George Freedman (6 March 1936 – 21 July 2016) was an Australian interior designer/architect, popular from 1970 until a younger generation became prominent in Sydney during the 1990s.

Born in New York, where he studied architecture at Syracuse University, Freedman arrived in Sydney in 1968 and later designed many prestigious interiors, often including custom-made furniture.

[1] He was recognised by design and architecture industry experts for his daring and widely emulated combinations of colours, inventive uses of materials, attention to detail, and commitment to high-quality furnishings (often imported signature classics).

He also trained some of Sydney's outstanding younger architects and designers—including Iain Halliday Archived 7 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Sam Marshall, Stephen Varady, William MacMahon, Arthur Collin, Robert Puflett, Tim Allison and his late-career partner, Ralph Rembel.

In 2005 the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) awarded Freedman Rembel an Interior Architecture commendation for its design of executive offices at the AMP Building overlooking Circular Quay.

Signifying his outstanding body of work and contribution to the Australian design industry, Freedman along with Marsh were inducted into the 2019 DIA Hall of Fame, posthumous.

Over the next decades, Freedman alongside his partners worked to inject a new exuberance into the standard pattern of modern interiors.

Unafraid to play with new materials and striking palettes, he designed a myriad of homes, restaurants, and offices in Sydney, known for a sense of sophistication and modernity.

During 1963 and 1964, he exhibited and sold artworks in Amsterdam and Brussels, then worked as an interior designer for architects Tandy Halford and Mills in London.

Returning to New York in 1968, Freedman joined the international planning unit of leading furniture manufacturers and interior designers Knoll and Associates.

He worked with director Florence Knoll, who maintained close ties with many European and American leaders of modern design.

Freedman's projects with Knoll included the United States pavilion in Japan for the Osaka World Fair (1970) as well as offices for accountants Price Waterhouse in Buffalo, New York.

As well as designing interiors for some of Sydney's most prestigious and prosperous families, MFA created sophisticated fine dining rooms for some of Sydney's outstanding restaurateurs, notably Anne Taylor (Taylors, 1984); Tony and Gay Bilson (Berowra Waters Inn, 1976; Kinselas, 1983; Tresury, 1992, and Ampersand, 1998; Damien and Josephine Pignolet (Claudes, 1981); Helen and Malcolm Spry (Chez Oz, 1985); Leon Fink (Bilsons and Quay, 1986, 1988), and Armando Percuoco (Buon Ricordo Ristorante refurbishment, 2007).

This practice was dissolved in 2010, when Freedman joined architects Peddle Thorp and Walker as Head of Interior Design (but he continued consulting to his existing private clients).

Freedman was widely known for his wit, warm laugh, home cooking, Negroni's, and devotion to his dogs (Scottish Terriers owned in pairs).

[2] In New York prior to meeting Neville Marsh, Freedman lived a sophisticated lifestyle with then partner Ronald Vance.

The stained glass windows have rich vibrant colors and are considered among the highest achievements of the Rayonnant period of Gothic architecture.

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O’Grady, Suellen and Jenny Stynes, 1989, 'Keeping the Piece (Furniture item)’, The Sydney Morning Herald (Good Weekend), 18 February, p. 258.

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Remington, Kaye, c. 1984, 'Colour block', Interior Design Ripley, Amy, 2016, 'Master put Manhattan edge on City: George Freedman 1936–2016–, The Sydney Morning Herald (Timelines), 24 August, p. 34.

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Stewart, Meg, 1985, 'The men behind the black bathrooms at the State Bank', The Sydney Morning Herald (Good Weekend), 20 July, pp. 24–28.

Tanner, Howard, 1982, 'Gallery beats the Aussie office blues', The Sydney Morning Herald (Architecture), 19 August, p. 10.