by Philip Goad and Julie Willis - Catalogue | National Library of Australia". catalogue.nla.gov.au. p. 19. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ "Tender notice to erect cottage". Geelong Advertiser. 10 June 1916. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ a b "MILDURA ARCHITECTURE". Sunraysia Daily. 4 April 1921. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ a b "FORMER BRUNSWICK MARKET". Victorian Heritage Register. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Avenue Court". Victorian Heritage Database (National Trust). Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ Storey, Rohan (20 April 2021). "IG Anderson did a whole street – Garden Avenue, East Melbourne". Storey of Melbourne. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ "THE MILDURA MEMORIAL". Sunraysia Daily. 1 September 1921. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ "Geelong West City Hall". Victorian Heritage Database (City of Greater Geelong). Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ "Belcher's Corner". Victorian Heritage Database (City of Greater Geelong). Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ Hui, Jin (16 September 2020). "Belchers Corner demo complete". Geelong Independent. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ "Block Building". Victorian Heritage Database (City of Greater Geelong). Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ "C.M.L. Building including Austin Clock". Victorian Heritage Database. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ "FORMER AVON BUTTER FACTORY". Victorian Heritage Register. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ Storey, Rohan (31 December 2018). "Dorijo, East Melbourne, another IG Anderson triumph". Storey of Melbourne. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ "Ostend Flats". Victorian Heritage Database (National Trust). Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ Storey, Rohan (14 February 2019). "I G Anderson No 8, Park Gate, South Melbourne". Storey of Melbourne. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ "City of Bayside Inter-War & Post-War Heritage Study" (PDF). 2010.
- ^ "Lonsdale House". Victorian Heritage Database (National Trust). Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ Storey, Rohan (23 June 2021). "Mon Reve modern, 1937". Storey of Melbourne. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Garden Avenue & George Street Flats". Victorian Heritage Database (National Trust). Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ a b Storey, Rohan (23 March 2024). "IG Anderson in East Melbourne". Storey of Melbourne. Retrieved 17 April 2025.