SOME HISTORY OF THE ERIC PARKER SCHOLARSHIP AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH THE NEWCASTLE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

THE REUNION

Someone had a great idea in a pub in about 1997 that there ought to be a Reunion.
Ron Armstrong?
Jack Carroll?
John Hoffmann?
It was some old guy with too little to do and no sense of reality.

So 12 old fellas got together, met every month at the RAIA office in Parry Street and developed the idea of reunion in between hours of reminiscing, laughter and revisiting all those good times that fond memories safely allow.

The Archimedes spiral continued until April 2000 when the Reunion 2000 weekend and dinner occurred. There were more than 200 at dinner and old students came from across Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and England.

Glenwood Building Services were the major sponsor and the Town Hall rocked to memories and re-meetings until the occasion was evicted at 1.00am.

Little food or grog were consumed due to the excitement of the occasion.

The oldest were Tim Mayo and Ross Wark. There were students from every decade since the 1930s.

The shortest-term student was John Merewether who did only Term 1 in 1941 before moving to Sydney. There was no record of the person who took the longest time on record to complete the course. He may well have been in the room that night! No admissions were sought or obtained.

There was a lot of grey hair at the Reunion dinner.

There was sufficient profit made to commence Stage 2.

THE ERIC PARKER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Bright Idea No 1
Bob Armstrong had the bright idea after the Reunion that the event must be kept going as well as maintaining an association with the large and growing alumni of the school.

Bright Idea No 2.
The plan was hatched to establish a scholarship to support a worthy student and make good use of the Reunion funds.

And, perhaps it could be named in memory of Eric Parker, the first full time teacher of the school and someone so well known to so many graduates, the University and the community at large.

There were more monthly meetings at the Institute offices recalling old times.

New committee members arrived and others departed.

By making the scholarship an official scholarship of the University of Newcastle, there would be a safe house for the funds as well as significant benefits in its promotion and attractiveness to potential sponsors and supporters

The Scholarship was formally established and registered with the University under somewhat trying conditions generated by the bureaucracy.

The Scholarship was advertised in April and May 2001 and 27 applications were received. Seven applicants were shorlisted.

Pleading letters were sent out for donations. The committee worked hard to squeeze anyone who looked moderately well off. It must have worked well as so many people have subsequently sent donations, both large and small. Bob Armstrong and the Toronto Workers Club, Ruth Parker, local practices, overseas alumni, individuals, practices, the building industry and allied professions . . .
This dinner and early donations contributed $7000 to the fund.

Col Madigan joined Bob Donaldson, Jack Carroll, Carol Seymour and Ron Armstrong as the inaugural selection committee and selected the first recipient of what is a unique scholarship in the University.

The rest is history.

The Reunion 2000 Committee soon became the Eric Parker Travelling Scholarship Committee until October 2006. At that time, the Architecture Foundation was formally established to take responsibility for all fund raising and financial matters in support of the Eric Parker Travelling Scholarship at the University of Newcastle. Six scholars had been sent on their worldly travels. Obviously, numerous major sponsors were impressed and now continue to support the work of the Foundation.

THE NEWCASTLE SCHOOL’S TIMELINE

19th CENTURY

Anyone with professional experience could become an architect. Experience was the only requirement and that was gained by working in an architect’s office.
No registration under legislation was required.
Sydney Technical College and its ancestors offered public education courses in:

Carriage Building
Electricity
Phonography
Wood carving
Elocution,
Drawing: Ladies Morning and Ladies Afternoon
Applied Mathematics and Steam Engines
Simple Surgery
Field naturalists Club (?)
Natural Philosophy and . . .
Architecture

The stage was set.

The 1888 course in architecture included:

Use of drawing instruments
Drawing to scale
Copying of Drawings
Enlarging and altering
Orders and Styles
Working out complete designs from sketches, with partial assistance
Specifications
Colouring and neatly finishing of drawings
Perspective drawings
Finishing with pen and Ink
Sanitation and ventilation

The classes for Quantities met every Friday! The rest was learned in the office over a 6 day week with pay at about 5/- per week. Time off at Tech was to be made up on Saturday afternoons at the board.

1921
The Architects Act was implemented in NSW.
The Associated Architects of Newcastle and District called for a school to be established in Newcastle at the Technical College, Wood Street and Hunter Street. The Associated Architects later became the Newcastle Division of the R.A.I.A. in 1953 and was the single driving force behind the establishment of an architecture school in Newcastle. That pattern of support was to repeat over the many decades that followed.

1924
The first Roll of Architects was published in NSW. This showed William Dobell, amongst others, as architects registered in New South Wales. Les Reedman’s discovery.

1925
Bill Jeater (Jeater and Rodd) and Nigel Pitt (Pitt and Merewether) were appointed as teachers of the Sydney Technical College course in Newcastle.

1928
Years 1 and 2 of the Tech College course were underway.
32 students enrolled.

Bob Lees (Lees and Valentine) enrolled and was employed by Pender and Lee. He paid £100 to be articled. He received 5/- per week in Year 1 and an increase of 2/6 in Year 2. This meant an increase of 50% each year, for the 4 years of his indentureship. Who can get an employer to give a 50% rise each year in today’s economy. Who can get parents to pay for their kids’ employment!
Others in 1928 included Max Hoskings, Max Pilgrim, Frank Rodd, Norm Parkinson and Frank Scorer all well known names in the Newcastle profession.

1932
11 students were enrolled.

1933
First Newcastle qualifications were conferred on Norm Parkinson, Frank Rodd, Frank Scorer, Merv Smith as well as B A Litchfield. Total: 5 diplomats.

1935
2 students were enrolled. Things looked grim.

1937
1 student was enrolled. Was the end of the profession close?

1939
Nigel Pitt retired from teaching.
Bill Jeater went into active war service.
Enrolled students included Syd Morton, Rowan Pitt and Norm Valentine in 1940.

1942
0 students were enrolled as all had entered active military service or essential industry.
Assigned to essential engineering industry, Syd Morton completed his engineering course at Newcastle Tech before returning to Architecture in 1946.

1946
7 students were enrolled included Syd Morton, Tim Mayo, Rowan (Posh) Pitt and Norm Valentine.

1947
9 students commenced Year 1 including Ross Deamer, Don McKenzie, Bill Benson.

1948
No students commenced and those interested had to wait until at least 3 could be found to form a class.

1949
5 students commenced including Boyd Atkinson, Mal Ebbeck and Don Morris.
Morton Herman began his long association with the school by travelling from Sydney one day each week to hold lectures, field trips and Design Studios.

1951
Bob Armstrong enrolled to ensure that there were at least 3 starters including Bob Scorer and Laurence Kubany who was already qualified but did not have the papers from Hungary to prove it. They arrived just as he finished the course.
Newcastle University College was established but taught only Arts under James Auchmuty.
The Architecture programme was taken over by the NSW University of Technology but offered only diplomas in Architecture. Degrees were not popular in the 1950s and were not offered in Newcastle.

1953
The school was variably administered by Morton Herman and Frank Sanderson. Both taught at the school until well into the 1970s.

1957
Eric and Ruth Parker arrived in Newcastle and Eric became the first full time teacher and lecturer in charge.

1958
First degree in Architecture available in Newcastle. Diploma course continued.
NSW University of Technology became the University of New South Wales but kept ownership of Newcastle College. Enrolment in diploma courses ended.

1960
First woman to enrol was Barbara Miller.

1961
Les Redman completed the first conversion programme from diploma to degree.
Don Morris joined the staff of the school as the first locally trained architect to enter academia. He came from Rodd and Hay’s office.

1962
Brian Suters won the first University Medal awarded to a Newcastle architecture student.
20 full time students were enrolled in the B Arch course.
16 were part time students.
9 were still enrolled in the diploma.

1963
The school doubled in size when 22 students enrolled in Year 1, full time. Space was at a premium in the W. E. Clegg building at Tighe’s Hill.

1964
Eric Parker took on the establishment to ensure Architecture was a foundation faculty of the new University and that it had the same status as the “intellectual” disciplines. This was against considerable opposition which resisted professional disciplines being in a University – properly a place of learning.
Today, the establishment is founded on its professional disciplines such as Architecture, Engineering, Medicine, Law and Nursing.

1965
The autonomous University of Newcastle was established.
Frederick Romberg was appointed foundation Professor of Architecture and set up a his “small prestige school of architecture”.
Eric Parker became the University Planner and continued to teach Professional Practice.

1966
First woman to graduate in Newcastle was Sue Park.
6 students graduated.

1967
38 Newcastle students had completed a diploma between 1954 and 1967.
2 students graduated with a B Arch.

1969
There were 50 full time students and 7 full time staff members. The best staff/student ratio ever known at 1:7.

1972
The school was closed by student boycotts and major restructuring of the academic programmes commenced.

1974
Eric Parker was appointed 2nd Professor of Architecture a year before Frederick Romberg’s retirement in August 1975.
Calm returned and the school began to reconsolidate.
A typical Year 1 intake was 45 students. 13 graduated that year.

1978
The computer age dawned in the school. There was computer-based word processing, computer modelling of acoustics, lighting and thermal dynamics as well as the early attempts at computer graphics. Desk-top computers with in-built printers were purchased but soon upgraded.

1984
Barry Maitland was appointed as the 3rd Professor of Architecture after Eric Parker’s retirement.
The introduction of an untried and unique course in Architecture occurred. It was called Integrated Problem Based Learning.
This took the “small prestige school of architecture” from being a tiny regional school to being an internationally recognised centre considered one of the best in the world.

1990
The Department of Building was established with the appointment of Professor Denny McGeorge. There remained 1 department until 1994 when 2 came into being. Architecture and Building.

1999
The new Faculty of Architecture, Building and Design was established. It contained 40 full time staff and almost 1000 students.

2000
280 students were enrolled in the Architecture course.
72 students in Year 1, 49 graduated B Arch

2001
Semesterisation of all subjects occurred. Subjects became programmes.
Courses became subjects, thanks to American management software.

2002
Dr Michael Ostwald was appointed as the 4th Professor of Architecture. He is a graduate of the Newcastle school.

2003
Full re-accreditation by the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA), the Architects Registration Board of NSW (ARB) and the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA). The programs were also the first in the world to be assessed for accreditation by the International Union of Architects (UIA).

2006
Full Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) accreditation. Professor Steffen Lehmann appointed to the newly established Industry funded Chair in Architectural Design.

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