Australian Architects in Melanesia: Two Case Studies in Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia, 1960s-80s

Résumé En

The current paper uses the narrative of two Australian architects involved in different parts of the Melanesian neighbourhood to characterise these two approaches to the region. In the first section we will discuss the work of Melbourne based architectural consultant and educator Balwant Saini, who first travelled to Papua New Guinea in 1963. Over the next two decades, Saini continued to engage with several development initiatives aimed at improving the local building industry and educational institutions, as well as initiating local architectural training. In the second section, we will discuss the peculiar conditions that led to the engagement of Sydney based architect and illustrator Douglas Snelling to design a range of built and unbuilt projects in New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu. Snelling had first travelled to New Caledonia in 1967 where he met local entrepreneurs who invited him to design their lavish residences, and then continued to develop projects in New Hebrides (Vanuatu) and Fiji over the following years into the early 1970s. The paper is based on a selection of published and unpublished documents from both public and private archives, as well as interviews with relevant participants conducted by the authors.