A symposium exploring the expansion of the new edition of Sir Banister Fletcher’s Global History of Architecture that encompass Australasia

Convened by Macarena de la Vega de León and Paul Walker, this event will be held in person at the Melbourne School of Design, and on Zoom. Note, not all panellists will be in person at the Symposium

Link will be made available after registration.

The writing of architectural history shifted with the turn of the twenty-first century. Theoretical and methodological reassessments, as well as the study of postcolonial theories in architecture, challenged the previously accepted disciplinary canon and made the development of a global history of architecture urgent. More than twenty years later, there has been resulting literature, disciplinary reassessments, and continuous debate around the meaning of global in the history of architecture. One of the latest additions to the field, the new edition of Sir Banister Fletcher’s rebranded as Global History of Architecture (2019), is proof of the continuous scholarly interest in reframing the global.

Although historians of architecture in the region have contributed their expertise in the Global South to some of the resulting publications, there is still a limited presence of an Australasian perspective. In general, the field continues to present challenges in combining these geographies and cultures, in defining the notion of region, in the periodization of narratives and in capturing transnational connections. The aim of this event is twofold: on the one hand, to celebrate the publication of Sir Banister Fletcher’s Global History of Architecture highlighting the Australasian contributions to the volume; on the other, to open a wider discussion on the global issues of gender, race and migration in architecture that continue to have a limited presence in global narratives. To critically review the most recent literature on the global is necessary to inform next steps.

Session 1_ Wednesday 27 April, 9am-10.45am

Murray Fraser, “A Provisional, Collectivised Global History.”
Vimalin Rujivacharakul, “Buildings of the Oceans: Ephemerality and Monumentality in Architectural History.”
Deidre Brown, “Decolonising and Indigenising Architectural History.”
Amanda Achmadi and Paul Walker, “Writing architecture across colonial borders: ‘Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific, 1780-1914.’”
Philip Goad, “Time for Global Reassessment: Architectural Histories of Southeast Asia, Australasia and Oceania.”

Session 2_ Wednesday 27 April, 11am.-12.30pm

Mark Jarzombek, “Beyond History?”
Vikram Prakash, “Eventualities: The Agency of Architectural Historiography in Decolonization.”
Joanna Merwood-Salisbury, “Race and the Historiography of American Architecture.”
Mirjana Lozanovska, “Theory + History = Historiography.”
Karen Burns and Lori Brown, “Women, Global History, and the Nation State.”

BOOK HERE

Murray Fraser (pictured) is Professor of Architecture and Global Culture at UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture, and Chair of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain. In 2008 his book Architecture and the ‘Special Relationship’ won the RIBA Research Award and CICA Bruno Zevi Book Prize. He is General Editor for the 21st Edition of Sir Banister Fletcher’s Global History of Architecture (2020), awarded the SAHGB’s Colvin Prize. He received the 2018 RIBA Annie Spink Award for Excellence in Education.