Overview

Para-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial entanglements in South Pacific architecture. Knowledge of colonial architecture in the South Pacific remains sparse, with often-overlooked connections to para-colonial settings and postcolonial continuities. This edited volume seeks to address these gaps, focusing on the period from 1840 to 1970 across the broader South Pacific region. Through in-depth architectural case studies of buildings, ensembles and urban projects, the essays reflect on the complex interactions between locals and foreigners, colonisers and the colonised, and their shifting allegiances, even across changing political powers. With a rare focus on German colonial influences in the region, the contributions go beyond the predominant narratives of British and French colonial influence. This volume is a valuable resource for students and researchers of architectural history and colonial history in Oceania.

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael Falser ,  Michael Falser ,  Carolyn Hill ,  Charmaine ‘Ilaiū Talei
Publisher:   Leuven University Press
Imprint:   Leuven University Press
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9789462704633

ISBN 10:   9462704635
Pages:   310
Publication Date:   22 October 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

Table of Contents

Introduction. Para-Colonial Influences – Colonial Transactions – Postcolonial Legacies: Architecture in Oceania (1840–1970) Michael Falser Part I. The ‘South Seas’: Para-Colonial Forms of Architecture and Architectural Knowledge Chapter 1. Re-scribing Indigenous Form: The 19th-Century Churches of the London Missionary Society in Rarotonga, Cook Islands Carolyn Hill Chapter 2. Tongan–German (Siamane) Relations and their Architecture in the Kingdom of Tonga Charmaine ‘Ilaiū Talei Chapter 3. From Comparative Study to an Emergent Local Building Practice: Hermann Frobenius’ Study of Oceanische Bautypen of 1899 Robin Skinner Part II. German Colonialism in the Südsee and its Encounters (1884–1914) Chapter 4. Administrative and Residential Architecture in the German Colonial South Seas: The Photo Albums of Wilhelm Knappe, Carl Schiesser, and Ferdinand Kunzmann Hermann Mückler Chapter 5. Extracting Growth: The Phosphate Mining Infrastructure on Nauru and Angaur (1906–1913) Jasper Ludewig Chapter 6. Colonial Waves from Apia to Yap: Technoscientific Network Structures of German Expansionism in Oceania Clemens Finkelstein Chapter 7. German Colonial Building Cultures in Kaiser- Wilhelmsland and the Bismarck-Archipel: Reconnecting a Fragmented Architectural History of Deutsch-Neuguinea Michael Falser Part III. From Inter-Colonial Encounter to Post-Colonial Building Practices Chapter 8. Burns Philp’s Encounters across Colonial Borders: Buildings for Export and Commerce in the South Pacific Paul Walker and Amanda Achmadi Chapter 9. Architectural Influence within Missionary Areas: The Steyl Mission Architecture during the German and the Australian Colonial Periods in New Guinea (1896–1914–1945) Paul B. Steffen Chapter 10. Australian Architects in Melanesia: Culture as Resource in the Late-Colonial Development of Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia (1950s–1970s) Peter Scriver, Amit Srivastava, and Louis Lagarde About the Contributors

Reviews

Author Information

Michael Falser was project director for German colonial architecture at the Technical University of Munich (2020-2024), and is teaching architectural history and cultural heritage at the Institute for Art History, Heidelberg University. Michael Falser was project director for German colonial architecture at the Technical University of Munich (2020-2024), and is teaching architectural history and cultural heritage at the Institute for Art History, Heidelberg University.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions