Baroque star

Art, architecture and elaborate detailing fuse effortlessly in a technicolour dream house in Melbourne

- STEPHEN CRAFT

Dubbed ‘neo baroque’ by its architect and owner Billy Kavellaris, this colorful contemporary house is at odds with its many genteel Victorian neighbors in the affluent Melbourne suburb Toorak. ‘The idea of designing your own house is something most architects dream of. It was certainly in my head even as a teenager,’ says Kavellaris, who lives here with his wife Rosalba and their two daughters Jorja and Alexia (hence the name of the house, JAR+B).

Although the shape and form of the new house wasn’t established from the outset, the idea of bringing art and architecture together has always been an important facet of Kavellaris’ Melbourne-based practice, Kavellaris Urban Design (KUD), which he set up in 2002. While many architects reference the Renaissance period in their designs, going for grand yet calm, symmetrical shapes and traditional geometries, Kavellaris prefers the later baroque period, with its highly elaborate detailing and distinctive expression through sculpture, painting, and music. ‘You could say that there’s a certain level of ostentation with baroque, even a certain degree of discord,’ says Kavellaris, who sees art and architecture as one discipline rather than two.