Louis Wyatt explores the architecture of the Victorian Goldrush, and how the nineteenth century saw the growth of a local architectural community that dominated the urban landscape.
Within the two decades following the discovery of gold, cities and towns across Victoria were rebuilt – sometimes multiple times. Across the goldfields, scattered miners’ tents gave way to small timber structures, while canvas and timber towns emerged seemingly overnight. As individual and colonial wealth expanded, the colony’s towns and cities were rapidly reconstructed. These new buildings brought greater architectural pretensions, encouraged the rapid expansion of the architectural community, and brought with it an unparalleled ambition for the colony’s urban form.
Louis Wyatt is an architectural historian who recently submitted his PhD at the University of Melbourne. Louis is interested in nineteenth-century architectural culture and the intersection of imperialism, nationalism, and intercolonial networks. His thesis examined the emergence of a local architectural community in nineteenth-century Victoria, arguing that a local, self-aware architectural culture dominated the nineteenth century. Louis’s work has been published in academic journals and presented at local and international conferences. Before undertaking his PhD, Louis worked as a heritage advisor in private practice and for local government.
Attend Talking History in person at the Eureka Centre (no booking required). Past lectures can be viewed on YouTube by clicking this link.
Image: Francis Cogne, Part of Main Road & Victoria St, 1859, Ballaarat East, 1859, State Library of Victoria, H1854.
