The Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning is one of the oldest architecture schools in Australia, housed within one of the country’s founding ‘sandstone’ universities, the University of Sydney. But while this history might lend it a reputation for being a bastion of tradition, since its inception the school has also been at the forefront of wave after wave of innovation in architectural education and practice, both in Australia and globally.

This book tracks developments at the architecture school since Leslie Wilkinson’s appointment as Australia’s first Chair in Architecture 100 years ago. From its important role in the development of then-new fields such as architectural science and computer-aided design, to its formative influence on the development of environmentally and socially sustainable design in Australia, and more.

The story of an institution, with all its specificity, Sydney School reflects on broader developments in the education of architects, designers, and planners and the many specialisations that gather around these professions. The story told in these pages will appeal to all interested in the history of education in architecture, design and planning.

Edited and with contributions by Andrew Leach and Lee Stickells, Sydney School includes essays by Paul Jones, Simon Weir, Daniel J Ryan, Catherine Lassen and Julie Willis, Glen Hill, Duanfang Lu and Peter Webber, and Martin Tomitsch.

This book also includes Gough Whitlam's 1969 Leslie Wilkinson Lecture, in which he puts forth his vision of Australia as “An Urban Nation”, is republished here for the first time since its original publication by the Sydney University Architecture Society in 1969.