Introduction
Australian architecture had been greatly influenced by the English culture and the designs that were mostly used portrayed great attention to detail. These structures had strong lines and gothic touches which were exotic; one of these structures is the Blackwood house, which was put up in Melbourne in 1891. The arts and crafts movement was formed to humanize the designs and the Australian architects were more bent on using English influenced materials. The movement’s main idea was to introduce simple designs which would speak volumes of the Australian people. These structures were to bear characteristics such as details, which would be finely crafted, picturesque massing, geometric and of naturalistic forms, as well as use of carved stones, bricks, and wood to bring out the desired simple but meaningful effects. (Essential architecture 2010)
Achievement of the Arts and Crafts movement in Melbourne between 1888 and 1916
This movement’s primary idea was to discard industrialization, which would bring about changes in the construction industry. An architect by the name Ruskin was opposed to machine productions and so were many architects who believed more in nature inspired designs. The achievements of the Arts and Crafts movement in Melbourne, between 1888 and 1916 are varied. Around this time, there was a great debate on what ‘modern’ meant in this revolution and technology had undergone a revolution which the Australian architects were more than willing to implement. The emergence of a variety of new materials for construction use was also a factor put into consideration. The Australian architects argued that they would embrace this modernization but it had to bear indigenous Australian social sense, spirit, and emotions. They were not bent on the physical aspect and what they were seeking was a balanced form of architecture, which could be associated with the Australian culture (Culture and creation 2010).
Australian architecture revolved around their history, landscape, identity, and climate. Their early structures were well lit and spacious and the use of local materials was wide. Corrugated iron sheets were also widely used to give the desired effect, which blended in well with their way of life (Culture and creation 2010).
What was its relationship to the development of modernism?
Australia’s modern buildings have borrowed heavily from the traditional. However, they are less extravagant in usage of building materials and the modern designs are practical, just like the traditional ones used earlier. Also the Australian architects believe in setting up nature friendly buildings. An architect by the name Glenn Murcutt put it that, “buildings should not disturb nature more than necessary” (Architectural intelligence 2010) and in addition, this thought won him an Architecture prize. Between 1914 and 1918, the materials availability went down and so did the tradesman, and so a change had to be made urgently to the operational plan. Building had become too expensive and this forced the Australian architects to revert to local materials, which were cheaper and more readily available. The buildings that were now set up bore little detail and the earlier extravagance was dismissed (Architectural intelligence 2010).
Out of this transition, the Australian architects have managed to preserve their culture through traditional motifs and models which are homely. Use of materials with natural colors has taken center stage and this assumes their preservation of nature and by retaining their materials and workmanship, Australian architects got more satisfaction from their work. They managed to win the war they raged against loss of talent and division of labor due to machine usage (Essential architecture 2010).
References
Architectural intelligence (2010). Australian architecture. Web.
Culture and creation (2010) Australian architecture. Australian government culture Portal. Vol (5) 25-31.
Essential architecture (2010) Arts and crafts movement. Web.