Architect and public artist collaborator, Peter Tonkin works through a variety of scales from large memorial and urban projects to smaller collaborative interior installations. Born in 1953 in Blayney central NSW, his father was a chamber magistrate and his mother an English teacher. It was in Katoomba that he did most of his schooling, before moving to Sydney to study architecture. In 2008 he was still residing in Sydney with his wife, architect Ellen Woolley, and two children.

First and foremost Peter Tonkin is recognised as a multi-award winning architect. In 1987, exactly ten years after graduating from the University of Sydney, Tonkin and Brian Zulaikha established the architecture firm that was to become Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects (TZG). TZG has come to demonstrate a particular expertise in revitalising and developing heritage sites, often with the collaboration of artists.

Tonkin combines a strong interest in heritage conservation with a commitment to public art, as evidenced by his work on the refurbishment of Hyde Park Barracks Museum (1991) with architects Clive Lucas Stapleton and Partners, and curators from the Historic Houses Trust of NSW including Peter Emmett, Ann Flanagan and Lyn Collins. Tonkin is also known for his work on a heritage-listed former power station, the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (1996, 2008), which incorporates into its built fabric major pieces by Robyn Backen (Christ Knows), Judy Watson (Koori Floor Piece ), and Nicole Ellis(Rollcall). Tonkin’s expertise in architectural history and heritage conservation has lead to his appointment as a trustee on the board of the Historic Houses Trust of NSW.

Tonkin’s collaboration with artists has allowed him to cross the blurred boundary between architecture and art, especially in the creation of symbolic spaces such as memorials. TZG, and Tonkin in particular, have worked on three memorials, beginning with the award-winning design for the National Memorial to the Australian Vietnam Forces (1992), Canberra, with sculptor Ken Unsworth. This was followed in 1993 by the Tomb of an Unknown Australian Soldier, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, with artist Janet Laurence and, more recently and again in collaboration with Laurence the Australian War Memorial (2003) in Hyde Park, London.

His most recent collaborative art and urban design project is the Craigieburn Bypass (2004), a bold cantilevered U-form comprising two kilometres of sound walls and a sweeping pedestrian bridge, on the freeway linking the Hume highway to the Melbourne Ring Road. Designed in close collaboration with landscape architects Taylor Cullity Leathlean, and artist Robert Owen, the project reads to the speeding motorist entering Melbourne as a gateway to the distant city, and to those leaving as a bold arabesque in the sky. The Craigieburn Bypass also features a 900 metre LED interactive wall that can receive visual input from artists and simultaneously respond to and monitor traffic levels.

Peter Tonkin’s architectural practice seeks out opportunities to revive heritage buildings, often with the collaboration of artists, a commitment that he also addresses in lectures and papers, for which he is recognised by numerous major awards.

Writers:

De Lorenzo, Catherine Note: Secondary biographer
Hall, Christiane Note:

Date written:

2008

Last updated:

2011

Status:

peer-reviewed