1989
CITATION
Mr Chancellor,
The University of Queensland was inaugurated and had its first ceremony for the conferring of degrees in a newly adapted Governor's residence. Since then it has conferred degrees in a variety of buildings, but none so graceful and well-adapted to the purpose as the Mayne Hall in which we are now gathered. This building, like the Central Library and the Biological Sciences Library, was designed by Gibson.
It is impossible to live in or visit the City of Brisbane without noticing and admiring the handiwork of this contemporary civic architect. The four sections of the Queensland Cultural Centre-the Queensland Art Gallery, the Queensland Performing Arts Complex, the Queensland Museum and the State Library of Queensland are all his designs. So is the City Mutual Life Building opposite th9 GPO; so is the Queen Street Mall; so is the restoration of St Stephen's Cathedral.
But it is not only individual buildings or groups of buildings that bring acclaim. Robin Gibson is a visionary architect, concerned for the whole appearance and working of the city to which he has contributed so much. He is concerned with the pathways that people take through the city, the changing vistas they will enjoy, and the integration of buildings into the total use of landscape.
Despite his massive contributions to the rebuilding of Brisbane, Robin Gibson is not merely a local architect. He has contributed to the appearance of other Australian cities, including Canberra, where he designed the Belconnen Town Centre Library.· That Library won for him the Canberra Medallion, and in the same year he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia.
His comm unity involvement can be exemplified by the fact that he is a Director of the Australian Opera and a member of the Council of the Australian Bicentennial Authority.
Mr Chancellor, for his distinguished contributions to the architecture of Australia, Brisbane, and the University, I present to you Mr Robert Findlay (Robin) Gibson, Officer of the Order of Australia, Honorary Doctor of the University of Griffith University, Life Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, for conferral of the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, to which he has been admitted by the Senate of the University.