My Father, and Stories of a Larrikin Architect

Abstract

‘Larrikin’ does not seem to be a common or complimentary way to describe an architect yet when I think of my architect father, Lynthorne (Lyn) Matthews(1940 - ), this is what comes to mind. Lyn has often recounted stories of his larrikinism, his favourite stories being of childhood antics. However, it was not until I carried out a series of life story interviews with him in 2011 that I began to consider how important storytelling and the notion of larrikinism was to an understanding of Lyn’s life and work as an architect. This paper is part of a broader social and cultural study of the Perth Hills and its architecture. The Hills, as it is locally referred to, is the place where Lyn lived for almost twenty years and the place where many of his best-known projects are located. Through Lyn’s stories, along with his architectural drawing archive and personal collection of correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings and magazine articles, this paper demonstrates how architecture can be intertwined and inseparable from the act of storytelling.