Architecture

As the original inhabitants of the Australian continent were essentially nomadic, no significant built environment existed before 1788. The Aborigines built structures for housing and other needs but these were temporary structures. As a British colony, the first European buildings were derivative of the fashions of Europe at the time. The first structures built in the new colony were tents and wattle and daub huts. The first major style was Georgian architecture, used mainly for government buildings and the homes of the wealthy. The gold rushes of the mid-eighteenth century brought prosperity to the colonies and major buildings were built in the Victorian style. Sydney and Melbourne benefited most