20th Century Design – DDD10001 – Laurence Anderson – 4914457
On this web page, I’m researching modernism, modernization and modernity in Australia through 1919-1939, focusing on the development of architectural styles in Melbourne.
I will be giving a brief history of Melbourne of the time then delve into the three main styles of architecture of the time (Edwardian, Art Deco & Streamline) and the growth between these.
Modernism, modernization and modernity are three key terms that can be chiefly associated with contemporary design; The Oxford Dictionary defines contemporary simply as, ‘following the latest ideas’, however when looking through design history these terms lend themselves to much higher significance.
Modernism on it’s own is hard to define; the common ideal throughout most modern design looks to innovate & to reject traditional techniques, materials and concepts. Modernity is merely the quality or condition of being modern, it’s thinking, working and living in a contemporary way.
Modernism is usually anti historicist, highly functional and designed for mass production using new materials and techniques.
Modernization is probably the most relevant of these terms for the period In Melbourne, between the first and second wars; modernization was the process of looking forward not back, through adopting modern design principles and techniques and applying them to every day life.
Australia grew to become more sophisticated and was seeing it’s societal norms changing, gone were the days of the pre war depression. In the post WW1 landscape, modernist design, especially that for architecture, played a huge role in the regeneration and growth of the country. After the war, Melbourne the newly named National Capital became a beacon of hope for Australians. The new Australian lifestyle had been shaped and became much more modern.
After the First World War, with a much less restrictive immigration policy, Melbourne experienced its fastest and largest population boost since the gold rush era of the 1850’s, one of the largest in the world’s history.
These new immigrants were brought predominantly from southern Europe like Italy & Greece, but also from the war-scarred countries from all over Europe. This arrival of immigrants dramatically altered the cultural landscape of Melbourne and with them they brought much wealth and prosperity to the city.
In particular, the time between the to world wars saw Australia become a country engulfed by social change driven by design, which had become a very significant factor in the evolution of the times. This social change was happening mainly from the experimentation of upcoming modernist designers.
So modernist architectural design in Australia develops from the Edwardian style, into Art Deco and refined through Streamline Moderne.
Major research assignment - 20th century design 