Newman, Frederick (Hugh) [Neumann, Friedrich Hugo]

Abstract

http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T2214505

New Zealand architect and polemicist of Austrian birth. Graduating from the Technische Hochschule in Vienna in 1923, Newman studied in Paris from 1924 to 1927 under Camille Lefèvre (1876–1946). Returning to Vienna in 1927, he joined his father’s practice where he worked until 1932, when he joined the community of foreign specialists based in the Soviet Union. There he contributed to large-scale projects in several cities. He returned to Vienna briefly in 1937, but left in May 1938 with his wife and daughter, bound ultimately for New Zealand (via London). Ethnically Jewish, he was granted refugee status in New Zealand and found employment as a draughtsman for the Department of Housing Construction. There he contributed to the McLean Flats (Wellington) and Symonds Street Flats (Auckland). At this time he started writing essays and delivering lectures that included reflections on democracy and on the architect’s role in society, a practice that spans his career in New Zealand.

In 1947 Newman was naturalized, anglicizing his name and registering as an architect. He transferred in 1948 to the Office of the Government Architect, appointed by F. Gordon Wilson as Section Head (Hydro) on a long secondment to the newly founded Hydro-Electric Design Office. He was responsible for architectural aspects of hydroelectric power stations and substations, including Maraetai, Roxburgh, Haywards, and Islington. Newman concurrently taught in the Wellington Architectural Centre’s School of Architecture and Planning. He was appointed the Section Head (Housing) in the Government Architect’s Office in 1956, where he developed low and medium density housing models for low-income families, including the idiosyncratic Star Flats.