Harry Stephens FDIA

Harry Stephens graduated from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) as an architect in 1968 and runs his small architectural practice, hasarch, which is concerned predominantly with domestic Heritage Architecture.

Early in his career, Harry worked in the Design Section of the NSW Government Architect’s Branch alongside some of the most highly talented award-winning architects in the country. His first major task became a steep learning curve in interior design. He was charged with leading a team whose job it was to fit out the then new State Office Block designed by Ken Wolley in order to accommodate the NSW Premier, a number of Government ministers and various Government Departments.

In 1969 Mary White, one of our most treasured and celebrated interior designers from that period, engaged him to teach at the Mary White Art School in Edgecliff, Sydney. John Olsen, Peter Travis, Colin Lanceley, Robert Klippel, Marea Gazzard and others were teaching there at the same time. In 1970 he also began teaching Architecture at UNSW where he remained teaching until 2010. His interest in interior design never waned, leading him to run a variety of courses within the UNSW Architecture program that eventually led him to establish and run the first Interior Architecture degree course in an Australian University at UNSW.

As an educator in this field he initiated collaborations with other educators around the country which resulted in the establishment of IDEA, the Interior Design/Interior Architecture Educators Association whose journal has become the country’s most prestigious peer-reviewed academic journal in the discipline.

Serving for a time as a DIA NSW Council Member, with a term as President of the DIA NSW Chapter, he played a significant role on the organising committee for the DIA’s international conference, Sydney Design 1999. He served as a DIA National Director and was an inaugural Member of the Committee to produce the ASDAs (Australian Student Design Awards) which later segued into AGOYTAs (Australasian Graduate of the Year Awards). Harry was recognised as a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia in recognition of his contribution to Education.