Marcus Baumgart is a founding partner of Baumgart Clark Architects, which is based in Melbourne and Canberra and works throughout Victoria and ACT/NSW. He is a long-time freelance contributor to Architecture Media magazines, and the author of the blog marcusbaumgart.com. This blog explores the landscape and methods of uncertainty and certainty in relation to writing and design.
Marcus Baumgart's Latest contributions
Courting the unusual: Coy Yiontis Architects
Defined by the subversion of traditional floor patterns and a focus on the courtyard, the houses of Coy Yiontis Architects continue to defy expectations.
Bold and inventive geometry: Merri Creek House
With drums and curves that allude to the brick water towers that dot rural Australia, this playful home flouts convention, delivering an abundance of “good vibes” in the process.
‘Ugly ducking’ no more: Monash University Building 28
Tasked with adapting an “ugly duckling” university facility in Melbourne into a new complex for a mathematics, earth atmospheres and environments department, Kennedy Nolan has created a design expression that responds to the existing building’s austere, functional modernism.
Seeing the light: Northcote Terrace
Precisely tuned to frame and filter natural light, this reworking of a Melbourne terrace has realized a family home that is both durable and delightful.
Tour de force of materiality: Garden Estate
House and garden are given equal import at this Point Lonsdale oasis, where a modernist approach of traditional rammed earth has created a home that is at one with its site.
Moody and sophisticated: Elm Tree House
At the rear of an existing building with an iconic 1980s interior, a play of light and layering creates a moody and maze-like home in one of Melbourne’s dense inner suburbs.
Effortless simplicity: Richmond House
With space for a young family to grow and hand-laid brick walls for vines to climb, this update to a historic home by Therefore Studio is light-filled and modern while respecting its Victorian heritage.
Ceremonial sequence: Joey Scandizzo Salon
In a 19th-century Italianate building in Melbourne, architecture studio Kennon has redesigned a recognized hair salon into the perfect backdrop for “me time.”
Five houses of Freadman White
Whether approaching a small home or a multiple-unit tower, husband-and-wife team Michael White and Ilana Freadman of Freadman White create ambitious spaces. Marcus Baumgart looks back at the practice’s seven years of distinctive projects.
The houses of Fiona Lynch
With a background in fine art, Fiona Lynch’s eponymous studio displays a keen focus on material exploration and an emphasis on subtlety and nuance in creating elegant interiors.