The Homes That Built Australia

From the end of WWII into the present day, The Homes That Built Australia tells the surprising story of a country building its way into the future. The series unpacks how key historic moments have impacted our wants and needs as a growing society, from economic booms and busts to the fight for Land Rights and recognition, from various cultural migrations and the unrelenting force of nature.

Snowy Hydro, Cyclone Tracy, Covid19 – these are just a few of the turning points that have had an overwhelming impact on our homes, their designs, and the way we live as a society. But alongside these external forces were the powerful movements coming from within the heart of the nation. The end of the White Australia Policy plants the seed for a multicultural society in the decades to come, bringing with it new priorities in architecture, community building, and city planning. Generation Flower Power in the 60s to take on a different approach to the ideas of home and community, riding the wave of alternative lifestyle from the beaches out to the bush. And the more Australia powers ahead to accommodate rapid growth from all avenues, the more it fires up calls to acknowledge the history of its First Peoples, and the enduring connection to their lands.

From these stories, we ask – did our building booms endure the test of time, or did we hammer down our dreams on shaky foundations? Where did we succeed, and where did we fail? Have we learnt from past mistakes or are we caught in cycles of history repeating itself, building the Australian Dream for a select few, instead of everyone?