Abstract
This chapter traces the varied uses of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander building traditions across different periods of colonisation to the early twenty-first century. In Australia, two-way exchanges of European and Indigenous building technology began on the colonial frontier and continued in remote parts of the country into the twentieth century. Despite the eventual dominance of colonial and modern architecture, Indigenous building traditions have persisted in certain places across an uneven history of European contact. Largely dismissed by the colonists, the continued use and adaptation of building traditions, as well as projects that reconstruct lapsed building practice, demonstrate a richer and more diverse history of Indigenous building skills and knowledge. Since the 1970s, increasing references to the Indigenous culture, art and history in Australian architecture contrast with the relatively few buildings that have referenced Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander building traditions. The wider recognition of the varied Indigenous dwelling types and materials suggests a potential for greater reuse and inventive adaptation of these traditions in contemporary architecture.
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In design processes, this includes observing cultural and social protocols, with attention to adequate, informed consultation (Memmott and Reser 2000).
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Humpy is derived from the Brisbane region Aboriginal word for dwelling.
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The integration of computer software for design and wood machining technology has allowed advances in timber lattice structures, such as those by Shigeru Ban.
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For example, churches in Cape York Peninsula missions used bark sheets from the abundant E. tetradonta for roof and wall cladding.
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In the same research project, material scientists identified cellulose nano-fibres in spinifex that, when added in small quantities, improve the mechanical properties of a range of plastics (Amiralian et al. 2015).
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O’Rourke, T. (2018). Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Contemporary Architecture in Australia. In: Grant, E., Greenop, K., Refiti, A., Glenn, D. (eds) The Handbook of Contemporary Indigenous Architecture. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6904-8_16
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