{{short description|South Australian architect (1892–1952)}} {{use Australian English|date=July 2020}} {{use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} '''Christopher Arthur Smith''' (19 November 1892 – 2 March 1952), also known as '''Chris Smith''' and '''Chris A. Smith''', was a South Australian architect. He was a prolific designer of picture theatres and public buildings in Adelaide and regional South Australia during the 1920s and 1930s, and is recognised as one of the leading South Australian exponents of the Art Deco style.
==Early life== Smith was born on 19 November 1892 in Rosewater, South Australia (then known as Yatala), with his name registered as '''Arthur Christopher Smith'''; however, this order of names was never subsequently recorded. His father Thomas Edwin Smith was a sailor and then labourer, his mother Elizabeth Ellen Williams was likely illiterate, and Chris was the youngest of six sons.<ref name=chrissmith/>
Chris only had about eight years of schooling, going into business with his brothers in a film distribution business in Port Adelaide. In 1915 Smith was registered as a carpenter. There is no record of any architectural training.<ref name=chrissmith/>
==Architectural career== Smith had no formal architectural training, but was a prolific designer of cinemas and public buildings in Adelaide and regional South Australia during the 1920s and 1930s, and is recognised as one of the leading South Australian exponents of the Art Deco style.<ref name=chrissmith>{{cite web | title=Architect Details: Christopher (Chris) Arthur | website=Architects of South Australia|publisher=University of South Australia | url=https://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=39 | access-date=27 July 2020}}</ref><ref name=trove>{{Citation | title=Smith, Christopher Arthur (Chris)|author=University of South Australia | website=Trove | publication-date=2013 | url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1509229 | access-date=27 July 2020}}</ref>
In 1917 he signed himself as architect in documentation relating to the construction of a cinema in Kadina, and in 1924 claimed to have practised as an architect for ten years. He practised in King William Street, Adelaide until 1932, and subsequently from his home at 5a (now 3) Prospect Road, Prospect. After purchasing the adjoining property at no. 5, he built an Art Deco style home on that property’s tennis court, including a garage with his office and studio above facing Carter Street,<ref name=chrissmith/> in 1938. This was later hailed as an "iconic building" of Adelaide.<ref >{{cite web | title=Iconic buildings of Adelaide: Christopher Smith art deco home in Prospect | website=ABC Radio Adelaide|first= Brett|last= Williamson |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=27 June 2016 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-27/iconic-buildings-of-adelaide-the-art-deco-prospect-home/7547510 | access-date=28 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.8963337,138.5946868,3a,75y,86.88h,82.7t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sJTApramFJ3zGRwYw9LqiMA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DJTApramFJ3zGRwYw9LqiMA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D56.094147%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656|website=Google Maps|title=3 Prospect Road, Prospect| access-date=28 July 2020}}</ref>
He was responsible for at least 12 Adelaide cinemas between the 1910s and 1940s.<ref name=hennessy2016smith>{{cite thesis | title=Entertaining the Classes: An archaeological investigation of historic cinemas in Metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, and their development in relation to social class, 1896-1949| first= Antoinette |last=Hennessy|date=2016|type=MA |publisher=Flinders University | url=https://theses.flinders.edu.au/view/a38845ec-db63-4aa2-9e02-416a8164a0ec/1 | access-date=18 December 2022| p=57,96-97}}[https://flex.flinders.edu.au/file/a38845ec-db63-4aa2-9e02-416a8164a0ec/1/ThesisHennessy2013.pdf PDF]</ref> He designed the original Victor Theatre at Victor Harbor, opened in November 2023, but this building was almost razed to the ground in 1934 and was rebuilt to the design of F. Kenneth Milne (and now heritage-listed). Smith also designed the Wonderview Theatre at Victor Harbor, which was opened in December 1923, was later used as a dance hall, and has since been demolished. Smith became official architect for the family-owned chain Ozone Theatres in the 1920s.<ref name=sahc2022>{{cite web| url=https://cdn.environment.sa.gov.au/environment/images/26556-SSHP-Victa-Cinema-WEB.pdf| title=Summary of state heritage place: Victa Cinema (former Ozone Theatre)| author=South Australian Heritage Council| date= 25 November 2022}}</ref>
After the ''Architects Act 1939''<ref>{{cite web | title=Architects Act 1939 [ceased]|website=South Australian Legislation |publisher=Government of South Australia | url=https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/C/A/ARCHITECTS%20ACT%201939.aspx | access-date=29 July 2020}}</ref> came into force, Smith was registered from 1941 until his death in 1952, having fulfilled the requirement of working as an architect for a specified period. In January 1946 he was admitted as an Associate of the South Australian Institute of Architects, even though he was no longer working as an architect.<ref name=chrissmith/>
==Later life and legacy== He lived with his wife and children in Prospect. In later life he was a Freemason, belonging to the Lodge of Faith No. 9,<ref name=chrissmith/><ref>{{cite web | title=Masonic Heritage - History | website=Freemasons | url=https://www.santfreemasons.org.au/history/masonic-heritage | access-date=29 July 2020}}</ref> and was also a member of the Prospect Bowling Club.<ref name=chrissmith/>
He died at home on 2 March 1952.<ref name=trove/>
Five of his buildings appear in the Australian Institute of Architects listing of "South Australia Significant Twentieth Century Architecture", and several more the South Australian Heritage Register.<ref name=chrissmith/><ref name=trove/>
==Selected works== ===Cinemas=== * Star Theatre, Hindmarsh (1916) (an expansion of the old town hall), one of Dan Clifford's earliest cinemas,<ref name=cliffordaz>{{cite web | title=Dan Clifford, starting as newsboy/bookmaker, builds his classy Star circuit of Adelaide film theatres from 1917| website=AdelaideAZ | url=https://adelaideaz.com/articles/dan-clifford--walls-and-waterman-families-stalwarts-of-south-australian-cinemas | access-date=5 December 2022}}</ref><ref name=aa>{{cite web | title=Dan Clifford | website=Awesome Adelaide | date=11 September 2022 | url=https://www.awesomeadelaide.com/tag/dan-clifford/ | access-date=11 December 2022}}</ref> later known as the Odeon Star, Cinema Italia, Cinema Europa, and Windsor Theatre<ref name=hennessy2016>{{cite thesis | title=Entertaining the Classes: An archaeological investigation of historic cinemas in Metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, and their development in relation to social class, 1896-1949| first= Antoinette |last=Hennessy|date=2016|type=MA |publisher=Flinders University | url=https://theses.flinders.edu.au/view/a38845ec-db63-4aa2-9e02-416a8164a0ec/1 | access-date=18 December 2022| p=97}}[https://flex.flinders.edu.au/file/a38845ec-db63-4aa2-9e02-416a8164a0ec/1/ThesisHennessy2013.pdf PDF]</ref> * Austral Picture Palace, Kilkenny (1922)<ref name=hennessy2016/> * Ozone Theatre in Prospect (1923)<ref name=hennessy2016/> * Star Theatre at Norwood (1923, supervising architect, with Sydney architects Kaberry and Chard), now the Odeon Theatre<ref name=hennessy2016/> * Victor Theatre in Victor Harbor, opened as an Ozone Theatre in 1934; later gutted by fire and rebuilt to designs by F. Kenneth Milne<ref name=sahc2022/> * Ozone Theatre in Enfield (1926)<ref name=hennessy2016/> * Ozone Theatre in Alberton (1924)<ref name=hennessy2016/> * Garden Theatre in Colonel Light Gardens (1927; closed 1962); also known as Colonel Light Gardens Theare, Odeon Star, Garden Picture Theatre, Hoyts Ozone<ref name=hennessy2016/> * Princess Theatre in (then) Marryatville (1929), now the Regal Theatre, Kensington Park<ref name=hennessy2016/><ref name=chrissmith/> * Ozone Theatre, Semaphore, now Semaphore Library (1929)<ref name=semcin>{{cite web | title=Semaphore Cinema in Adelaide, AU | website=Cinema Treasures | url=http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/35458 | access-date=16 December 2022}}</ref> *Austral Theatre (1935), Naracoorte, later known as the Rivoli Theatre<ref name=chrissmith/> * Roxy Theatre, Everard Park (1937; closed 1961)<ref name=hennessy2016/> * Star Theatre, Wakefield Street, Adelaide (a complete refurbishment of the Central Picture Theatre)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article261840890 |title=Advent of a New Star in Adelaide |newspaper=West Coast Recorder |volume=32 |issue=2105 |location=South Australia |date=19 May 1938 |access-date=13 December 2022 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Wakefield Street, Adelaide [B 2455]| website=State Library of South Australia| format=photo + text | url=https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+2455 |date= 1925| access-date=13 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Wakefield Street, Adelaide [B 8181]| website=State Library of South Australia| format=photo + text |date=1939 | url=https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+8181 | access-date=13 December 2022}}</ref> * Capri Theatre in the suburb of Goodwood (1941)<ref name=chrissmith/> * Savoy News Theatre (1941; closed 1966), 43-45 Rundle Mall, Adelaide city centre, aka Savoy News Luxe, Globe<ref name=hennessy2016/>
===Other buildings=== *Peterborough Town Hall (1927)<ref name=chrissmith/> * Semaphore Soldiers Memorial Hall at Semaphore (1929)<ref name=chrissmith/> * Hindmarsh Town Hall at Hindmarsh (1936), specifically designed to accommodate a picture theatre with seating for 2,000 people;<ref>{{cite web | title=Hindmarsh Town Hall (formerly Institute) - showing 300 foot frontage on Milner Street. South Australia | website=Flickriver | date=1 January 1996 | url=https://www.flickriver.com/photos/129023979@N05/29460871150/ | access-date=18 December 2022| quote=Ref: Advertiser 17-12-1936}}</ref> listed on the South Australian Heritage Register in November 1989.<ref>{{cite web | title=2 Milner Street, Hindmarsh (Hindmarsh Town Hall (including Town Hall Building, Assembly Hall, Library and Facade of Skating Rink) | website=SA Heritage Places Database Search| url=http://maps.sa.gov.au/heritagesearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=9209 | access-date=29 July 2020}}</ref> * Port Adelaide Municipal Chambers (1939)<ref name=chrissmith/> * Adelaide Hebrew Congregation (1938), Art Deco facade remodelling of synagogue building on Rundle Street<ref name=az>[https://adelaideaz.com/articles/synagogues-fronting-rundle-street--adelaide-city--set-remarkable-jewish-influence-by-small-group-in-stone Synagogues fronting Rundle Street, Adelaide city, set in stone the remarkable influence of tiny Jewish community] Adelaide AZ. Retrieved on 17 December 2024</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book|url=https://unisa.edu.au/contentassets/8fabb302c15b465a9c917b32480dd2c5/chris-smith-scrapbook-compressed.pdf|title=Scrapbook|first=Chris A.|last=Smith}} Includes press cuttings, photographs, drawings and documents, collected by Smith and pasted into a scrapbook. *{{Citation|author1=Landorf, Christine M|first=|title=Art deco: Adelaide architect, Chris A. Smith|url=|volume=|pages=|publication-date=1983|author2=South Australian Institute of Technology. School of Architecture and Building}}
{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Christopher Arthur}} Category:Architects from South Australia Category:1892 births Category:1952 deaths Category:Art Deco architects Category:Architects from Adelaide