Michael Dysart: An insight into Canberra’s housing developments in the early 1970s

In November, Canberra will be highlighting all things design with Craft ACT’s Design Canberra Festival and, amid the pandemic, architects and designers will be taking a look back at the places we call home that unknowingly pioneered housing design.

One of those experts will be architect Michael Dysart, an iconic name in Canberra’s housing developments in the early 1970s. 

Mr Dysart will be presenting at the festival’s newest series, Design Revisited, which will highlight some of the city’s greatest residential projects, its designers, their personal reflections and insights into their work.

Mr Dysart is renowned for his role in Wybalena Grove in Cook in 1974 and the Urambi Village in Kambah in 1977. His plans explored a rare approach to medium-density living by creating communal and co-operative complexes.

“It received good reception from some people while others simply didn’t agree with the way it [the communal and co-operative approaches] was designed,” Mr Dysart said.

“Urambi and Wybalena were very interesting in their own way because they were virgin sites, as we coined … nothing was built on the land previously.”

The townhouses in each of the complexes had a driveway for every house, which was revolutionary for its time.

“We relegated the cars to the perimeter of the site which meant no one was allowed to drive in the middle of the complex to their driveways,” Mr Dysart added.

“This caused a lot of people to leave but we ended up having a much more attractive development that also paid homage to its bush surrounds as well as giving residents a lot of privacy.”

Almost 50 years since designing the housing development in Cook and Kambah, Mr Dysart’s opinion on the current housing industry is mixed.

“You only have to look around and see that change,” Mr Dysart said.

“It wouldn’t matter if you’re in Campbelltown in Sydney or Wright and Coombs in Canberra, it’s evident that the growth of the housing industry is extraordinary with all the apartments, townhouses and houses that are now on land that was previously vacant.”

While he praised some developments for their innovative and creative approach to housing, other housing projects didn’t sit quite right in his eyes.

Mr Dysart said the annual Design Canberra Festival would involve riveting discussions on housing amid the pandemic.

“Some of these sessions will question how we live and I think that’s very important … to question where things are and why they were designed in a specific way,” Mr Dysart said.

“I think COVID-19 has certainly made us appreciate our homes and privacy and that has become more prominent now than ever. Design Canberra will hone in on the way we live and I’m hopeful that it will make us evaluate the way we live and want to live.”

Mr Dysart will be speaking as part of the Design Revisited series on November 19. For more information, head to the Design Canberra website.