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  • Interpreting the Modern: Flatland in Brisbane 1920-1941 Living in Multiple-Occupancy Dwellings in Interwar Brisbane

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    Bennett_2011_01Thesis.pdf (14.19Mb)
    Author(s)
    Bennett, Helen
    Primary Supervisor
    Buckridge, Patrick
    Other Supervisors
    McKay, Belinda
    Year published
    2011
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    Abstract
    This thesis investigates the fundamental social, cultural, demographic, economic and political changes that precipitated and encouraged the first significant wave of multiple-occupancy dwelling in Brisbane: the residential flats of the interwar period of the twentieth century. Brisbane’s earliest ‘flats’ had emerged by the 1910s, the product of converting large, obsolete nineteenth-century residences into multiple dwellings. Often not fully self-contained, they differed only marginally from the traditional rooming-house, and were widely considered as a short-term expedient in the face of a severe housing shortage. In the ...
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    This thesis investigates the fundamental social, cultural, demographic, economic and political changes that precipitated and encouraged the first significant wave of multiple-occupancy dwelling in Brisbane: the residential flats of the interwar period of the twentieth century. Brisbane’s earliest ‘flats’ had emerged by the 1910s, the product of converting large, obsolete nineteenth-century residences into multiple dwellings. Often not fully self-contained, they differed only marginally from the traditional rooming-house, and were widely considered as a short-term expedient in the face of a severe housing shortage. In the 1920s Brisbane residents were introduced to the purpose-designed, modern urban flat. Acceptance was gradual, but by the second half of the 1930s, new flat construction in Brisbane was booming. The emergence of the purpose-built flat represented, physically and culturally, the city’s introduction to a distinctively twentieth century, modern lifestyle. The shift to flat-living created: vigorous community debate over the fear of slum creation; formal responses to these concerns in the form of local ordinances controlling the construction and licensing of flat buildings; and substantial change to the character of inner-suburban Brisbane. Defining, accounting for, deriving meaning from, and exploring the significance of, the fashion for flat-dwelling in interwar Brisbane – in particular the popularity of the purpose-designed, purpose-built blocks of flats – are the objectives of this research. The fashion for living in flats in Brisbane is considered within three broad frameworks: the continuity of the urban experience across time and place; the democratisation of modernity and notions of what it meant to be ‘modern’ in Brisbane in the 1920s and 1930s; and the cultural legacy. In pursuing these objectives the study considers contemporary debates about the nature of urban living and the need for town planning initiatives in Queensland; the inter-relationship between the compact flat and the lifestyle it generated; generic profiles of those who occupied and invested in purpose-built flat developments; interwar controls (overt and covert) on new flat construction; and the resultant environmental impact in terms of location, form, scale, materials and neighbourhood character. In conclusion, the cultural value of Brisbane’s interwar flats as a distinctive built form is addressed.
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    Thesis Type
    Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
    Degree Program
    Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
    School
    School of Humanities
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/2522
    Copyright Statement
    The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
    Item Access Status
    Public
    Subject
    Apartment dwelling in Brisbane
    Housing Brisbane
    Blocks of flats
    Twentieth century modern lifestyle
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365620
    Collection
    • Theses - Higher Degree by Research

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