To mark the release of ‘After The Australian Ugliness’ – a provocative collection of essays exploring how Australia sees itself 60 years since the publication of Robin Boyd’s seminal title – the Robin Boyd Foundation (RBF) has launched a ‘Plus1’ fundraising initiative with Creative Partnerships Australia in which every donation up to the value of $25,000 will be matched, dollar for dollar.

Supporting the foundation’s mission to “develop and deliver programs that encourage a wider understanding of the value of design and how design can improve our world”, the initiative is a call to arms for architects, designers and design enthusiasts alike to unite in support of the design profession and the role design plays in improving the world around us.

With three fundraising tiers, Students ($75) and Individuals ($100) will be rewarded with a copy of ‘After The Australian Ugliness’ (Valued at RRP$90) and a Friend of the Robin Boyd Foundation Membership (Valued at $55 – $100), while Practice (or Studio) donations ($1,000) will receive up to ten copies of the book and ten Friend of the Robin Boyd Foundation Memberships. 

Robin Boyd was a public educator. He was passionate about good design and devoted his life to creating a wider public understanding of its benefits. Acting as the cultural conscience of the nation, Boyd encouraged people to extend their thinking and expectations beyond ‘the known’ and ‘the given’. It is this visionary thinking that drives the Robin Boyd Foundation today.

As an independent, not-for-profit organisation, donations empower the foundation's work with peak professional bodies, government departments, the universities, the general community, and individuals to continue Boyd’s legacy and encourage a wider appreciation of design.

Robin Boyd’s The Australian Ugliness was published in 1960 and quickly took its place as a key work of architectural and cultural critique in the nation’s canon.

This new book responds to Boyd’s most well-known text with new critical and creative writing by authors from a range of disciplines. Through different styles and approaches, each author makes Boyd’s work live in the contemporary moment, exploring enduring questions about the elusive, sometimes lucky and sometimes ugly character of Australia today.

Richly illustrated with new photography by David Wadelton and drawings by Oslo Davis, After The Australian Ugliness is a provocative reflection on how Australia sees itself today, and how others see it.

• Commemorates 60 years since the publication of Robin Boyd’s The Australian Ugliness.

• Includes photographs by David Wadelton, Nigel Buesst and Robin Boyd with drawings by Oslo Davis and Robin Boyd. Also includes archival images and works from the NGV and other collections.

• Published by the NGV and Thames and Hudson in collaboration with Monash University and the University of Technology Sydney with the support of the Robin Boyd Foundation.

• Will appeal to readers with an interest in Australian architecture and design, mid-century modernism and Australian architectural, social and cultural history.

• Published by NGV & Thames & Hudson Australia. 250 mm x 195 mm, portrait, 280 pages, hardback.

Good news. Our initial target of $25,000 was successful, with that full amount receiving matched dollar for dollar funding by CPA raising $50,000 towards new educational and advocacy programs. 

Now we are continuing the campaign with a 'Stretch Target' of $50,000 raised on Pozible, which will total as $75,000 with Creative Partnerships Australia's 'Plus1' matched contribution towards new educational and advocacy programs.