About Us

Tim Ross (@modernister)

He may be best known for his work on TV and radio (at different times hosting both the number one breakfast and drive shows in Sydney) but comedian Tim Ross has also always had a passion for architecture and design.

Over the last 11 years, he has performed his live Man About the House show in architecturally-significant buildings and homes all over the world. Turning each venue into a temporary theatre, Tim and musical partner Kit Warhurst perform sold-out shows in buildings designed by a who’s who of Australian architecture, including Harry Seidler, Robin Boyd, Glenn Murcutt, John Wardle, Clare Cousins and Roy Grounds.

They’ve also taken the show on successful overseas tours that have included seasons in the United States and New Zealand, the Venice Biennale and the London Festival of Architecture (where it was included among the ‘Must See’ events by the New York Times). In 2018 they presented Man About the Sydney Opera House with special guest Kevin McCloud, the host of Grand Designs.

Tim also passionately supports important issues in Australian architecture and design, in particular the ‘Save Our Sirius’ campaign, fighting alongside the local community to protect Sydney’s then neglected modernist apartment building, Sirius. In 2018 Tim was awarded the National Trust Heritage Award for Advocacy, which recognised his activism in drawing attention to Australia’s legacy of modernist architecture and promoting its conservation.

In 2019 Tim was awarded the National President’s Prize from the Australian Institute of Architects, to “recognise him for his advocacy, activism and outstanding contribution to the architecture profession”. In 2022 Tim was not only asked to be a member of the National Architecture Awards jury, but also awarded an honorary member of the Australian Institute of Architects.

Tim’s two-part series on Australian architecture, Streets of Your Town, premiered on ABC TV in November 2016 to rave reviews, and quickly became the most watched arts program on the ABC for the year.

Tim’s latest live show about why architecture matters, Designing A Legacy, premiered at the Sydney Opera House in February 2020. Part talk, part screening, part stand-up comedy, the show features Australian families whose lives have been shaped within the walls of modern masterpieces and poses the question of what will happen to these legacy homes. Commissioned by the ABC, Designing A Legacy was adapted for television and went to air in February 2021, to rave reviews, with a second series to air in mid 2023.

Tim’s interest in architecture has led to speaking engagements at The ’50s and ’60s House Symposium (Museum of Sydney), Home Series talks (Government House), Sydney Design Week, the London Design Museum, Culture of Lates Symposium in London, the Heritage Address in Melbourne and the prestigious Griffin Lecture at the National Press Club in Canberra.

He has written on architecture for various publications including Real Living, Habitus, The Saturday Paper, The Smith Journal, QANTAS magazine and The Guardian. In 2017, Tim launched his second book, The Rumpus Room, capturing nostalgic short stories about life in Australia’s suburbs in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. Tim’s latest book of short stories, Scorcher, embraces the Australian summer and an exert was included in the national newspaper, The Australian.

In 2018, Tim partnered with the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney to curate his first exhibition, Design Nation, bringing together design objects from the mid-1960s to late 1980s, and casting a spotlight on Australia’s rich manufacturing history, which led to a nationally touring talk in which Tim used his trademark wit to ask us to rediscover these ubiquitous, everyday objects of Australian design.

MOTEL by Tim Ross and Kit Warhurst toured Australia in 2019. A nostalgic, thought provoking and funny exploration of Australian holidays of the past, the show uses storytelling and song to take the audience on a sentimental motel journey. Motel. Images of Australia on holidays the book inspired by the live show and produced in conjunction with the National Archives of Australia and has now also been adapted into a nationally touring exhibition titled Reception This Way.

For enquiries regarding Tim Ross, contact us on book (@) timross.com.au or shelley (@) timross.com.au