Author(s): Roger Benjamin

Architecture

Named "a genius if there ever was one", Czech refugee Alex Jelinek created Australia's 1957 House of the Year in the uniquely modern city of Canberra. This is the story of how Canberra’s ‘Round House’ came to be designed, built, and lived in – alongside the stories of the people who turned it into the home it is today. The cultural intensity of the Benjamin family's lives in the 1960s and 1970s is brought vividly to life by the author, who in 1999 bought back the house and undertook its restoration. Lovers of mid-century modern design will revel in this first-hand account of a childhood spent in the crucible of 60s culture.