John James (1931–) gained his B.Arch (Hons) from the University of Melbourne in 1953, a Master of Building Science from the University of Sydney 1966, and a PhD from the University of NSW 1988. In the early 1950s, he researched the history of the Melbourne terrace house, then the origins and history of the New Guard architecture movement in Sydney 1930-36. In 1957, he established an architecture and building practice in Roseville – producing two key works, the Readers Digest building in Surry Hills (1967) and Portland House in North Sydney – during 13 years of operation. Ross Yuncken became a partner of the practice in 1959, followed by Peru Perumal. From 1965, James began teaching the history of architecture at Sydney Technical College, and in the late 1960s, he began to research the history of Chartres Cathedral, using a method of dating the stones called toichology and an analysis of the geometry used in the initial setting out. In the 1980s he extended this work to include every early Gothic monument in the Paris Basin, some 1500 buidings.
Sources
—John James website www.johnjames.com.au
This information was confirmed with John James in January 2005.
- Writers:
-
Davina Jackson
- Date written:
- 2015
- Last updated:
- 2015
