Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection | Museums of History NSW

57763

CSL&RC MSS 2018/2

Kurzer, Henry, 1920-1992, architect.

Kurzer, Henry, 1920-1992. ;
Architecture, Domestic - New South Wales - Sydney - Photographs. ;
Architecture, Domestic - Australia - Designs and plans. ;
Architecture, Modern - 20th century - Australia. ;
Modern movement (Architecture) - Australia.

Title supplied by cataloguer.
Includes photographs, correspondence, student architecture notes and presentation drawings.

Papers relating to Henry Kurzer (1920–1992), architect. Kurzer was born in Lwow Poland and emigrated to Australia in 1938, aged 18. He earned a diploma in architecture from Sydney Technical College in the mid-1940s and was registered as an architect in NSW in 1946. Kurzer worked for the architectural division of the Housing Commission of NSW for two years (1946-48) before branching out on his own. In the 1950s, he designed a number of cafe and restaurant interiors. Probably Kurzer’s best known design was for the Latin Quarter cafe and restaurant in Pitt Street, Sydney (1958), which included a mural by fellow Pole Marion Pretzel and fittings and furniture made by P E Kafka Modern Exclusive Furniture and M Gerstl Cabinet Works.

Kurzer was based in Sydney’s eastern suburbs but undertook work throughout the city. He worked in partnership with Polish architect Henry Haber from 1964 until the mid-1970s. Some of Kurzer’s later projects included the council chambers for the Municipality of Waverley, Waverley (1962); the Victoria Towers apartments at 145–53 Victoria Street, Potts Point; the Hakoah Club, Bondi; and numerous B’nai B’rith retirement villages and Bulkara Investments shopping centres.
(reference: theothermoderns.com/2017/09/08/henry-kurzer/)

Business offices [telephone directory refs]:
Nov 1949-Nov 1954: 25a Pitt Street Sydney
Nov 1955-May 1962: 149 Castlereagh Street Sydney
1963-Nov 1979: 79 Old South Head Road Bondi Junction (with Henry Haber)
1980-1985: 125 Bourke Street Woolloomooloo
post-1985: 3/1a Conway Avenue Rose Bay [(office and home)

Provenance: Gift of Edie and Garry Kurzer, 2018

1940-1976

2 boxes, 1 outsize folder

archive

Full contents list

BOX 1:
PART A: References and correspondence
Letter and invitation to Henry Kurzer from Sydney Technical College, award of a student prize, Architecture Department, Sydney Technical College, 1943.
Work references for

Henry Kurzer from various architecture firms, 1940-48.
Letter to Henry Kurzer from Board of Architects of NSW, notification of registration as an architect, 1946.

PART B: Large format photo prints
11 x black & white photo prints of opening of the renovated council chambers for Municipality of Waverley NSW, Bondi Road Waverley NSW, 1962. Stamped to reverse: ‘A photographic illustrators photograph, 395 New South Head Road Double Bay.’ [photographer Ern McQuillan?]
1 x black & white photo print of a furniture fair(?) showing the display stall of ‘PE Kafka exclusive furniture’, circa 1959. Stamped to reverse: ‘A photographic illustrators photograph, 395 New South Head Road Double Bay.’ [photographer Ern McQuillan?]
5 x black & white photo prints of the ‘Latin Quarter’ café and restaurant, Sydney, circa 1958. One photo stamped to reverse: ‘Max Dupain / Kerry Dundas / Photographers / 49 Clarence Street, Sydney.’

PART C: Small format photographs
3 x black & white photo prints of Henry Kurzer at his work desk, c1970.
16 x black & white photo prints of interiors and exteriors of houses and apartments, 1950s-70s. Includes Kurzer home office Vaucluse; Penn residence exterior, Strathfield NSW; 12 x unidentified interiors, 2 x unidentified apartment blocks.
17 x black & white photo prints of sculptures and pottery made by Henry & Stefa Kurzer, 1960s-70s?

PART D: Stationery
Business cards, various letterhead, specification boards for Henry Kurzer; Henry Kurzer-Henry Haber.

BOX 2:
PART E: Student work:
4 x card-covered volumes and 1 x lined-exercise book of hand-written and typed course notes, some with hand-written answers by Henry Kurzer, School of Architecture, Sydney Technical College, Ultimo NSW, 1940-44. Includes: Building construction – stage 1 (1940), History of architecture – stage 2 (1941), Constructional design – stage 4 (1941), History of architecture – stage 3 (1942), Construction (1944).
1 x architecture text book: Trefor J Reynolds and Lewis E Kent, Structural steelwork: for building and architectural students, 4th ed., The English Universities Press Ltd, London, October 1943. Inscribed ‘H Kurzer / 14-9-44’.

PART F: Architecture work
2 x Partnership agreements between architects Henry Haber and Henry Kurzer, 1964-65
2 x Deed of co-ownership regarding 4-12 Waverley Street Bondi Junction NSW, 1968.
B’nai B’rith Parents Home, prospectus for construction of an aged-care home in Waitara NSW, 1962 [Hon architect: H Kurzer].
Hunter Arcade [Hunter Shopping Village], Newcastle NSW: plans, costs, advertising material, 1975-76. [architects: Kurzer, Haber & Assoc Pty Ltd]
Australian Jewish Times, October 1975; includes feature on Hakoah Club, Bondi NSW. [architect Henry Kurzer]
Architectural drawing instruments, maker’s label stamped to front: ‘Pracision / Schoenner’. Made by Georg Schoenner Reisszeugfabrik, Nurnberg, Germany, 1940s(?).

Large plan folder:
PART L [Large plan folder]: Architectural presentation drawings
2 x architectural presentation drawings on board, one titled ‘Ballyrogan’, both signed ‘Kurzer ‘72’.

more...

Full contents list

BOX 1:
PART A: References and correspondence
Letter and invitation to Henry Kurzer from Sydney Technical College, award of a student prize, Architecture Department, Sydney Technical College, 1943.
Work references for

Henry Kurzer from various architecture firms, 1940-48.
Letter to Henry Kurzer from Board of Architects of NSW, notification of registration as an architect, 1946.

PART B: Large format photo prints
11 x black & white photo prints of opening of the renovated council chambers for Municipality of Waverley NSW, Bondi Road Waverley NSW, 1962. Stamped to reverse: ‘A photographic illustrators photograph, 395 New South Head Road Double Bay.’ [photographer Ern McQuillan?]
1 x black & white photo print of a furniture fair(?) showing the display stall of ‘PE Kafka exclusive furniture’, circa 1959. Stamped to reverse: ‘A photographic illustrators photograph, 395 New South Head Road Double Bay.’ [photographer Ern McQuillan?]
5 x black & white photo prints of the ‘Latin Quarter’ café and restaurant, Sydney, circa 1958. One photo stamped to reverse: ‘Max Dupain / Kerry Dundas / Photographers / 49 Clarence Street, Sydney.’

PART C: Small format photographs
3 x black & white photo prints of Henry Kurzer at his work desk, c1970.
16 x black & white photo prints of interiors and exteriors of houses and apartments, 1950s-70s. Includes Kurzer home office Vaucluse; Penn residence exterior, Strathfield NSW; 12 x unidentified interiors, 2 x unidentified apartment blocks.
17 x black & white photo prints of sculptures and pottery made by Henry & Stefa Kurzer, 1960s-70s?

PART D: Stationery
Business cards, various letterhead, specification boards for Henry Kurzer; Henry Kurzer-Henry Haber.

BOX 2:
PART E: Student work:
4 x card-covered volumes and 1 x lined-exercise book of hand-written and typed course notes, some with hand-written answers by Henry Kurzer, School of Architecture, Sydney Technical College, Ultimo NSW, 1940-44. Includes: Building construction – stage 1 (1940), History of architecture – stage 2 (1941), Constructional design – stage 4 (1941), History of architecture – stage 3 (1942), Construction (1944).
1 x architecture text book: Trefor J Reynolds and Lewis E Kent, Structural steelwork: for building and architectural students, 4th ed., The English Universities Press Ltd, London, October 1943. Inscribed ‘H Kurzer / 14-9-44’.

PART F: Architecture work
2 x Partnership agreements between architects Henry Haber and Henry Kurzer, 1964-65
2 x Deed of co-ownership regarding 4-12 Waverley Street Bondi Junction NSW, 1968.
B’nai B’rith Parents Home, prospectus for construction of an aged-care home in Waitara NSW, 1962 [Hon architect: H Kurzer].
Hunter Arcade [Hunter Shopping Village], Newcastle NSW: plans, costs, advertising material, 1975-76. [architects: Kurzer, Haber & Assoc Pty Ltd]
Australian Jewish Times, October 1975; includes feature on Hakoah Club, Bondi NSW. [architect Henry Kurzer]
Architectural drawing instruments, maker’s label stamped to front: ‘Pracision / Schoenner’. Made by Georg Schoenner Reisszeugfabrik, Nurnberg, Germany, 1940s(?).

Large plan folder:
PART L [Large plan folder]: Architectural presentation drawings
2 x architectural presentation drawings on board, one titled ‘Ballyrogan’, both signed ‘Kurzer ‘72’.

more...

Result	Links	Year	Volume	Part	Status	Location	CallNo	Due Back
1			Outsize folder	L Presentation drawing 1	Not for loan	The Mint	CSL&RC MSS 2018/2 (ST 1:1:13)
2			Outsize folder	L Presentation drawing 2	Not for loan	The Mint	CSL&RC MSS 2018/2 (ST 1:1:13)
3			Box 2	E, F	Not for loan	The Mint	CSL&RC MSS 2018/2
4			Box 1	A, B, C, D	Not for loan	The Mint	CSL&RC MSS 2018/2

Caroline Simpson Collection

Full Record