Traditional Shelter Essay

Shelter has always been a necessity for mankind. We, as humans, have a relationship with the land that we must respect to live happily amongst it. Spaning back as far as the pre-Colonial Australia, indigenous Australians understood this connection excellently. Their shelters seemed to ‘bend with the land’ as they understood crucial elements within the architecture to compensate for distinctive climate and cultural factors to fit their nomadic lifestyle. Their living style was very minimalistic yet practical. The indigenous Australians only built what they needed to survive. For evidence of this, we will be looking at the text; ‘Gunyah, Goondie and Wurley: the Aboriginal architecture of Australia’ by Paul Memmott as he discussed the social dynamics and structural design of the indigenous communities. There was also leadership established within these however this was rarely displayed through the architecture. Conversely, indigenous New Zealanders had a more conventional comprehension of space and planning of their more permanent townships. The shelters of the New Zealand tribes created community importance with their detailed Maori. As a key example of these traditional settlements, ‘Historic buildings of New Zealand’ from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust shows us many detailed plans of this living style and complete descriptions of the Maoris’. The indigenous New Zealanders built shelters to provide basics of societal living and town leadership as well as for the necessity of housing. However, both communities had an outstanding respect and comprehension for the environment they surrounding themselves with. This essay will explore both the similarities and juxtapositions between the shelters of the indigenous Australians and ...

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... climate; dryer and hotter seasons would have called for lighter constructions and less clad, if any, would have been used to allow for wind flow. Conversely, harsher wetter climates would have needed a more robust hut to last through torrential rain and floods. Grass thatch was most effective cladding in stormy weather. Each layer of the frame was tied down with cane and the layers of thatch were often up to 2.5 centimetres thick.

The indigenous society also made custom to the way the huts were constructed. When each hut was considered to be built, the woman would be the ones to clear the area of rocks, small trees and sticks before construction started. The men collected and assembled the frame of the dome, whilst the woman were in charge of collecting and setting up the cladding. It was also the woman whom fixed the holes in the roof if the weather had caused.