Architecture in Oceania (1840-1970)

Para-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial entanglements in South Pacific architecture.

Knowledge of colonial architecture in the South Pacific remains sparse, with often-overlooked connections to para-colonial settings and postcolonial continuities. This edited volume seeks to address these gaps, focusing on the period from 1840 to 1970 across the broader South Pacific region. Through in-depth architectural case studies of buildings, ensembles and urban projects, the essays reflect on the complex interactions between locals and foreigners, colonisers and the colonised, and their shifting allegiances, even across changing political powers. With a rare focus on German colonial influences in the region, the contributions go beyond the predominant narratives of British and French colonial influence. This volume is a valuable resource for students and researchers of architectural history and colonial history in Oceania.

"Architecture in Oceania (1840-1970)" was written by Carolyn Hill, Charmaine ‘Ilaiū Talei, Robin Skinner, Hermann Mückler, Jasper Ludewig, Clemens Finkelstein, Amanda Achmadi, Paul Walker, Paul Steffen, Peter Scriver, Amit Srivastava and Louis Lagarde.

"Architecture in Oceania (1840-1970)" was edited by Michael Falser.

Michael Falser was project director for German colonial architecture at the Technical University of Munich (2020-2024), and is teaching architectural history and cultural heritage at the Institute for Art History, Heidelberg University.

Yes, "Architecture in Oceania (1840-1970)" is published Open Access. It is available under a BY-NC-ND license.

Publication of "Architecture in Oceania (1840-1970)" was funded by KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access
Open Book Collective
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Introduction. Para-Colonial Influences – Colonial Transactions – Postcolonial Legacies: Architecture in Oceania (1840–1970)
Michael Falser

Part I. The ‘South Seas’: Para-Colonial Forms of Architecture and Architectural Knowledge

Chapter 1. Re-scribing Indigenous Form: The 19th-Century Churches of the London Missionary Society in Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Carolyn Hill

Chapter 2. Tongan–German (Siamane) Relations and their Architecture in the Kingdom of Tonga
Charmaine ‘Ilaiū Talei

Chapter 3. From Comparative Study to an Emergent Local Building Practice: Hermann Frobenius’ Study of Oceanische Bautypen of 1899
Robin Skinner

Part II. German Colonialism in the Südsee and its Encounters (1884–1914)

Chapter 4. Administrative and Residential Architecture in the German Colonial South Seas: The Photo Albums of Wilhelm Knappe, Carl Schiesser, and Ferdinand Kunzmann
Hermann Mückler

Chapter 5. Extracting Growth: The Phosphate Mining Infrastructure on Nauru and Angaur (1906–1913)
Jasper Ludewig

Chapter 6. Colonial Waves from Apia to Yap: Technoscientific Network Structures of German Expansionism in Oceania
Clemens Finkelstein

Chapter 7. German Colonial Building Cultures in Kaiser- Wilhelmsland and the Bismarck-Archipel: Reconnecting a Fragmented Architectural History of Deutsch-Neuguinea
Michael Falser

Part III. From Inter-Colonial Encounter to Post-Colonial Building Practices

Chapter 8. Burns Philp’s Encounters across Colonial Borders: Buildings for Export and Commerce in the South Pacific
Paul Walker and Amanda Achmadi

Chapter 9. Architectural Influence within Missionary Areas: The Steyl Mission Architecture during the German and the Australian Colonial Periods in New Guinea (1896–1914–1945)
Paul B. Steffen

Chapter 10. Australian Architects in Melanesia: Culture as Resource in the Late-Colonial Development of Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia (1950s–1970s)
Peter Scriver, Amit Srivastava, and Louis Lagarde

About the Contributors

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for "Architecture in Oceania (1840-1970)" is 10.11116/9789461666468.