While many architects aspire to profoundly transform their cities, very few ever manage to build at a scale that might make this possible. Architect Robin Gibson not only built prolifically and at expansive urban scales, his projects also helped to redefine the culture and identity of one of Australia's major capital cities.

While commentators have attempted to situate Gibson within the conventional folds of international modernism, or even Brutalism, this book reveals that his body of work, while carrying many of the formal trappings of high modernism, was actually underpinned by a distinctive vision of Brisbane as a sub-tropical city, sensitive to climate and place, and alive with people.