William Toomath

Infobox Architect
name=Stanley William Toomath
nationality=New Zealander
birth_date=1925
birth_place=New Zealand
significant_buildings=Toomath Senior House
Wool House (Wellington)
Mackay House
Wellington Teachers College
|

Introduction

Stanley William (Bill) Toomath is a significant Wellington (New Zealand) architect. He was born in 1925 in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, and was a founding member of the Architectural Group in Auckland in 1946, and is a life member of the Wellington Architectural Centre, and a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. Both the founding of the Group and the Architectural Centre were important moments in New Zealand's modernist architectural history. Toomath studied architecture at the Auckland College of the University of New Zealand, and completed a MArch at the Harvard Graduate School of Design where he was taught by I. M. Pei and a co-student with John Hejduk (1929-2000). He briefly worked with Walter Gropius at the Architects Collaborative and then with I. M. Pei before returning to New Zealand in 1954.

Architectural Practice

On his return from New York he joined with Derek Wilson to set up Toomath and Wilson. Toomath and Wilson were later joined by Don Irvine and Grahame Anderson in 1972, forming the firm Toomath Wilson Irvine Anderson Ltd.

Toomath's work reflects an exploratory and intelligent engagement with modernist architectural ideas. A key architectural interest has been the articulation of continuous space, which is particularly evident in his Toomath Senior house, Lower Hutt (1949), and the Mackay house, Silverstream (1961). The Toomath Senior house is famous as the site of a discussion Toomath and Lew Martin had with architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner about New Zealand construction. Pevsner found the detailing of a post in the carport unrefined. Toomath argued that it reflected an honesty in detailing, relevant to New Zealand architecture. The Mackay House, Silverstream is symmetrically planned and was designed for a couple without children. It was awarded the N.Z.I.A. Bronze Medal in 1962.

Other key works include Wool House, Featherston Street, Wellington (1955); and the Wellington Teachers' College, Donald Street, Karori (1966-1977). The Wellington Teachers College, Karori, Stage One was awarded N.Z.I.A. Silver Medal (1972), and an N.Z.I.A. Local Award (Enduring Architecture) (2005). Wool House (also now known as Old Wool House) was recognised with an N.Z.I.A. Wellington Branch Enduring Architecture Award (2002).

Architectural Exhibitions and Advocacy

Following his return from studying architecture in America and working with Walter Gropius and I.M.Pei, Toomath has spent the majority of his architectural career in New Zealand (including over 35 years in professional practice). He was an advocate for several heritage buildings (see below), and played key roles in the Wellington Architectural Centre's projects on Wellington's urban form, namely: "Te Aro Replanned" (1947), "Homes Without Sprawl" (1957), "City Approaches" (1959) and Wgtn 196X" (1961). Toomath also presented professional evidence for the Wellington City Council on proposals for controlling building heights, protected viewshafts and urban form planning (1989-1990) in hearings before the Planning Tribunal.

Toomath led a small team whose report on the Old Town Hall stopped moves for its demolition. He has written papers on conservation matters and presented evidence in support of a number of heritage buildings including: the AMP Head Office Building, the State Fire Insurance Building, Wharf Sheds 7 and 21. He had an active role in campaigns to save Old St Pauls.

Design Educator

Toomath was also the Head of the School of Design, Wellington Polytechnic (1979-1989), and a contributor of articles to the New Zealand journal "Designscape". He was a regular participant of the "Designmark" Advisory Panels, New Zealand Industrial Design Council from 1969, and a Judge of the Prince Philip Award for New Zealand Industrial Design (1981-1985).

Documentary

Toomath is the subject of a documentary [http://www.cityfilms.co.nz Antonello and the Architect] , which reveals his influences, designs, ideas - and the painting that he built - Antonello da Messina's St Jerome in his Study.

References

"1962 Bronze Medal House: Silverstream, Wellington." "Home and Building". XXVII.3(1964): 41.

"Awarded NZIA Bronze Medal: House, Silverstream, Wellington." "Home and Building". XXV.12(1963): 40-43.

"Living Rooms." "Design Review". 5.3(1953): 63-65.

"Wellington's Building Criticised." "Dominion" [Wellington] 10 Mar. 1961: 8.

"Wool House: New Building at Wellington for the New Zealand Wool Board." "Home and Building". XXI.2(1958): 54-56.

"New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001". ed. Alister Taylor. Auckland: Alister Taylor, 2001. 880.

Clark, Justine. "Space Explorer." "New Zealand Home and Building". 5(1998): 170-73.

Clark, Justine, and Paul Walker. "Looking for the Local: Architecture and the New Zealand Modern". Wellington: VUP, 2000.

Dudding, Michael. “A Final Formality: Three Modernist Pavilion Houses of the Early 1960s”. "...about as austere as a Dior gown...": New Zealand architecture the 1960s: a one day symposium," Ed. Christine McCarthy. Wellington: VUW, 2005. 7-11.

---. 'A Useful Exercise: The context, content, and practical application of W H Alington's 'Thesis on the Theory of Architectural Design'. Thesis. VUW, 2005.

---. "W H Alington Oral History Project." Wellington: Oral History centre, ALT: 2007.

Findlay, Michael. "House Your Father: A Breakthrough Home Design Has Been Buried beneath a Welter of 'Improvements'." "New Zealand Heritage". 100(2006): 44-45.

Garrett, James. "Home Building - Our Tradition." "Home and Building". XXI.5(1958): 33-45.

Gatley, Julia. "The Wellington CBD Replanned: Wgtn 196X." "...about as austere as a Dior gown...": New Zealand architecture the1960s: a one day symposium". Ed. Christine McCarthy. Wellington: VUW, 2005. 17-25.

Jenkins, Douglas Lloyd. "At Home: A Century of New Zealand Design". Auckland: Random House NZ, 2004.

Kernohan, David. "Wellington's New Buildings: A Photographic Guide to New Buildings in Central Wellington". Wellington: VUP, 1989.

---. "Wellington's Old Buildings: A Photographic Guide to Old Buildings in Central Wellington." Wellington: VUP, 1994.

Lee-Johnson, Eric, ed. "Arts Yearbook 7". Wellington: Wingfield Press, 1951.

Marriage, Guy. "No Free Love: The Dearth of Media Output from the Architectural Centre in the Swinging Sixties." "...About as Austere as a Dior Gown...": New Zealand Architecture The1960s: A One Day Symposium". Ed. Christine McCarthy. Wellington: VUW, 2005. 63-67.

McCarthy, Christine. "Going for Gold: New Zealand Houses in the 60s through the Veil of the NZIA Bronze Medals." "...about as austere as a Dior gown...": New Zealand architecture the1960s: a one day symposium". Ed. Christine McCarthy. Wellington: VUW, 2005. 48-55.

---. "High Modern." "Architecture New Zealand". Mar./Apr.(2006): 65-69.

Mitchell, David, and Gillian Chaplin. "The Elegant Shed: New Zealand Architecture since 1945." Auckland: OUP, 1984.

Petry, Bruce. "Interview with Stanley William Toomath." "NZ architecture post-World War II oral history project". Wellington: Oral History Centre, ATL, 1992.

Rotherham, Bruce. "As I See It." "Architecure New Zealand". 2(2004): 17.

Shaw, Peter. "A History of New Zealand Architecture". 1991. Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett, 1997.

Staffan, Jan. "Interview with James Beard." "Early Architectural Centre oral history project". Wellington: Oral History Centre, ATL, 2001.

---. "Interview with William Stanley Toomath." "Early Architectural Centre oral history project". Wellington: Oral History Centre, ATL, 2002.

Toomath, Stanley William. "Anscombe’s 1940 Centennial Exhibition; and an historic confrontation" "Formulation Fabrication: The Architecture of History: Proceedings of the seventeenth annual conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand: Wellington, New Zealand, November 2000." Wellington: SAHANZ, 2000. 101-112.

---. "Architecture in the Next 50 Years." "The Journal of the NZ Institute of Architects". 23.3(1956): 55-61.

---. "The Design of Interiors, Furniture, and the Selection of Components." "NZIA Journal". 34.3(1967): 75-76.

---. "Education by Design: The Architectural Centre - Educating the Public and Its Own." "Architecure New Zealand". Jul./Aug.(1996): 59-62.

---. "Geoff Nees: Trailblazer for Good Design." "Prodesign". Apr./May(1999): 84-85.

---. "The Gestation of the Group." "Architecure New Zealand". 2(2004): 17.

---. "A House at Lower Hutt." "Design Review". 4.1(1951): 9-11.

---. "A House in Stokes Valley." "Design Review." 4.5(1952): 110-11.

---. "Into the Post-War World." "Exquisite Apart: 100 Years of Architecture in New Zealand". Ed. Charles Walker. Auckland: Balasoglou Books, 2005. 248.

---. "Le Corbusier." "NZIA Journal". 31.9(1964): 328-33.

---. "Past Indicative." "Designscape". 121(1980): 13-15.

---. "Search for Expression of Human Values." "NZIA Journal". 40.6(1973): 152-53.

Tyler, Linda. "The Urban and the Urbane: Ernst Plischke's Kahn House." "Zeal and Crusade: The Modern Movement in Wellington". Ed. John Wilson. Christchurch: Te Waihora, 1996. 33-38.

Walker, Charles, ed. "Exquisite Apart: 100 Years of Architecture in New Zealand". Auckland: Balasoglou Books, 2005.

Walker, Paul. "Order from Chaos: Replanning Te Aro." "Zeal and Crusade: The Modern Movement in Wellington". Ed. John Wilson. Christchurch: Te Waihora, 1996. 79-87.

Wilson, John, ed. "Zeal and Crusade: The Modern Movement in Wellington". Christchurch: Te Waihora Press, 1996.