Awarded the 2008 President's Prize as an 'outstanding client of architecture', Peter Watts reflects on his 'client' role as director of the Historic Houses Trust

摘要

When I was appointed the first Director of the Historic Houses Trust in 1981, one of my colleagues, as director of an old and distinguished cultural institution in Sydney, remarked "Why the hell would an architect want to be a museum director, and what can you contribute?". He clearly had not noticed that cultural institutions the world over were sharing in an architectural renaissance as they conserved and redeveloped their (often) classical old buildings, and frequently did so by engaging some of the best contemporary architects. I had, as it turned out, timed my career change rather well. It is more than 30 years ago that I abandoned practising architecture and landscape architecture and found a new role, much of which placed me on the other side of the table, being the client rather than the architect. On the eve of my retirement as Director of the Historic Houses Trust (HHT), it was an ironic reminder of my own professional past when I was awarded the Australian Institute of Architects President's Prize for 2008. I was especially pleased the [Institute of Architect's] 'Royal' prefix had been removed just in time!