A new film that explores an extraordinary life of Australia’s most famed modernist architect, Harry Seidler, will be featured on ABC TV on 15 November at 9.30pm AEST. As the leading prominent architect of modernism in Australia, Seidler’s built legacy is still remembered and living today with his significant buildings in every state across the country. 

Seidler championed the practice of mid-century modernism in Australia more than any other. From the moment he arrived in Sydney his private homes were in high demand and his uniquely designed and innovatively engineered tower blocks came to dominate the skyline. Seidler's iconic buildings include the Rose Seidler House (1950), Australia Square (1967) and the Embassy of Australia in Paris (1977).

Watch a short trailer about the film:

Video by Film Art Media

Seidler was born in Vienna in 1923, but he was forced to flee his home country in 1938 due to his Jewish heritage when the Nazi regime was taking over Austria. He studied in England, before being deported to Canada, as the British authorities suspected he was an enemy alien from an Axis country. Once he completed his studies with honours, he worked in New York City before eventually moving to Sydney at the behest of his mother (who had migrated there in 1946) to design her a house. The result was Rose Seidler House in Sydney’s Wahroonga, which still stands as one of this country’s most exquisite examples of mid-century design.

Its popularity saw Seidler besieged with offers, and he eventually settled in Australia, designing many highly individualised buildings (such as Australia Square) up until his death in 2006. Though regularly feted and awarded, Seidler was a controversial figure throughout his long career.

The film was directed by Daryl Dellora and come ten years after his death -Daryl Dellora remembers their first encounters and says ''first met Harry Seidler when he was 72 years old. He exuded a passion and excitement for his work and for architecture in general that was infectious. He was indefatigable, and I knew from that moment his would be an incredible story to tell.''

Top image: Harry Seidler overlooks his conceptual scheme for Mcmahons Point in 1957

> via ABC TV