Research Essay; Australian Architectural Identity

Vernacular architecture is a pure reaction to an individual person’s or society’s desire to inhabit a particular environment and it relies on local materials and resources to achieve comfortable living conditions. Typically vernacular architecture evolves over time to reflect the environmental, cultural, technological, and historical context in which it exists (Tasca, 2013). This reflection of society encapsulated within architecture is articulated through particular styles which are responsible for distinguishing places and imbedding cultural identity within society.

The search for a cogent Australian architectural style has been a concern of architecture in Australia since non-indigenous settlement in 1788. The desire to develop a national identity which recognised Australia internationally as independent of our British heritage has pushed our society to establish an architectural discourse which reflects a collection of individual ideas and aspirations. Modern contemporary Australian architects struggle with defining Australian architecture due to the escalating globalisation of society and an increasing appropriation of international construction methods and foreign materials. The idea of the vernacular is strong in Australian architecture however and is often defined in terms of the ‘city’ and ‘bush’, where the latter setting has an internationally developed character and generally receives more architectural attention. It is this distinction and bias which challenges our national identity, since the majority of Australia’s population inhabits the areas which would be considered ‘city’. There is an identifiable Australian style of architecture and it came about through an adaption of British colonial archetypes however it is not a realistic representation of Australian life, nor is it appropriate within all of Australia’s climatic conditions. This is the reason that contemporary architects struggle to define a singular Australian idiom. As a contemporary Australian I believe that my Australian identity is not represented through my immediate built environment but that it does embody, to an extent, Perth’s socio-political history. This essay explores the embodiment of the Australian identity within architecture through an understanding of Australia’s colonial history and an examination of Casey Brown’s ‘Mudgee Permanent Camping’ in contrast with a typical suburban house.

Research Essay; Architecture, Power and Authoritarianism

‘Power’ can be defined as the capacity to achieve something, yet within societal affairs it tends to involve control over others or the ability to harness the capacity of others, and it is this distinction between power as a capacity and power as a relationship between people that is fundamental to understanding the architecture of authoritarianism. The power of governing bodies over others is driven by a desire to harness the power of the people in order to achieve an ultimate goal or policy, and the success of any such regime is determined by the amount of capacity it possesses. Therefore it can be identified that the goal of authoritarian regimes particularly, is to increase the number of people under their governance and then increase the potential of those people. The concept of architecture as a participatory tool of power emerged in the 18th century when society experienced a paradigm shift in social philosophy. The desire of the people and the states respectively to improve the current quality of life positioned them to consider strategies for increasing hygiene standards and eliminating crime and poverty within cities. And this common goal provided the opportunity for an increase in capacity, the development of which could operate under the guise of voluntarism, further legitimating the governing party. These new architectural forms surfaced in hospitals and prisons, and even extended into the layout of elementary classrooms and domestic homes.

Manifesto; Gnaraloo Station Upgrade Proposal

In my second year of architectural studies at Curtin University, our course coordinators took myself and fellow students on a trip to Gnaraloo Station, a coastal camp-site in northern Western Australia. The task was to investigate site and occupancy, and upon return, propose an expansion of the existing camp site;

The over-riding concept driving my design is the understanding of Gnaraloo as a temporary site from both an indigenous perspective and also a western architectural perspective.

When Australia was first colonised they didn't build permanent architecture immediately - they used tents. Which unbeknownst to them was the most vernacular way to approach the land and also the way in which the aborigines approached site.

The idea of temporary is also reinforced through the aboriginal understanding of Gnaraloo - a space not to be inhabited but to be visited. Which is not unlike the way it is used today, as a popular camping and vacation site.

So rather than adopting the mantra of “Touch the Earth Lightly”, I approached with the intention of “Don’t Touch the Earth for Very Long”.

With all this in mind I allowed the spatial arrangement of site to inform itself. I mapped the existing vegetation and nominated the least dense areas for construction opportunities.