11328 Australian Modernism

Description

This PG seminar is an introduction to the story of modern architecture in Australia. Students explore the origins of modernism firstly through the lens of European and North American key texts and modernist practitioners, while closely analyzing significant case studies from the post WW2 era to the 1990’s. Studentsl track their influence on architects and architecture more broadly in Australia through reference sources from magazines and newspapers to current TV documentaries and beyond.

The modernist Australian story however remains only half told. The modern century saw an exceptional number of non-western influences start to significantly impact our Architecture, shaping Australian modernism differently to that developed in other parts of the world. The seminar ends in the final weeks with an exploration of these other cultural influences on architecture from the 1950’s on, taking us to precedents in Indonesia, Japan, India and more, as generally unrecognized influences on some of our most prominent architectural works. Arguably, students open the door on this, the untold history of modern architecture in Australia.

The seminar involves reading and a short lecture and discussion each week, as well as a number of guest appearances from home owners to academics and a number of site visits which are being explored for modernist projects in the Sydney Area (like the Alexander House in the image above), ...so some local travel may be involved. The program will be confirmed in Week 1. There are no costs for this subject.