UIA 2021 RIO: 27th World Congress of Architects What world can learn from Australia: A critical review of the trend of internationalism in architecture Author Name Jamileh Jahangiri Abstract Introduction The speed and scale of urban development The way architecture accommodates people of around the world on both regional and different cultures is an important element in metropolitan scale, is disturbing the sense of developing a holistically sustainable future. A community and leading to the loss of cultural sensibly built environment targets a sense of values. This especially is a concern belonging and involves the community. considering the high impact associated with Architecture intervenes, maps, signifies and weakening resilience around these new built constructs identities. We as a profession, have environments. This, accompanied with the an important role in promoting and restoring the internationalization of the profession and the cultural identities. The Australian architect, use of internet platforms such as Pinterest as a Philip Cox believes that architecture helps to shape how we know the world by mediating design reference without considering the 1 context and culture on which the architects are power, social relations and cultural values. designing in, has led to a universal and form- Despite the significance of the cultural values on based architecture that relies more on fashion, creating many aspects of architecture and design, it seems that the importance of these than the social values. The product is getting values in creating the built environment has more and more away from being culturally been forgotten. While for many around the significant and sensitive towards the users. world, the ignorance of contribution of the local This paper is attempting to bring attention to social values and their cultural heritage in the the importance of conscious design towards built environment is quite recent, Australia’s the sense of identity and local connection in ancient sovereignty that has existed more than the built environment, taking the experience sixty millennia had ignored, whitewashed, and of the imported architecture by European disregarded for almost two hundred years of settlers who ignored, and miss judged the colonial development by invaders that didn’t importance of the Australian Indigenous appreciate or understood the social and history culture as a starting point. The paper of First Nation people. emphasises the possible consequences of Today, the desire to reconciliation is widespread ignoring the culturally sensitive architecture. in Australia and willingness on creating an Keywords: Culture; sensitive architecture; architecture that is authentically Australian that internationalism, Indigenous Architecture, would bridge the culture is strong, but the native architecture, Vernacular progress has been painfully slow due to Architecture; misleading information by early settlers to an extent that most people convinced that the Aboriginal and Torres Islanders were primitive hunter-gatherers. The disturbance of unexperienced imported techniques, materials and knowledge without considering the values and context, is continuing today. This paper is a reaction to the current trend of internationalism on using inappropriate material and knowledge to create a built environment that does not 452 PAPERS: VOLUME I of III UIA 2021 RIO: 27th World Congress of Architects Figure 1. Modified Image from Gunyah, Goondie + Wurley book. 2 The Aboriginal Architecture of Australia. Courtesy of UQ. connect to the culture and context by giving the Birth of Agriculture, Pascoe provides Australia’s experience on this matter. numerous evidence from the first-hand reports by the earlier settlers on the advancement of The impact in Australia Aboriginal society and economy. The Despite Australia’s profoundly significant observation from all around Australia at the time Indigenous culture and history, little evidence of of colonisation states that clan and dialect these is visible in the local architecture. The groups had shelter types houses in many cases Australian architecture and urban planning were capable of accommodating between 40-50 developed by the Angelo settlers, who applied people.4 From the short descriptions provided in the planning and construction theories of the early settler’s reports, the houses shaped western society and did not respect the socio- typologies were different across the continent. cultural characteristics of the First Nation Memomott suggests that except some elements people. Until 1992, the Aboriginal and Torres such as a windbreak, the architectural type and Strait Islanders were considered as hunter- material of the construction were determined by gatherers with no concept of land ownership. the climate and purpose of shelter.2 Soon after This is due to the development of the false view the colonisation, the depopulation of the whole by the first European settlers that Aboriginal districts removed most of the evidence of the people occupied in temporary camps, sheltering existing built environment in a way that after in makeshift huts or lean-tos of grass and barks. 1860 most people saw no evidence of any For the first time, Memmott detailed Australian complex civilization.4 Aboriginal architecture in his valuable book, Gunyah Goondie + Wurley : the As per Memomott in a period from nineteen century right into the twentieth century which he Aboriginal Architecture of Australia is 2007. 2 categorises as Acculturated ethno-architecture, In his book, he categorises the First Nation Aboriginal and Torres Islanders that survived people architecture to three-phase including the colonisation adopted the invader’s imported ‘Aboriginal ethno-architecture’, ‘acculturated tools and materials. According to Grant et al, the ethno-architecture’ and ‘the government adopted structures were a blend of traditional 3 supplied housing. construction technologies with imported forms. The ethno-architecture refers to the time before The materials used in this period was a mix of the Europeans first reached Australian shores. In bush and second-hand materials. The adoption the book, Dark Emu : Aboriginal Australia and PAPERS: VOLUME I of III 453 UIA 2021 RIO: 27th World Congress of Architects of the Aboriginal people with non-indigenous society has formally occurred in 1951.3 Eventually, the states and territory provided ‘transitional’ housing to aid the indigenous people to move from their traditional camp settlements to conventional European housing. Not surprising that the majority of aboriginal communities in this period didn’t have a say in the design and procurement of these houses. Consequently, the Indigenous voices, identity Figure 2. Government settlement at Warrabri. and knowledge system hasn’t been represented Photograpg W Pedersen National Library of Australia. in these buildings, places, spaces and designed Image Courtesy of the Handbook of Contemporary experiences. Indigenous Architecture. The absent of the indigenous culture and heritage in Australian architecture is a tragedy looks, there seems to be often a disturbing and and restoration might not be ever possible. disappointing non-place identity as a result of Ideally, Architecture in Australia would off-site decision makings. The British architect eventually incorporate, consider or actively and urban designer Robert defines the creation connects to the deep history of the people who of uniformity and special kind of an identity that occupied this continent for millennia. Although belongs to nowhere in particular as the 5 architects were upfront of many other parts of definition of non-place. Designing a culturally the society in contributing to the research and sensitive environment that offers a sense of identification since the 1970s (main research belonging to the user, responds and integrate the was based on housing and not interpreted in the users cultural and behaviour needs are context of urban and public architecture) of 200 fundamental on creating a sustainable place. years of ignoring the Aboriginal and Torres Islanders cultural input, the damage has been Identity and Sense of belonging done for many years and as many thinks, it has deeply discontinued and disturbed the The Canadian human geographer, Relph states understanding of this continent vernacular that the sense of belonging to a place is a architecture. One might question the importance trustable and emotional relationship with a place of these connections and the reasons for the which meets an essential need of the human consideration of creating a space that reference being.6 The relationship between person and sense of belonging of cultural and historical place relies on many elements including narratives even with the current damage to memories, knowledge and concepts that the user places such as New Zealand, Canada, America would designate to the place and would and Australia. recognize them. The personal level consists of individual relations which the person associates Internationalisation in a global to a place. For example, the connection to a stage: place is more profound where the user’s Over the last decades, we have witnessed a personal memories were evoked. The sense of growth in the impression of homogeneity in the place has become a public process and the group built environment across the globe at a hard-to- members belong to a place where they are imagine level. The development of familiar, and their culture remains intact. This globalisation, endless