Architect Jake Taylor and photographer Jack Lovel documented an unusually dense collection of Modernist houses in Studley Park, Kew, producing Riverside Modern — a photography-led book of local mid‑century homes photographed ‘as is’. The project grew from Taylor’s walking tours and research after he returned to Melbourne during the pandemic.
Studley Park in Kew contains a rare concentration of architecturally significant mid‑century homes by many of Melbourne’s important post‑war architects.
Riverside Modern is a collaboration between architect-author Jake Taylor and photographer Jack Lovel that documents these homes photographed without additional styling.
Featured houses span the 1940s–1970s and include work by Robin Boyd, Peter and Dione McIntyre, Kevin Borland, McGlashan Everist and others.
# Modern covers
Riverside Modern is a photographic and architectural record of Studley Park, the pocket of Kew in Melbourne's east where mid‑century Modernist houses cluster along the Yarra River. Architect Jake Taylor and photographer Jack Lovel set out to capture houses built between the 1940s and the 1970s, presenting each home as it exists today rather than staging or restyling interiors.
# How the project started
# What you'll see in the book
The book collects homes that illustrate the diversity of Australian mid‑century residential design. Specific homes and architects mentioned include:
Photographs are presented 'as is' to reflect the lived interiors and the decisions of current owners. The book includes both well‑known preserved examples and homes that have been renovated, such as a Kennedy Nolan project and a recent renovation of an Anatol Kagan house.
# Approach and community access
# Why this neighbourhood matters
The streets of Studley Park reflect a post‑World War II era in Australia when detached family homes were central to defining a modern national image. The collection includes projects by nearly all the notable Melbourne mid‑century architects, often found side‑by‑side on the same streets, which makes the neighbourhood distinctive compared to typical dispersed examples across the city.
# Publication details
Riverside Modern is authored by Jake Taylor and Jack Lovel and is published by Thames & Hudson Australia. The book presents a compact visual history of a small but architecturally rich pocket of Melbourne's mid‑century residential landscape.
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