User:RosieWylie/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Filigree architecture is the name given to a phase in the history of Australian architecture. The phase was an embellishment of the "Australian verandah tradition",[3] where the verandah evolved from its functional usages in the Old Colonial period to become highly ornamental. Buildings described as being built in the filigree style possess verandah and balcony structures that dominate the facade, hiding the building's external walls behind an intricately-textured verandah screen that subsumed the building. The name "filigree" refers to the intricate texture of the balustrades, columns, brackets and freizes that made up that verandah screen, which was often perforated to let air and light pass through. This lacy, filigree screen was designed to stand proud of the mass of the main building, creating an in-between space that was both public and private.[4]
Filigree architecture is divided into two main phases. Victorian Filigree describes architecture with a visually dominant verandah or balcony constructed during the Victorian era between c. 1840 – c. 1900. The primary verandah construction material in this era was cast iron, often referred to as "cast iron lacework" .[5] Federation Filigree describes the continuation of this verandah tradition into the Federation era (c. 1890 – c. 1920). In this period cast iron (though still in usage) was eclipsed by the demand for novel, naturalised materials such as timber and hand-worked wrought iron.[6]
Verandah structures and decorative cast iron were common components of Victorian and Federation architecture, and the prevalence of these components on Italianate, Gothic, and Second Empire styled buildings indicates their popularity at the time. However their presence did not necessarily characterise a building as being of the filigree style, this term being reserved for buildings whereby the lacework verandah is the main external design feature.[7] 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,[8] becoming particularly well associated with the Australian terrace house,[8] and the Australian verandah'd pub.[9][10]
These strong associations have led to the filigree style being "regarded as distinctly Australian."[11] 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.[12]