Bryce was born in Brisbane, son of John Thomas Bryce, gifted illustrator and signwriter, and Alice Francis Waller. While his father served in World War II, he lived at Gordonvale, North Queensland with his uncle, before attending Brisbane State High School, where he became interested in art and design. By then his father had established a signage firm, Bryce and Willis Sign Company, for whom Bryce later designed a factory at New Farm. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Queensland, registered as an architect in 1963 and joined the RAIA in 1966. His contemporaries included Jim Hutchinson, Robert Collin and Geoffrey Pie.
As a student, Bryce worked for Hayes and Scott and, after graduating, for Theo Thynne and Associates as project architect for the Frigidaire headquarters, and Peddle Thorp and Walker. He is remembered as always being immaculately dressed. In 1964 he married the love of his life, Quentin Strachan, from Ilfracombe in Central West Queensland. They were a formidable partnership and, in 1966, travelled to the UK, where Bryce worked for Manning Clamp and Partners. His drawings for a proposed Athens Olympic stadium were displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts.
McCafferty Residence by Michael Bryce and Associates received the Queensland RAIA House of the Year in 1981.
Image:
Ray White Caloundra
On returning to Brisbane in 1968, he established Michael Bryce and Associates, with offices in the Wool Exchange, Avon Cottage on North Quay and at 212 Boundary Street in Spring Hill. Important projects included his own house at Ninth Avenue, St Lucia (1971); McCafferty Residence, Kings Beach (1981); his parents’ house at Alexandra Avenue, Broadbeach; and Wintzers restaurant in association with Maurice Hurst and Stuart Reed. From the early 1980s, he practised exclusively in industrial, graphic and environmental design, pioneering wayfinding for public places.
In 1988, Bryce expanded internationally when, with Marcello Minale and Brian Tattersfield, he formed Minale Tattersfield Bryce and Partners, with offices in London, Paris, Milan and Tokyo as well as Brisbane and Sydney. The practice’s clients included Harrods, Banque Nationale de Paris and the Eurostar train and, in Australia, the Australian War Memorial, the National Trust, the Wallabies rugby union team, the Australian Dolphins swim team, Brisbane’s Commonwealth Games, Expo ’85 and Expo ’88. He designed Sydney’s “Opera House” Olympic bid logo and was appointed principal design adviser to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, at which he provided international exposure for Australian design and designers. Throughout his career he collaborated with architects, designers and artists, including David Hunter, James Grose, Ken Done, Jeffrey Smart, Ron Hurley, Michael Nelson Jagamara, Laurie Nilsen and Michael Eather.
The Sydney 2000 Olympic bid logo.
Image:
courtesy Jack Bryce
After lecturing in design at the University of Queensland in the 1970s, Bryce had a long association with design education as a teacher and inspirational mentor, serving as adjunct professor at the Queensland College of Art and the universities of Canberra and New South Wales. His contribution was recognized by the award of honorary doctorates by the University of Canberra and the University of Queensland. In 2006, he was inducted into the Design Institute of Australia Hall of Fame and awarded membership of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to architecture and industrial, graphic and commercial design. He retired from Minale Bryce in September 2008, following the appointment of his wife, Dame Quentin, as the first female and 25th Governor-General of Australia.
In 1971, Bryce became the first Queensland member of the Industrial Design Institute of Australia (IDIA). He was elected inaugural Queensland President, National President and a Life Fellow. He was also a Life Fellow of the RAIA and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Among his many awards were Civic Design, House of the Year and the President’s Prize in Queensland, citations from the Design Institute of Australia and the Australian Graphic Design Association, an Honor Award from the US Society of Environmental Graphic Design and, in 2020, Australia’s highest design accolade, the Australian Design Prize.
Bryce received the 1995 Presidents Award from the Queensland chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects for Queensland Cultural Centre signage and Wayfinding. The Bronze building letters were designed in collaboration with Robin Gibson’s office.
Image:
courtesy Jack Bryce
Bryce was a distinguished supporter of the arts and community service, serving as a president, chair, board member and patron for many organizations. After service with the Air Training Corps, he was an Intelligence Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve, Aide de Camp to Queensland Governor Sir Henry Abel-Smith and, many years later, a patron of numerous RAAF ex-service associations. He was made a Knight of Justice in the Order of St John of Jerusalem (KStJ).
Exceptionally, Bryce recognized that architecture and all forms of design are an important and worthy intellectual and aesthetic pursuit. He once said that “Architecture is the fulcrum of our national design identity.” In promoting design from the backroom to the boardroom, he placed it at the forefront in politics and business. Accompanying the Governor-General on international trips, he continued to endorse it on a world stage. As a powerful advocate for design, he leaves an enduring legacy after a long and distinguished career.
