Australian architectural styles, like the revivalist trends which dominated

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for centuries, have been primarily derivative.

Background

Europeans’ early contacts with Indigenous populations led them to misinterpret

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grou ...

peoples' ways of life. Until the 20th century, a fallacy existed that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples lacked permanent buildings and their own forms of architecture. Labelling Aboriginal communities as 'nomadic' allowed early settlers to justify the takeover of traditional lands claiming that they were not inhabited by permanent residents. A large body of evidence now indicates that a broad range of Indigenous traditional architecture forms (known as ethoarchitecture) and sophisticated knowledge of construction existed. During the nineteenth century, Australian architects were inspired by developments in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. This is in part due to a large number of architects coming from England to Australia to practice. In the twentieth century, American and International influences dominated. As Australia gradually became a

multicultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

nation in the late 20th century, the influences of

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

s also became evident. Imported exotic styles earlier than this can be found in a small number of historically significant Joss houses and synagogues. In more recent times, other global and South-East Asian influences have had a minor influence on Australian architectural styles. Some architectural styles show the direct influence of local factors such as

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologica ...

(directly resulting in the "Filigree", " Queenslander" and "

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

Home" styles) and local

materials Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologica ...

and skillsets. Some Australian architects were also seen at the forefront of various movements, particularly residential architects like

Harry Norris Harry Norris (12 June 1888 – 15 December 1966) was an Australian architect, one of the more prolific and successful in Melbourne in the interwar period, best known for his 1930s Art Deco commercial work in the Melbourne CBD. His designs were ...

, Roy Grounds, Robin Boyd, Frederick Romberg and Harry Seidler.

Categories of styles

Australian Architectural Styles can be divided into two main categories: "Residential" and "Non-Residential". Residential styles are the most widespread and account for the majority of the buildings constructed in Australia, but non-residential buildings display the greater variety of styles. Styles in detail: *

Australian residential architectural styles Australian residential architectural styles have evolved significantly over time, from the early days of structures made from relatively cheap and imported corrugated iron (which can still be seen in the roofing of historic homes) to more sophi ...

30,000 BCE – present *

Australian non-residential architectural styles Australian non-residential architectural styles are a set of Australian architectural styles that apply to buildings used for purposes other than residence and have been around only since the first colonial government buildings of early European ...

1788–present

References

* * ''Ulrike Laule, Rolf Toman, Achim Bednorz - Architecture of the Middle Ages'' - Background to the Gothic Revival style. * ''George Wilkie - Building Your Own Home'' - Section on Architectural Styles
Styles

Canberra House

External links

Interpreting paradise {{commonscat-inline, Architecture of Australia Architectural styles Architecture in Australia Indigenous architecture

Background

Categories of styles

See also

References

External links