Is the migrant house in Australia an Australian vernacular architecture?

Abstract

This report seeks to understand the meaning of the migrant house in Melbourne, Australia. Following a discussion of the Australian vernacular house, it asks what it is that makes the migrant house a unique category, different from other, nonmigrant houses in Australia. Reporting on research on seventeen migrant houses in the suburbs of Melbourne, it then shows how three architectural elements — the facade, the terrace, and the back yard — differentiate these houses from other examples of the Australian vernacular. Finally, it argues that, through their different “migrant aesthetics,” the three architectural elements illustrate how socio-spatial features have facilitated and eased the adaptation of migrants to life in Australia.