University of Tasmania, Australia

This project examines physical evidence, writings and representations of architectural history in Tasmania through frameworks that seeks new perspectives on the state’s architecture set within larger contexts.  It contends that Tasmania’s historical, cultural and environmental specificity positions its architectural history to make a important contributions to understanding the complexities of colonial, modern and contemporary architectural histories locally, nationally and internationally. Yet, Tasmanian architectural history remains largely under-researched, with very few critical histories contributing to wider debates.

The research involves attentiveness to particular cultural moments in the history of Tasmania – the colonial, post-war and contemporary eras – all of which were underpinned by waves of migration and periods of cultural and economic change.  Specifically, the research team will conduct primary research examining select buildings and related representations, through the study of physical evidence as well as photographs, archival records and local historical societies, as appropriate.  The study will foster the development of appropriate methodologies capable of responding to and re-presenting the nuances of local and regional realties, and inform history writing in other regions in Australia.  This will challenge current centralist approaches to the writing of architectural history, which privilege the influence of metropolitan centres and discourses, in favour of unpacking the complexities of the Tasmanian context through the consideration of strategic and continuing ‘cross pollination’ within and beyond former colonial, state and national boundaries. This approach will allow the emergence of local discourses, leading to located readings of Tasmanian buildings and spaces within cultural practices.