Surry Hills House 2 by Anthony Gill Architects.

Image: Peter Bennetts

Sydney Living Museums is holding a series of fascinating talks over eight Thursday nights from 12 September to 31 October 2013 at the Mint. The series is entitled Open Talks: Rooms in the House and brings together architects, historians and social commentators to explore and discuss how the design, use and relationship of different rooms in the home have changed over time – from the demise of formal living rooms to the changing nature of kitchens and bathrooms – and what these changes say about us as people and societies.

Scott Hill, portfolio curator.

Scott Hill (Sydney Living Museums) will look at the dining room as we know it, and how it evolved throughout the nineteenth century to become that way. As any fan of period dramas will tell you, few scenes capture the essence of an era as those set in a dining room. Yet between the Georgian and Edwardian eras, fundamental changes in dining customs, developments in furniture design, new lighting technology and changing work patterns all changed the way spaces for eating were used. Starting with the “dining” area at first Government House, which Governor Philip used as much for formal dining as for official business,

Dr Judith O’Callaghan, lecturer.

Dr Judith O’Callaghan (University of New South Wales) explores the ways in which a growing diversity of food choices and practices since the mid-twentieth century has affected the status and function of the Australian dining room. In some ways the dining room, more than any other domestic space, has borne the brunt of changing social norms and fashions. It also looks at how the dining environment has transitioned from ‘room’ to “area” as an emphasis on open-plan and indoor–outdoor living has generated changes in its layout, location and decor.

19 September 2013
6.30–8.00 pm
The Mint
Bookings essential.
$30 general, $25 concession/members
Information & bookings