Robert Dickson (architect)

Whilst he spent the majority of his life practising in South Australia, he did work for a Milan-based Italian firm, Mangiarotti and Morasutti, for less than a year. He was also employed at Fry, Drew, Drake and Lasdun in London for a short time directly afterwards. Firms bearing his name in Adelaide were Dickson and Platten (1958-1973), Robert Dickson and Associates (1973-1990) and Robert Dickson Architects (1990-2014).

By 1954, Dickson was getting more and more dissatisfied with the direction contemporary architecture was taking, feeling that the post-war architecture was becoming stagnant and cliché. This was what prompted him to start looking at work being done in Europe, more specifically, Italy. A firm in Milan, Mangiarotti and Morassutti, granted him an interview. Robert and Lilian Dickson both went to Milan, stopping first in England to visit relatives and making their way from there. The two returned to Adelaide in 1957, and their son was born within weeks of their return. Dickson started his own practice, as well as taught part-time and wrote for the paper, before entering a partnership with Newell Platten that lasted from 1958 to 1973.

He started the architectural course in 1946. His architectural course was based on the Beaux Arts model, a system he disagreed with and tried to rebel against in his student assignments. He began designing his first house in 1949 when still a student, and the project became a major part of his studies. He took a year off to construct it in 1951. By the time it was habitable, he and Lilian were married. That house was still their home 57 years later.

Robert Harold Dickson (8 April 1926 – 8 April 2014) was a South Australian architect. His many works contributed greatly to various aspects of South Australian architecture, ranging from conservation shelters to school buildings and residential projects. His most notable works are former premier, Don Dunstan’s residence, the first townhouses in Adelaide and the University of Adelaide’s Union House. He was described by Don Dunstan as the “premier architect”.

Robert Harold Dickson, born on 8 April 1926, grew up in North Adelaide, a place he describes as a “compelling urban paradise”. He attended Christ Church School from age 4 to 11 and Adelaide High for secondary education, where he met his wife, Lilian. After graduating from high school in 1943, he enlisted to become a pilot at 17 years old. Throughout his life, he was obsessed with the theory of flight and joining the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was a realisation of that boyhood passion. When his programme was abandoned and flight training ceased in May 1945, he was co-opted into the Royal Air Force to work in Air Transport Command. (He did not fly again until 48 years later when an opportunity to pilot a restored Tiger Moth at Noarlunga arose.) Shortly thereafter, he applied to be discharged (as was allowed for RAAF aircrew who wanted to take up tertiary training) and was flown back to Adelaide when the application was accepted. Although he had applied, he had no idea what educational path he wanted to go down. It was his father’s suggestion of architectural training that was pivotal.