Myth and media: Constructing aboriginal architecture

Abstract

A house designed by Glenn Murcutt was completed in 1994 in an Aboriginal settlement in Northern Australia. It has since been published in more than a dozen major architectural magazines globally, celebrated as a modern expression of the archetypal hut and as a prototype for Aboriginal housing. Although few critics have visited the site, the critique is constructed through a narrow range of authorized photographs and some key phrases such as "bridging between cultures" and "touching the earth lightly." This paper is about how myth is constructed in architectural media - a narrative that says more about Western desire than Aboriginal culture. © 2000 ACSA, Inc.