An example of Gothic Revival, St. Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia
Australian architectural styles have been basically exotic and derivative. Until recent times building styles were only slightly modified by climate, materials and . There was no indigenous architectural style or tradition to influence the ideas and knowledge that the British settlers brought with them when settling Australia from 1788. During the nineteenth century, Australian architects were inspired by developments in England. In the twentieth century, American and International influences dominated.
Australian Architectural Styles can divided into 2 main categories: "Residential" and "Non-Residential". Residential styles are the most prolific and account for the majority of the buildings constructed in Australia.
Buildings were frequently heavily influenced by the origins of their patrons, hence while the British would like to be reminded of their Gothic churches and Tudoresque cottages of a perfect England, the Dutch, German, Polish, Greek, Italian and other nationalities would also attempt to recreate the architecture of their homelands too.
Australian Residential Architectural Styles can generally be categorised as follows. There are overlaps between periods:
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Old Colonial Period 1788 - c. 1840
* Colonial 1788 - 1850
* Georgian 1800 - 1850
* Colonial Regency 1820 - 1860
* Greek Revival 1830 - 1850
Victorian Period c. 1840 - c. 1890
* Gothic Revival 1840 - 1880
* Early Victorian 1845 - 1865
* Mid Victorian 1865 - 1880
* Late Victorian 1880 - 1900
* Italianate 1865 - 1890
* Boom Style 1885 - 1892
Federation period c. 1890 - c. 1915
* Queen Ann 1885 - 1910
* Edwardian/Federation 1895 - 1914
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Inter-War Period c. 1915 - c. 1940
* Californian Bungalow 1915 - 1940
* Old English 1915 - 1940
* Spanish Mission 1925 - 1939
* Early Modern 1930 - 1940
Post-War Period c. 1940 - 1960
* Waterfall (Inc. Art Deco) 1940 - 1950
* L-Shape 1945 - 1955
* Triple Front (Cream Brick) 1950 - 1960
Late Twentieth Century 1960 - 2000
* 1970's 1970 - 1980
* 1980's (Eclectic) 1980 - 1990
Twenty-first century:
* Federation Revival 1990 - 2000
* Environmental 1995 - ?
* New Modern 2000 - ?
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Old Colonial Period 1788 - c. 1840
At the time of European settlement in 1788 indigenous structures were rudimentary and temporary.
A 19th century engraving of an indigenous Australian encampment, representing the indigenous mode of life in the cooler parts of Australia before the arrival of Europeans
There were no native craftsmen to influence the ideas and knowledge that the British settlers brought with them. As a result Australian architecture has been basically exotic and derivative. Until recent times it was only slightly modified by climate, materials and skills. During the nineteenth century, Australian architects were inspired by developments in England. In the twentieth century, American influences dominated.
At the time of the first settlement, Georgian architecture was the architectural vernacular in Britain. Craftsmen, including carpenters and plasterers were trained in the classic proportions associated with the Palladian style fashionable across Europe.
The early 18th century Colonial architecture in Australia was at first heavily influenced (as was architecture in Europe) by the Palladian revival ideals, later as elsewhere this was influenced by the neoclassical movement which began in Europe circa 1760, and slowly spread across what was regarded as the "civilized" world until it eventually reached Australia. Neoclassicism incorporated not only Greek influences but also Ancient Egyptian motifs.
The buildings erected in the first 50 years of Australian settlement were simple and plain. Convict huts, marine barracks, government stores and houses for officials were simple rectangular prisms covered with hipped or gabled roofs. Local wood was hard and difficult to work. Wattle and daub was formed from thin saplings and mud. Some pipe clay was obtained from the coves around Port Jackson. Bricks were fired in wood fires and were therefore soft. Lime for cement was obtained by burning oyster shells.
Colonial is the name given to some of the earliest types of housing to be built on the then, newly discovered Australian soil. Local materials were used as nothing but corrugated iron was imported from overseas and even this iron was not intentionally bought to Australia for use as a building material. Logs, tree branches and wattle and daub were used for the walls. Mud brick or stone were also used. Windows were usually small panes of glass. The layout was symmetrical, and very simple, usually containing only 2 to 4 rooms, however, the Colonial style later incorporated detached fireplaces, a central hallway, and verandahs to 3 sides of the building.
As squatters did not have title to their land, potentially moving on after two years, they tended to build only bark huts. Hence, little survives into the twenty first century of rural residential architecture.
As the Australian economy developed and settlements became more established, more sophisticated buildings emerged.
The river town of Warrandyte, Victoria contained some of the best examples of the Colonial architectural style, however, the majority if not all of these surviving buildings have been destroyed by bush fires that have plagued the town for over a century.
Regency, Grecian and Gothic Picturesque were the names of other styles from this period.
Image:PanshangerTasmania1948.jpg|Panshanger, near Longford Tasmania; Old Colonial Regency style
Image:Earlsbrae1899.jpg|Earlsbrae Hall. R A Lawson designed this neoclassical temple-style mansion with Frederick Grey in 1890.
Image:Potts Point 02.JPG|Rockwall House, designed by John Verge, in Potts Point, New South Wales; Old Colonial Regency style
Victorian Period c. 1840 - c. 1890
Gothic Revival
1840 - 1880
The British Empire which at that time ruled Australia, was heavily influenced by the Anglicanreligion, which in turn was influenced by the 19th century teachings of the Oxford and Cambridge Movements which believed Gothic architecture to be the purest, truest form, and according to them, only way to achieve spiritual communication with God through architecture. Thus while a local magnate may have built his home in a classical style, he would fund a church in the Gothic style, thus during the 19th century, when Australia was expanding rapidly two forms of architecture were very evident - Gothic and the classically influenced styles. Originally Gothic was for God, and the classical for the man. Later a new "self made" Australian began to emerge, unhindered by a classical British education - dictating classical gentlemanly interests. This "new" self made man (like is contemporaries in England and America) would often choose Gothic as the design for his home.
The great Cathedrals of the Middle Ages during the Gothic Period of ecclesiastical architecture formed the inspiration for this particular Architectural style. Not only in residential buildings, but in many commercial structures and, Churches and Cathedrals built during this time. St. Paul's and St. Patrick's Cathedrals in Melbourne, Australia are excellent examples of the Gothic Revival Period. Often referred to as Victorian Gothic, deriving from the Victorian style Architectural name from a similar time period. Steeply pitched roofs often made of slate, Narrow doors and windows resolving in a classical Gothic pointed arch at their height,(known as lancet windows) diamond pane glazing to windows imitating a stained glass affect and intricate parapets, often of a religious nature bearing a cross resembling that of those atop Cathedrals and Churches. In non-terrace houses the drawing room was often pulled forward adding a bay window to the front of the dwelling.
The Victorian Style in Australia can be divided into 3 periods to break up the whole; Early, Mid and Late. The period in its entirety stretches from 1837 to 1901 and was named after the then Queen of England, Queen Victoria. Early styles featured symmetrical layouts and façades, a centrally located front door and a hipped roof of corrugated iron, leading to a veranda on the façade. During the 1850s cast iron lacework came to Australia where it made its way on to Mid and Late Victorian Homes. With much the same floor plan as the Colonial Style, a central hallway with a standard 4 rooms. Weatherboards were used, however, larger homes had red brick and blue stone incorporated. Into the Mid Victorian Style the decoration began to gain popularity. The bull nosed Veranda roof was introduced, sidelights were added either side of the front door and terraced houses were springing up everywhere, containing parapets and detailed dividing walls between the property boundaries. Late Victorian Style homes had perhaps the most decorative features in all of the known Architectural styles to date, and it is often referred to as Boom Style. Towards the end of the Victorian era timber fretwork was being used more and more, which led into the Edwardian Style.
From the 1840s, a specific style of building emerged in Queensland. The Queenslander style of houses are identifiable by large verandahs and large double doors which open onto these verandahs, stilts rising the house above ground level (particularly in older houses), metal roofs typically of corrugated design and the houses are always constructed of mostly wood.
Other names given for styles during this period have been Georgian, Regency, Egyptian, Academic Classical, Free Classical, Filligree, Mannerist, Second Empire, Italianate, Romanesque, Academic Gothic, Free Gothic, Tudor, Rustic Gothic and Carpenter Gothic.
The principle styles of this period are: Queen Anne, Federation and Edwardian. Queen Anne can sometimes refer to houses loosely in the style of the arts and crafts movement, however, in Australian Architecture, it can also refer to some of the more elaborate Edwardian and Federation styles. Edwardian was named after King Edward (1901 - 1910) at the time, and the term Federation coincided with Australia becoming a nation of its own in 1901. The names all indicated very similar styles with features so minute separating them. Cream painted decorative timber features, tall chimneys and fretwork. Federation depicted a Tudor type look, especially on gables, and Edwardian gave a simpler cottage look.
Other names given for styles during this period have been Academic Classical, Free Classical, Filligree, Anglo-Dutch, Romanesque, Gothic, Carpenter Gothic, Warehouse, Queen Anne, Free Style and Arts and Crafts
This style can almost instantly be recognised by the columns holding up a front veranda area. The name is almost self explanatory, bungalow, a country rugged type of home, and this led to the belief that picket fences looked their place as the front fence, however originally, they were never used. Darker colours were originally used however, as the years went by, new brighter paint served as a welcoming change to open up the spaces and brighten up the homes. Stone, brick and timber, earthy materials were used. A gable roof faced either the front or side always.
Other styles which existed during the 1915-40 period include Georgian Revival, Academic Classical, Free Classical, Beaux-Arts, Stripped Classical, Commercial Palazzo, Mediterranean, Spanish Mission, Chicagoesque, Functionalist, Art-Dec, Skyscraper Gothic, Romanesque, Gothic and Old English.
Distinctly recognised by twisted pylons to a porch area covering the front door, usually windows grouped in threes to the side of the front door area on simpler homes. The style was influenced by the American Spanish inhabitant influenced American Architectural styles. Walls were brick in accordance with council regulations at the time, with white or cream yellowish cream stucco finish, and Spanish terra cotta tiles.
Early Modern
1930 - 1940
Burnham Beeches mansion in the Dandenong Ranges outside Melbourne, completed 1933 in the Streamline Moderne style. The architect was Harry Norris.
A very modern looking style at the time, inspired by a German movement known as Bauhaus, representing functional and clinical architecture. Red or cream brick walls and concrete was also first seen. Steel-framed casement sashes, with larger panes of glass and terra cotta tiled roofs with a moderate pitch. The only featured part of the house included matching decorative front fences, and a featured roof affect.
The Streamline Moderne style was a late branch of the Art Deco style. The style emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements, such as railings and porthole windows. This style was adopted into suburban architecture, most notably in the Waterfall style.
*Post-War Period c. 1940 - 1960
Austerity
The Austerity style reflects the lack of availability of building materials and labour in the years following World War II
Fashionable modern houses of the thirties in the Streamline Moderne style were sometimes described as being like ocean liners, with walls, windows and balconies all sweeping around corners. By the 1940s these details were entrenched into suburban designs. The 'Waterfall' or 'Waterfall Front' style came to be known as such from the use of descending curves in chimneys, fence pillars and other vertical elements. Robin Boyd, the Australian architect and writer, noted that three was 'the key to decorative smartness'; three steps usually being used for the waterfall effect and featured parallel lines were often in threes.
Defining features of houses from this period are curved corner windows, including Venetian blinds, some rare examples of which are curved. With a slightly steeper pitched roof than the Early Modern Style, this style was generally of brick veneer cream brick but also could have dark brown glazed feature brickwork incorporated into the external walls, and under windowsills. Chimneys were either stepped or plain, and together with the round windows perhaps gave meaning to the "Waterfall" name.
Ecclesiastical, International, Melbourne Regional, Brisbane Regional and American Colonial were also styles which existed in the period 1940-1960.
The Rose Seidler House built by Harry Seidler for his parents between 1948 and 1950 in Sydney incorporated Modernist features of open planning, a minimal colour scheme, and labour saving devices that were new to Australia at the time. The house won the Sir John Sulman medal in 1951 and is today preserved as a museum as a very influential house.[link]
House designed in 1954 by Robin Boyd at Bedford Street, Deakin, Australian Capital Territory. The house is typical of the post-war Melbourne regional style of architecture: long unbroken roof line, wide eaves, extensive windows.
After the second World War, architects in Australia were influenced by the development of the International style of architecture. Some regional variations developed. In Melbourne, Robin Boyd and Roy Grounds articulated a Melbourne interpretation of the modern style. Boyd's book Victorian Modern (1947) traced the history of architecture in the state of Victoria and described a style of architecture that he hoped would be a response to local surroundings as well as the popular international style. In particular he nominated the work of Roy Grounds and in some outer suburban bush houses of the 1930s as being the early stages of such a style. Grounds and Boyd later worked in partnership.
The houses were typically narrow, linear, and single storey with a low pitched gable roof. They had exposed rafters and wide eaves. Walls were generally bagged or painted brick and windows were large areas of glass with regularly spaced timber mullions.
L-Shape
1945 - 1955
This style represented a change in the overall floor plan, the plan resembling a large "L" Shape. Usually with gabled ends to the L, with terra cotta tiles still being used, as concrete tiles didn’t appear until the late 1960’s. Timber or steel framed windows were used, and front facing fences resembled the house, much the same as had been seen since the Early Modern Period.
Distinctly recognisable by their front facing walls have 3 and sometimes even 4 front facing falls. This led to the front entrance sometimes brought round to the side within one of the alcoves created by the multiple fronts. Roofs were medium pitched and hipped with concrete tiles being used towards the end of the style in the late 60’s. Front fences had a castellated top and feature piers raised above the top of the rest of the brick fence. Decorative iron was used very minimally, in gates to driveways, and balustrades to entrances.
Late Twentieth Century 1960 - 2000
Styles which existed in the late twentieth century include Stripped Classical, Ecclesiastical, International, Organic, Sydney Regional, Perth Regional, Adelaide Regional, Tropical, Brutalist, Structural, Late Modern, Post Modern, Australian Nostalgic and Immigrants' Nostalgic
Non-Residential Styles
Australian architectural style classification taken from Apperley, Irving and Reynolds (1989):
Old Colonial Period 1788 - c. 1840
Old Colonial Georgian; Old Colonial Regency; Old Colonial Grecian; Old Colonial Gothic Picturesque
Image:HydeParkBarracksDrawingHardyWilson1914.jpg|Hyde Park Barracks, designed by Francis Greenway; Old Colonial Georgian; drawing by Hardy Wilson in 1914
12 styles, each style name prefaced by "Federation":
Academic Classical, Free Classical, Filligree, Anglo-Dutch, Romanesque, Gothic, Carpenter Gothic, Warehouse, Queen Anne, Free Style, Arts and Crafts, Bungalow
Image:QVB.JPG|Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, completed 1898
Image:AlburyA&RShopFmrBankBldg.jpg|Former ANZ Bank building in Albury, New South Wales
Image:NaroomaUnitingChurch.jpg|The Uniting Church at Narooma, New South Wales built 1914; Federation Carpenter Gothic architectural style
Image:NaroomaUnitingChurchParsonage.jpg|The parsonage associated with Narooma's Uniting Church
Inter-War Period c. 1915 - c. 1940
16 styles, each style name prefaced by "Inter-War":
Georgian Revival, Academic Classical, Free Classical, Beaux-Arts, Stripped Classical, Commercial Palazzo, Mediterranean, Spanish Mission, Chicagoesque, Functionalist, Art-Deco, Skyscraper Gothic, Romanesque, Gothic, Old English, California Bungalow
Image:Albert HallWindows.jpg|Windows of the Albert Hall, Canberra, opened 1928; Georgian Revival
Image:AlbertHallCanberra1.jpg|Front of the Albert Hall; Georgian Revival
Image:Melbourne war memorial.jpg|Shrine of Remembrance (Melbourne); completed 1934; Academic Classical
Image:Brisbane City Hall.jpg|Brisbane City Hall; opened 1930; Academic Classical
Image:Old Parliament House cropped.jpg|Old Parliament House, Canberra; opened 1927; Stripped Classical
Image:AlburyAMPBldg 001.jpg|AMP building in Albury, New South Wales; Stripped Classical
Image:SydneyAndMelbourneBuildingsCivic1929.jpg|Sydney and Melbourne buildings, City Centre, Australian Capital Territory; commenced building 1920s; Mediterranean
Image:CaptainsFlatHotel.jpg|Hotel at Captains Flat, New South Wales built 1938; Functionalist
Image:Australian war memorial by night.jpg|Australian War Memorial; building completed 1941; Byzantine_architecture style with strong styling elements of art_deco throughout
Image:Capitol Theatre, Swanston Street, Melbourne.JPG|Capitol Theatre, Melbourne opened 1924; Chicaoesque
Image:Newman College - Dining from Swanston Street.JPG|Newman College ([gallery]) opened 1918; Gothic
Image:GoulburnElmsleaChambers 001.jpg|Elmslea Chambers, Goulburn, New South Wales; built 1933; it was one of the first buildings in Australia to use coloured polychrome terracotta in its façade
Post-War Period c. 1940 - 1960
5 styles, each style name prefaced by "Post-War":
Ecclesiastical, International, Melbourne Regional, Brisbane Regional, American Colonial
14 styles, each style name prefaced by "Late Twentieth Century":
Stripped Classical, Ecclesiastical, International, Organic, Sydney Regional, Perth Regional, Adelaide Regional, Tropical, Brutalist, Structuralist, Late Modern, Post Modern, Australian Nostalgic, Immigrants' Nostalgic
Image:NLA Canberra-01JAC.JPG|National Library of Australia; 1964; Stripped Classical
Image:Sydney Opera House Sails.jpg|Sydney Opera House
Image:Cameron Offices - Speck 2 - Detail.jpg|Cameron Offices, Belconnen; constructed in the late 1960s and early 1970s; Brutalist
Image:Shine dome.jpg|The Australian Academy of Science building, named the "Shine Dome", Canberra, designed by Roy Grounds, completed 1959; Structuralist
