Diplomat, the Artist and the Suit, The (ATOM Study Guide)

Denton Corker Marshall has produced distinct, innovative and memorable architecture and urban design both in Australia and internationally. Works such as the Stonehenge Visitors' Centre, Manchester Civil Justice Centre, Melbourne Museum and Australian embassies in Beijing, Tokyo and Jakarta demonstrate the significant contribution of the practice to the global architectural scene.

In this one-hour documentary, we are invited into the minds of John Denton, Bill Corker and Barrie Marshall, three intriguing and very different characters who have been friends since university. We learn how, as a trio, these men formed Denton Corker Marshall. Their unique personalities and distinctive skills have coalesced into a unique working relationship that has created visionary buildings, not only in Australia but worldwide.

The approach of the company to architecture is both unorthodox and precise. Their influences include landscape artists such as Richard Serra and Michael Heizer. The film has been a pacesetter for Australian architecture, responsible for transforming the shape and character of Melbourne, particularly during the controversial Kennett era of the 1990s.

We gain insights into the way architecture intersects with the murky world of politics, and reveal the partners' thoughts on whether their work could (or indeed should) be called art. We look at the history of their most renowned works, and speak to their most loyal fans and fiercest critics.

With the firm having recently won a design competition to create the new pavilion in the Giardini Della Biennale, the heart of the prestigious Venice Biennale, the film follows the excitement and hurdles of the building process, and the opening of the building at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015. How will this uncompromising Australian design sit in the Rococo dream that is Venice?

Curriculum Guidelines

The Diplomat, the Artist and the Suit would be a valuable and enjoyable film to show to middle and senior secondary students, as well as tertiary students.

Students studying in any of the following areas, whether as discrete subjects or in a cross-curriculum context – Art and Design, Graphics, Technical Drawing and Computer-aided Drafting/Design, Architecture, Engineering, Geography, Urban Studies and Environmental Studies – would find a great deal to explore and think about in this portrait of a contemporary firm of Australian architects.