Robert Woodward

Who was Robert Woodward?

Robert Raymond Woodward AM was an Australian architect who gained widespread recognition for his innovative fountain designs.

Woodward was educated at Granville Technical Granville and Sydney Technical College. He served in the army during wartime working as an armourer. Upon completion of his service he enrolled in the architecture course at the University of Sydney. After graduating with honours, he worked locally for a year and then travelled to Finland to work for architects Alvar Aalto and Viljo Revell for two years. Upon his return he went into partnership, forming Woodward, Taranto and Wallace, specialising in commercial and industrial architecture.

In 1950, Woodward was a member of the Australian team in the British Empire Games in Auckland, competing in the 440 yards hurdles.

In 1959, he won a competition to design a fountain in Kings Cross in Sydney to commemorate the war service of the 2/9th Division of the Australian Imperial Forces. The El Alamein Memorial Fountain, as it became known, was completed in 1961. Combining his architectural and earlier metalwork training he developed the "dandelion" inspired fountain which became one of the world's most copied designs. The fountain won the New South Wales Institute of Architects Civic Design Award in 1964.