'Of all the arts, architecture is the one requiring the best qualities of man and the richest in the ennobling influences … invigorating and cheering those who are in touch with her teachings.'
(architect John Horbury Hunt, 19 June 1889)

An intriguing architectural exhibition – Radical Architect: John Horbury Hunt 1838-1904 – opens at the National Archives of Australia today. It showcases the work of the Canadian-born, Boston-trained, architect who arrived in Australia in 1863 and for the next 40 years produced unique and meticulously crafted buildings in Sydney and rural New South Wales.

Exhibition curator Joy Hughes, from the Historic Houses Trust of NSW, says Hunt heralded a revolution in Australian architecture and was responsible for some of its most powerful and often austere landmarks. These include the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Rose Bay (Pia Miranda's school in the Australian film Looking for Alibrandi), St Peter's Cathedral in Armidale, and Tivoli at Rose Bay.

‘The range of Hunt’s work was quite diverse and included cathedrals, churches, chapels, houses, homesteads, stables, schools and other public works,’ Ms Hughes said.

The Director-General of the National Archives, Ross Gibbs, said that it was fitting that the John Horbury Hunt exhibition was being shown at the Archives given its own rich collection of architectural plans and drawings.

‘Architecture is such a fascination for many people. Our exhibition of the original Griffin drawings two years ago drew huge numbers to our gallery, so I’m hoping that Horbury Hunt will stimulate similar interest, ’ Mr Gibbs said.

Brilliant, energetic and passionate, Hunt was also eccentric, controversial, complex and irascible. Always ready to solve a design dilemma, he kept drawing instruments in special pockets in his jacket and a supply of paper in a small compartment in his hat. Even his bicycle, on which he commuted to jobs in Sydney, was fitted with a collapsible drawing board.

By the end of the 19th century Hunt’s commissions had waned. He died virtually penniless in 1904, after a lifetime creating fine buildings. His grave, which he designed when his wife died nine years earlier, can still be seen in Sydney’s South Head Cemetery, identified only by the initials ‘J.H.H.’