Draft:Filigree architecture
Australian architectural style / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Filigree architecture is a modern term given to a phase in the history of Australian architecture. The phase was an embellishment of the "Australian verandah tradition",[2] where the verandah evolved from its functional usages in the Old Colonial period to become highly ornamental. The filigree style was a vernacular tradition of buildings possessing prominent verandahs that screened the facade, cloaking the building in an ornamental veil that obscured the exterior walls, thus becoming the main visual element. The name "filigree" refers to the intricate texture of this verandah screen, which was often perforated to let air and light pass through, creating dazzling displays of shadows.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Ardmore_residential_gnangarra-1.jpg/640px-Ardmore_residential_gnangarra-1.jpg)
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From its beginnings as a symbol of tropical relaxation, the multi-storey verandah exploded into popularity in the Victorian period. Technological advances in the production of cast iron resulted in cast iron becoming the primary material to contruct verandahs from. The Victorian era was the first main phase of the Filigree style.[4] In the Federation era, the verandahs became more adventurous and eclectic, and while cast iron was still in use, it was eclipsed by the demand for novel, naturalised materials such as timber and hand-worked wrought iron.[5]
The style did not have a class consciousness, being used both on humble workers cottage developments, as well as by prominent commercial architects such as Richard Gailey and Andrea Stombuco. Neither was it reserved for a single setting, being used in domestic, commercial, and governmental settings,[2] becoming particularly well associated with the Australian terrace house,[2] and the Australian verandah'd pub.[6][7]
These strong associations have led to the filigree style being "regarded as distinctly Australian."[8] And while both ornamental cast iron and verandahs can be found elsewhere in the world, Australia possesses a unique interpretation of the design and form of this style, as well as a prevalence unseen elsewhere.[9]