The Form of Houses Built by Italian Migrants in Post-World war II Brisbane, Australia

Abstract

This thesis begins with an enquiry into the way the house is the physical expression of interacting cultural factors. Despite views emphasizing the determinant influence of culture on the house form, an investigation of the literature on architectural sociology reveals that, in the contemporary development of the built environment, the relationship between house form and human behaviour and/or activities, as manifestation of the users’ cultural needs, was treated as secondary. This study provides a conceptual framework based on cross-cultural studies and architectural sociology to understand how first generation Italian migrants in Brisbane have influenced the form of a specific typology of dwelling, the archetypal ‘house on a quarter-acre block’, in the post WWII period, in response to cultural needs. Qualitative data collected from the testimonies of Italian migrants in conjunction with evidence left from four houses, were analysed to answer the research question: in what ways did Italian migrants influence the form of their houses built in Brisbane in the post WWII period, and what were the forces behind, and outcomes of, this influence? The findings revealed that the architectural form of the house is influenced by the need to continue architectural traditions. The spatial form of Italian houses was influenced by sociocultural factors and urbanization patterns. These are the lack of public urban spaces like a town square traditionally utilized by Italian migrants in their native built environment for performing social activities. This insight means that migration to another land represents a fundamental disruption of social activities and, in this regard, the spatial form of the house could be conceptualised as a means of re-establishing and enhancing social interactions.