The Migrant
Experience: From Village to Suburb
By Alexander Glafchev
printable
version
| “You may not think
much of this old cottage with the allotment
by the hedge and the muddy
path to the spring, but I have seen this daily
for fifty years. I do not know how I shall
be when I leave it.”1 |
Introduction
By examining the sociocultural patterns which exist
in our society, we are able to better understand
how we can best address the needs of our urban environment.
The patterns of life which exist form an intricate
and complex web, encompassing all aspects of human
existence. These patterns are dependent upon the
forces and factors which mould our lives and shape
our physical environment.
Comparisons will be drawn between the sociocultural
patterns of a Macedonian village and the urban pattern
of life in Adelaide. Much of the information presented
is based on the life experiences of one Macedonian2 in
the village and in South Australia, and I thank
him sincerely for sharing his experiences with me.
This
paper will also overview the changes and challenges
faced by the Macedonian community in adapting to
the wider Australian community and their relationship
with the urban landscape. Particular emphasis will
be placed on the built form in the village of Visheni,
which is situated in the Southern Balkan region
of Europe.
It is hoped that this overview will allow a closer
self-examination by architects, planners and designers
of the need to carefully consider the sociocultural
factors which influence the Australian cultural fabric
and the need to seek community involvement and participation
in the design process.
Background
The village of Visheni3 (Visinca in Greek)
is located within the borders of Northern Greece,
and lies within the geographical territory of Macedonia.
This territory was under the control of the Ottoman
Turkish Empire for approximately five hundred years
until 1912, when the Turkish armies were defeated
by an alliance of Balkan countries. The resultant
victory saw the partition of the territory amongst
Greece (which acquired 51%), the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
(acquired 38%), Bulgaria (10%) and Albania (1%).
The Macedonian people who inhabited the region were
given no role, nor representation in determining
their fate with the disembowelment of their land,
under the Treaty of Bucharest (ratified in 1919 by
the Treaty of Versailles). These treaties in effect
paid little heed to the ethnic composition of the
Macedonians within the region and only acted as a
catalyst quickening the process of denationalisation,
proselytization, forced assimilation and persecution
of Macedonians by successive Greek, Yugoslav, Bulgarian
and Albanian governments. Today, Macedonians have
been left a legacy where their basic and fundamental
human rights have been seriously denied and their
very existence threatened.
The Macedonian situation is not an isolated occurrence
in the annals of twentieth century history. Parallels
can also be made with other countries and peoples
who have suffered similar fates, such as Kurdistan,
Palestine, and more recently East Timor, and not
forgetting the disenfranchisement of Australia's
own Aboriginal population
The Village
The form of the village was shaped by the rural
pattern of life and the immediate physical environment.
The village was located in a valley through which
a mountain stream ran, and was predominantly surrounded
by tree covered hills. Thus it was ideally situated
to make full use of the catchment area provided by
the hilly terrain and the availability of water from
the stream.
At its peak in the 1920s, the village of Visheni
had a population of around 800 people. It had no
electricity, no mains sewer or water and was totally
dependent upon the physical environment for its survival.
The main activity in the village centred around maintaining
a rural life, the farming of crops, tending to livestock,
orchards, and vineyards. People were up at sunrise
making preparations for the day’s work ahead and
normally worked until sunset. There was a clear social
delineation of the work that men and women were expected
to do. The men primarily worked in the fields and
open spaces, which were located on the outskirts
of the village perimeter, irrigating their crops
with water diverted from the stream or tending to
the animals (sheep, goats and cattle) which were
left to graze. Men were also able to freely roam
the hills, to other close lying villages and to the
nearest local town of Kostur (Kastoria in Greek).
The men's physical environment extended far beyond
the
confines
of the village, to other villages, other towns and
other regions. The women also worked the fields,
and had the added responsibility to ensure their
houses and small farm lots were well maintained,
that food was prepared and children cared for, but
essentially they were expected to remain within the
limits of the village.
The villagers had a close affinity with their surroundings,
the hills, the forest, the animals and especially
the stream. Distances were measured in terms of time,
by walking or travelling by drawn cart or pack animal
such as donkeys. The stream was the source of the
village life. Their crops drew sustenance from its
waters, their children played on its banks and swam
in its waters during the summer, the village women
washed their clothes on its rocks and talked about
all manner of things. Water was in abundance; in
addition to the stream, most of the houses had their
own wells from which they drew drinking water from
underground springs. This was supplemented by seven
continuously running village taps, where the women
often gathered to collect the icy cold mountain water.
The taps also served as meeting places for the women
affording them the opportunity to exchange news and
gossip and provide them with a break from their monotonous
daily household chores. The men had their own meeting
place in the cafe which was adjacent to the modern
equivalent of the village square known as the Ano,
offering them a more convivial and relaxed atmosphere
for social discourse. The Ano was also the cultural
centre of the village, and was used as a gathering
place to celebrate various religious feast days.
Village Social Structures
The village was socially based on a patriarchal
system. An administrative structure was in place
to look after the welfare of the village and to make
decisions which affected the livelihood of the villagers.
The positions of Village President and Village Secretary
were elected from amongst the men in the village,
while the Village Treasurer (who normally kept and
maintained records and accounts) was usually someone
with some degree of bookkeeping knowledge from the
nearby town of Kostur, selected by the Greek authorities.
The older men of the village were held in high regard,
and often were sought to provide advice and direction.
Whenever disputes arose, redress was sought from
the elected officials and on occasions arbitration
was sought from the local parish priest who was deemed
to be independent. Once a year, the village would
appoint amongst themselves various overseers to look
after the cooperative interests of the village. These
men would have responsibilities as the village shepherd,
swineherd, goatherd, orchard and vineyard overseer
and the village forest keeper. The forest keeper
had an important role in ensuring that the villagers
only cut certain trees in the forest for their needs.
Trees not earmarked for felling were strictly protected
and anyone caught trying to cut these trees was severely
reprimanded and in some cases fined.
The women’s role on the other hand was seen as subservient
to the men. Even though they ran every aspect of
the households, they needed to exercise servility
to the male members of their households. The church
also reflected the delineation of male and female.
Men were allowed into the inner sanctum and aisles,
whilst the women were confined to the rear of the
church and its upper mezzanine level. Family ties
and kinship bonds were exceptionally strong, and
help explain why many of the houses were occupied
by more than one family, often incorporating up to
three generations under the one roof.
The main social occasions of the village centred
around religious days which were eagerly awaited.
Namedays (Imenden in Macedonian) or Saints
days were a continuous occurrence and took the place
of
birthdays.
Families
would attend a church service on such days, returning
home afterwards to prepare food and drink and to
greet the guests who would arrive unannounced.
The Village House Form
The form of the village house had changed very little
for centuries. They were built without reference
to plans or drawings and relied on the accumulative
knowledge of the villagers, which was passed on from
one generation to the next. House building was a
cooperative effort, involving many of the villagers,
especially those with specific skills such as stonemasonry
and carpentry. The villagers had a close affinity
with the building materials they used, which were
extracted from the earth, stone and forest around
the village. Stone and mud mixed with what chaff
created walls 600mm thick. Local clay was shaped
and left to dry and used as roof tiles. Timber was
cut and used for the main roof structure and as lintels,
load bearing posts, doors and window frames. Their
homes sprang from the very earth they walked upon.
Houses were either single storey or two storey and
orientated on the north-south axis, with the main
rooms orientated south to make full use of solar
orientation. The floor plans for all the village
homes were essentially the same with slight variations.
Most homes had two main rooms (Odaja in Macedonian) serving
as both bedrooms and meal areas. One of the Odaja known
as the Novata Odaja (new Room) also served
as a visiting room for the guests. In fact the term Novata
Odaja is still used to this day even in Australian
homes when referring to the formal living room.
There was little privacy, as many as six people
would share one room, which included in many cases
three generations. This physical closeness also meant
that family bonds had to be strong to endure such
overcrowding, and indeed they were. The Keral was
a room used to store various barrels of foodstuffs
and wine. The main entry served as a transitory space
and was also used to store grain in sluice-gated
cupboards called Umba.
Handwoven Kilim rugs and carpets were placed on
the earthen floors upon which mattresses and cushions
were placed serving as both beds and eating spaces.
In the warmer months, food was prepared outside the
home in a detached area known as the Ushchalak,
which incorporated a large mud and stone domed baking
oven, Umba, timber troughs, various earthenware
storage vessels (Stomni, Brdache), and an
open fireplace where meals were cooked. The livestock
consisting of sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, cow and
calf, oxen and horses, mules or donkeys were housed
in various sheltered pens adjoining the Ushchalak.
The house was used primarily as a space for rest
and a sanctuary from the elements for both people
and animals. “The house was sanctioned as a place
of refuge – from weather, flies, work, even people.
Mostly it seemed to be a refuge for both men and
women, except that it was still the women’s responsibility
to maintain and care for the house.”4
Migration to Australia
Though the villagers were able to sustain themselves,
they could not improve their lifestyle. Stories were
told of others who had left to go overseas to the
USA and South America in search of wealth and fortune.
In the 1920s, 1.3 million Greeks from Asia minor
were resettled principally in the northern part of
Greece, which included Macedonia. This created enormous
social and economic pressures in the region. In 1926,
the Greek government introduced laws whereby all
Macedonians had their names changed into Greek and
all the topography (mountains, rivers, lakes etc)
of the region likewise had the names changed from
the Macedonian into Greek, the village of Visheni
had its named changed to Visinea.
With this backdrop of social and political upheaval,
many men set out to travel to foreign lands to seek
a better life. They were known as Pechalbari, (meaning
those seeking fortune) and they journeyed by ship
for one and a half months to reach South Australia.
They arrived in Australia without any knowledge nor
understanding of the land, its language, culture,
traditions or customs. As one would expect, they
stuck together in groups, which in many cases included
Macedonians from other villages, and wherever possible
pooled their resources to overcome the obstacles
of just surviving. “In 1921, there were estimated
to be around fifty Macedonians in Australia”.5
Work in Adelaide, especially during the Depression,
was scarce and so they became “…itinerant workers
who travelled the countryside in small groups, taking
whatever work they could get, and they were often
the victims of discrimination. In most urban centres,
union opposition prevented their being employed in
factories.”6 Many found work clearing
scrub on the West Coast, in places like Ceduna and
Cungena and in building the East-West Railway, or
fruit picking in Barmera or in the rest of the Riverland.
They lived in tents, some for as long as eight years,
their only belongings were those they carried with
them.
The Pre-War Period
Money saved was sent back to their families in the
village. Their isolation from their families placed
enormous pressures both on them and their families,
some were unable to withstand such pressures and
returned home after several months, whilst others
remained. Those that did knew that their sacrifices
had to be worthwhile for them to stay. The wives
and particularly the children left behind in the
village had to take on the extra work of their husbands
and fathers and in many cases children were raised
by their grandparents, not even knowing their fathers.
During the mid 1930s, the Greek government, under
the military dictator Metaxas, passed laws which
prohibited the use of the Macedonian language within
Greece. The families of the Pechalbari were forbidden
to speak their own language in the village and lived
in constant fear of arrest, beatings, imprisonment
and in extreme cases exile to one of the Greek islands.
They communicated these developments to their menfolk
in Adelaide by the only means available to them,
by mail. This more than ever gave the Pechalbari
the added incentive to work even harder, and to secure
for themselves a stable economic base.
When the South Australian economy began to recover,
they gravitated back towards the city in search of
stable work. Some found work in factories doing manual
labour, while others worked in the shops, cafes and
businesses of other immigrants. They rented accommodation
in lodgings within the inner city of Adelaide, and
in most instances were sleeping six to eight people
to a room. These lodgings were chosen as they were
in close proximity to their workplaces, which were
within walking or bicycling distance, thereby enabling
them to save money on transport. They worked long
hours for very little monetary reward, sharing whatever
they had amongst themselves.
In 1939, the first Macedonian café called “Makedonija”
opened for business in Hindley Street amongst other émigré cafes.
These cafes provided an important cultural and social
focus for the Pechalbari who regularly stayed there
to exchange news, reminisce on old times and to seek
help in finding gainful employment. These places
played a vital role in drawing together the Macedonians
and helped to facilitate the establishment of invaluable
social networks. Where financial support was sought
by those worse off, they would pool their resources
to assist them and rarely would ask for repayment.
The café area of Hindley Street took on the ambience
and cultural atmosphere of a small European village,
with various nationalities readily mixing and interacting
with one another. This was a far cry from the mainstream
Australian society of the time.
The War and Post-War Period
With the outbreak of war in Europe, the South Australian
economy geared itself to produce weapons and equipment
for the war effort. Masses of Australians enlisted
for armed service, resulting in critical labour shortages
in the factories. Those Macedonians who did not or
could not enlist found work alongside other immigrants
in the factories. Surprisingly they found that the
war had swept away some of the racial bias which
for years had plagued them, as they were now seen
to be contributing to the Allied effort. Though their
economic fortunes were improving during this period,
they were effectively cut off from any contact with
their families in the village.
Even though peace was declared in 1945, the end
of the war in Europe had reignited political divisions
within Greece, resulting in the Greek Civil War of
1946-49. As a consequence, many of the Pechalbari
had not had contact with their families for more
than ten long years. The Civil War in Greece resulted
in the massive displacement of tens of thousands
of Macedonians. In one case alone, around 8,000 Macedonian
children aged fifteen and under were evacuated from
their homes by the Red Cross. These child refugees
(Detsa Begaltsi) sought sanctuary in the Eastern
Bloc countries willing to take them (primarily in
Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia
and the USSR). Some of the villagers managed to flee
the country by different routes, making their way
to Australia to be reunited with their husbands and
fathers. For the first time in more than twenty years
the first Macedonian families began to arrive in
Australia. The Post-War period saw a massive influx
of migrants to Australia, many of whom were displaced
persons. In 1947 1.5 per cent of the Australian population
were registered as having been born in Europe (excluding
the UK and Ireland) increasing to 5.5 per cent by
1954.7
The resettlement of families meant that men who
had lived in Adelaide had to change their lifestyle
to one which was conducive to stabilising the family
both economically and socially. Initially families
lived and shared lodgings with others until such
time as they could find more suitable accommodation.
The Macedonians tended to settle collectively in
the same areas, establishing their own social networks.
When new Macedonian migrants arrived they would gravitate
towards these areas, reinforcing the social pattern.
They rented houses and land towards and on the outskirts
of the Adelaide urban fringe, in Kilkenny, Challa
Gardens and Croydon. Others settled in Fulham, Lockleys
and Ferryden Park where they found large unused tracts
of broad acres, which at that time was used primarily
for agistment.
They commenced working the land using the only real
skills they knew, those of farming. They created
market garden plots and built their own glasshouses,
growing primarily tomatoes which at that time were
in short supply. They also commenced to build their
first homes, which were constructed out of the most
readily available and least expensive materials,
using timber framework, asbestos cement cladding
and galvanised iron. This was a great departure from
the solidly constructed stone and mud homes they
had left behind in the village. These early Australian
houses were built alongside their packing sheds where
they graded and packed their produce. As they were
not restricted to a small plot of land, as in their
village, they soon discovered that they had ample
space to extend to accommodate new family members.
Due to the materials they used, walls and roofs could
be taken down and put up without difficulty, unlike
their homes in the village, thereby giving them greater
flexibility and choice in satisfying their needs.
Though these first homes were not suited to the harsh
Australian climate, the Macedonians for the first
time began to firmly establish themselves within
the urban landscape.
The Community Form in Adelaide
The establishment of families also meant that they
could revive some of their village traditions. Religious
feast days and traditional celebrations for weddings,
christenings and other special occasions were transposed
into their Australian lives. Initially, small gatherings
were held at individuals homes, making use of the
large packing sheds where they danced traditional
Macedonian Ora, and played and sang old village
songs.
As the families and population increased, they began
to hire assembly halls in Hindmarsh and on Henley
Beach Road to accommodate the growing throngs of
people. There was also a conscious decision to formalise
their activities and once again pool their resources.
A committee was established ostensibly to undertake
the responsibility of coordinating their social activities,
such as traditional dances and picnics where up to
two hundred people would attend. In the late 1960s,
after the influx of more Macedonian migrants from
Yugoslavia, they decided the time was right to commence
building their own community hall. A campaign of
fundraising was commenced, seeking donations from
all Macedonians throughout Adelaide. An Italian builder
by the name of John Pinta was engaged to design and
build the hall and it was officially opened in 1968,
on Crittenden Road, Findon, in close proximity to
one of the most concentrated areas of Macedonian
settlement, that of Fulham and Seaton.
The hall design bore a strong resemblance to the
packing sheds and glasshouses which were built at
the time. One can only speculate that neither the
builder nor the local Macedonians had the necessary
expertise in building or designing a structure which
would echo the built form of their homeland. Even
in the event that they had, the cost of undertaking
a more complicated structure may have been cost prohibitive.
Another possibility may have been that they did not
wish to draw attention to themselves by creating
a structure which may not have been in keeping with
mainstream Australian society, and in so doing afforded
themselves a degree of anonymity within the urban
fabric. Whatever the reason, the completion of the
hall symbolically represented another step in establishing
themselves within Australian society and cemented
their ties with their new homeland. The Hall also
filled a cultural void, as it symbolised the reaffirmation
of the existence and identity of the Macedonian people,
an identity which was totally denied them in their
own homeland. The act of building a permanent community
structure also meant that social foundations had
been put into place and the process of redefining
their cultural identity within the Australian social
fabric had well and truly begun.
During the 1970s and 1980s the community expanded
its activities significantly. It had its own soccer
club, youth group, school, women’s section, folkloric
dancing group, a cultural society and even its own
locally produced community radio program. It was
also around this time that a move was made to build
the first Macedonian Orthodox Church, on a vacant
lot adjacent to the hall. In the past an enclosed
space directly behind the community hall was utilised
as a chapel, but it was unable to accommodate larger
gatherings such as at Easter and Christmas, resulting
in religious services being carried out in other
non-Orthodox Churches. In the 1980s Jim Petrie, a
local architectural draftsman of Macedonian descent
was engaged by the building committee to undertake
the design of the new church. The final design chosen
encapsulated their new found confidence in proclaiming
their Macedonianism to the wider Australian community.
The design emulated the basic form and appearance
of the eighth century Byzantine architecture found
in the Balkans, especially in Macedonia. The church
was built with the cooperation and financial support
of the community members, many of whom freely donated
their services and labour. Cost once more played
an integral part in the final design, materials such
as clay bricks and pre-formed concrete panels, steel
framework, a fibreglass dome and compressed sheet
roof shingles were used, rather than stone, timber
and terracotta.
The floor plan and interior of the church follows
the Byzantine Orthodox tradition, with a central
nave and two aisles, reflected in the vaulted ceilings.
The main central feature of the interior is the iconostasis
(wall of icons) upon which is adorned copies of icons
dating back centuries and to which all believers
in the Orthodox faith pay veneration and alms. The
congregation still followed the traditional physical
separation of men and women within the church, men
sat on the right and women on the left. A carry over
of both the village custom and the religious tradition.
A cultural centre incorporating a library/ meeting
room, radio recording studio and a social welfare
office were later added to the existing community
hall and church, thereby addressing other cultural
and social needs of the community. All of the community
buildings created a distinctive imprint on the cultural
fabric of South Australian Macedonians, allowing
them to reaffirm their identity and culture. It also
provided them with a physical reference point which
linked their past, present and future.
The Adelaide House Form
The homes of the Macedonians on the other hand,
unlike the church, did not attempt to emulate or
reinterpret the Macedonian home in the physical sense.
There is nothing externally which differentiates
their homes from the surrounding homes. There is
no sense of uniqueness or of cultural diversity in
the streetscapes. This possibly again may mean that
they are content to accept the Australian homogenous
approach to house form and do not see the exterior
of their homes as a form of self-expression or of
extrovertness in the same way that other ethnic groups
do. The interiors unlike the exteriors are richly
decorated with photos, emblems and artefacts which
reflect their cultural and historical heritage. The
pride of place in many of the homes is taken up by
a photo of their village or of their village house.
Thus creating in a sense a nexus between their old
and new way of life, and emphasising the acceptance
of the physical built form as the symbolic embodiment
of their culture.
The Social Structure in Australia
The family unit and the patriarchal structure which
was embodied in the village pattern of life was transferred
into the Australian landscape. In the majority of
instances where both the husband and wife worked,
sometimes taking on more than one job, the wife was
still expected to prepare the food and maintain and
care for the house and children. There were however
increasing instances where both the husband and wife
shared the household duties and parenting, but these
more often than not were undertaken by those Macedonians
who had come to Australia at a relatively young age
and had been influenced by their new Australian lifestyle.
Generally even today, if one visits a Macedonian
household, the female will serve guests while the
male will be waited upon. Strong family links remain,
and it is still not uncommon to find three generations
living in the same home, with grandparents sharing
in the parenting and caring of children while their
parents work. This again reflects a similar social
pattern found in village life.
The first Australian born children had been brought
up in the Macedonian way of life, instilled with
many of the old traditional village cultural values
and norms. Many of this generation found conflict
with such cultural attitudes and rebelled. Females
in particular were expected to follow the village
traditions and adhere to the social hierarchy, actively
being encouraged to be efficient in house keeping
and to marry and raise families.
Males on the other hand were still seen as the centre
of the social fabric, and as in the village were
given freedoms and liberties not afforded to the
females, encouragement was given to succeed in all
their pursuits. Today, what we see are the last remaining
remnants of a culture and a way of life that is slowly
disappearing. The other Macedonians in the community
who lived in the village are the last custodians
of that unique culture and once they are gone, the
link between the village and the suburb will be severed
forever.
Conclusions
In Australia today, there are approximately 110
different ethnic groups representing a myriad of
cultural and social diversity. “One in five Australians
are not born in Australia and a further one in five
have parents who were born overseas.”8 Add
to that the uniqueness of Australia’s own Aboriginal
people and one can see that we have a rich and diverse
culture which needs to be articulated into the built
and urban form. Yet such a cultural diversity is
not reflected in the architecture and urban pattern
of Australia.
Moreover, the approach adopted by many architects,
planners and designers has merely regurgitated the
myth of addressing the cultural and social needs
of Australians in a way which treats all Australians
in a monocultural fashion, without regard for their
cultural and social heritage. “There is an assumption
that most migrants will eventually have more or less
the same housing as Australia-born citizens.”9 It
is pertinent to note that one of the most authoritative
documents published in regards to the makeup and
social composition of the Australian community, The
Australian People: An Encyclopaedia of the Nation,
Its People and Their Origins, made specific reference
to the fact that “Little has been written on migrants
and housing from a national perspective, and few
writers on housing have said much about migrants.
Studies of migrants have rarely focussed on their
housing except in the case of settlement difficulties.”10
The overview presented in this paper on one ethnospecific
group, on their cultural, social and urban patterns
highlights the complex nature and composition of
only one of the many groups that make up South Australian
society. In order to effectively reflect and interpret
the cultural diversity of our society through the
built and urban form, we as architects, planners
and designers must be able to perceive, understand
and respond to such cultural differentiation.
The best way of achieving this is through increasing
our perception of the way our society functions.
Even if we have achieved a certain degree of perception,
we may not be able to understand the social and cultural
context of what we have found, as our own cultural
reference point could be far removed from that of
the other culture. Once we have perceived and understood
what we have found we are in a far better position
to respond.
Our response will be better complemented by directly
involving the communities and encouraging participation
in the design process. In this way we can better
judge whether or not our response is in keeping with
the social and cultural determinants of that particular
culture, by the very people who make up that culture.
The idea of openly inviting community involvement
and participation is seen by many as an anathema
to their select professions. It is incorrectly perceived
as a threat and an undermining of their professional
training, practise and expertise. The truth however
would tend to suggest that the fear lies in the individual’s
reluctance of self-examination and a re-evaluation
of a system that clearly has painted all people with
the same cultural brush. There are however an increasing
number of architects and educators who take a different
stance and have seen the sociocultural responsibility
that architects and other environmental designers
must address.
The seminal work, “A Modern Theory of Architecture”
by the renowned architectural historian and philosopher,
Bruce Allsopp, foresaw such a need and stated that
“Architecture requires sympathy with understanding
of and satisfaction of the emotional needs of people.
All people are different and all communities of people
differ. The concept of “one architecture” is a totalitarian
monstrosity.”11 Other researchers too
have been equally cognisant of this need elaborating
that “Rather than thinking in terms of producing
finished and complete environments for people of
a common culture they (architects and environmental
designers) need to establish environmental alternatives
among which the public can choose. There need to
be alternatives in settings for different lifestyles
and preferences for physical settings expressive
of different values; there need to be different forms
of housing and different urban areas.”12
The realisation of the need to involve people and
communities has gained a global dimension, in addition
to the United Nations World Commission on Environment
and Development, the European Communities Commission
Green Paper on the Urban Environment stated that,
“Planning without broad participation by and concern
for the city’s inhabitants will result in a narrow
view of its efficiency which ultimately condemns
it to sterility”.13
In South Australia, the need for community involvement
in the urban environment has also been clearly emphasised.
Government social policies have been developed and
acknowledged that “…the Planning Review saw community
involvement as an essential component of effective
planning and decision making as well as providing
one mechanism through which the community identity
and belonging can be achieved.”14 Specific
reference was also made to cultural diversity which
further stated that, “…the need to create an urban
environment which is responsive to public values
and reflects Adelaide’s diverse cultural and community
heritage.”15 All of these recommendations
and thoughts reinforce the view that we much readdress
our way of thinking and our approach if we are truly
to reflect and interpret society’s needs in the built
and urban environments.
“A major aim should be to challenge the widespread
cultural values of an antiurban society – a society
that stresses cultural homogeneity, fleeting fashions,
consumerism, and degradation of cultural symbols,
a society that replaces community interaction with
instant communications.”16
This paper was written as part of a Post Graduate
Urban Ecology course for a Master of Architecture
Degree at the University of South Australia, June
1994
Notes
1. Nottridge, Harold E, 'The Sociology of Urban
Living', Routledge & Kegan, London, 1972, p.83.
2. Interviews with Peter Kiosses, a well known and
respected member of the local Macedonian Community
3. Visheni is the local Macedonian name given to
the village. Names in brackets denote the current
Hellenised version changed by Greek law in 1926.
4. Lozanovska, Mirijana, ‘Gender and Architecture
in a Macedonian Village’, Exedro, The Journal of
the School of Architecture, Deakin University, Vol.
1, No. 2, Summer 1989, pp.26.
5. Jupp, J, (Gen. Ed.),
‘The Australian People: An Encyclopaedia of the
Nation. Its People and Their
Origins’, The Settlers: Macedonians, Angus and
Robertson, NSW, 1988, pp, 685-691.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid pp. 166.
8. Jupp, J, op. cit., p.1.
9. Jupp, J, op. cit.
10. Ibid
11. Allsopp, B, ‘A Modern Theory of Architecture’,
Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1977, p.27
12. Whitley, G.S., “Immigrants in the Australian
Environment’, Hardboard’s Australia Ltd Scholarship,
Research Paper, 1972, p.89.
13. Commission of the European Communities, ‘Green
Paper on the Urban Environment’, Directorate-General
Environment, Nuclear Safety & Civil Protection,
Brussels, 1990, p.45.
14. Community Information Services, Department of
Housing and Urban Development, ‘Social Policy Aspects
of Urban Development’, S.A. Govt, 1993, pp. 5-6.
15. Ibid.
16. Lozano, Eduardo, E, ‘Community Design and the
Culture of Cities: The Crossroad and the Wall’, Cambridge
University Press, 1993, p.305.
Bibliography
Allsopp, B, ‘A Modern Theory of Architecture’, Routledge & Kegan
Paul, London, 1977, p. 27.
Commission of the European Communities, ‘Green Paper
on the Urban Environment’, Directorate-General Environment,
Nuclear Safety & Civil Protection, Brussels,
1990, p. 45.
Community Information Services, Department of Housing
and Urban Development, ‘Social Policy Aspects of
the Urban Development’, S.A. Govt., 1993, pp. 5-6.
Jupp, J, (Gen. Ed), ‘The Australian People: An Encyclopaedia
of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins’, The
Settlers: Macedonians, Angus & Robertson, NSW,
1988, pp. 685-691.
Lozano, Eduardo, E, ‘Community Design and the Culture
of Cities: The Crossroad and the Wall’, Cambridge
University Press, 1993, p. 305.
Lozanovska, Mirijana, ‘Gender and Architecture in
a Macedonian Village’, Exedra, The Journal of the
School of Architecture, Deakin University, Vol. 1,
No. 2, Summer 1989, pp. 26.
Nottridge, Harold. E, ‘The Sociology of Urban Living’,
Routledge & Kegan, London, 1972, p. 83.
Whitley, G.S., ‘Immigrants in the Australian Environment’,
Hardboard’s Australia Ltd Scholarship, Research paper,
1972, p. 89.
Recommended Further Reading
Arias, Ernesto. G (Ed.), ‘The Meaning and Use of
Housing’, Avebury Ashgate Publishing Ltd., England,
1993.
Kee, Pookong, ‘Home Ownership and Housing Conditions
of Immigrants and Australian-Born, Institute of Applied
Economic and Social Research, Aust. Government Publishing
Service, Canberra, 1992. |