Art, Communities, and Housing Form

Abstract

This chapter considers art projects that respond politically and culturally to housing form as an expression of a particular relationship to the notion of home. The artworks describe relationships directed by place, locality, and demographics yet available for sabotage, humor, dissent, and sometimes a publicly expressed sadness and loss. The idea that, woven through the ubiquitous streets of bungalows, there might be a culturally rich and diverse community life underpinned community art projects. The underlying belief of community cultural development, that the creative process was itself empowering, gained traction in the region. Community organizations scrabbled for both the process of empowerment and the alternative imagery offered by radical cultural movements including the community arts movement, which created perspectives absent from the mainstream media. Community facilities, schools, new shopping villages, sports fields, cycle paths, and well-designed open space were prioritized and delivered early in the construction process.