Jennifer Fowler
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Architectural history
Biography
During the 1980s at Monash University, Jennifer completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) as well as a Master of Arts, dealing with Melbourne's nineteenth-century Public Works Department architecture. After working as a tutor and then as a decorator, she returned to study in 2019, obtaining a Master of Urban and Cultural Heritage degree in 2020 in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne. In late 2020 Jennifer commenced as a Doctor of Philosophy candidate in the department. With a life-long interest in Melbourne's heritage architecture, Jennifer's main research interests are the architectural and aesthetic influences upon commercial Boom-era street architecture in Melbourne and the issue of whether or not the city's Boom-era architecture forms a distinctive aesthetic.
Thesis
The Boom Aesthetic and the Creative Vernacular: Melbourne's Street Architecture from 1875 to 1895
During the economic boom of the 1880s, Melbourne viewed its often elaborate commercial architecture with pride, embracing the label Marvellous Melbourne, a term coined by English journalist George Sala after his colonial lecture tour. When Melbourne’s prosperity ended in early 1892 with the worst economic crash in Australia’s history, the city’s Boom-era architecture was derided, seen as aesthetically bankrupt and symbolic of financial corruption. This seismic shift in design outlook from the 1890s and extending into the early twentieth century brought about by Modernism has resulted in the huge historiographical gap in mid-twentieth century secondary texts, blinding the next few generations of historians to the undoubted achievements of the Victorians.
The thesis aims to chart a more balanced course, based upon recent scholarship, that has moved beyond the Modernist bias against Boom-era design. The research will consider a wide sample of major commercial buildings in Melbourne’s Central Business District, both extant and demolished, focusing upon architectural style, patronage, use of technology and the crucial economic factors that resulted in one of the most spectacular financial boom and bust cycles in history. The motifs of local businessmen and land speculators, British and colonial examples of aspirational commercial architecture and the development of construction technology will be explored to gain a greater understanding of how Melbourne transformed from a pioneer town to an industrialized metropolis within a decade.
This research is supported by a Research Training Program Scholarship provided by the Australian Commonwealth Government and the University of Melbourne.