Public Address | Cafe | Speaker: The Architecture of Elsewhere https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/ en-us Copyright (c) 2026 Public Address recordari https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149926#post149926 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149926#post149926

Talk about bad architecture, what's the story behind those dreadful supposedly temporary prefab classroom's that get trucked in when class numbers start to swell, and never leave.

But in a cost saving measure, they have found a convenient design for makeshift prisons with double bunking options.

]]> Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:24:19 +1300 andin https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149924#post149924 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149924#post149924 Talk about bad architecture, what's the story behind those dreadful supposedly temporary prefab classroom's that get trucked in when class numbers start to swell, and never leave.
Freezing in winter, boiling in summer, with windows that dont allow airflow. If I was a parent I'd be suing the Dept of…

]]> Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:18:00 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149894#post149894 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149894#post149894 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:54:43 +1300 Kumara Republic https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149678#post149678 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149678#post149678

It's a Westfield then.

Come to think of it, it's not that far from the truth. A shopping mall with transmitters.

]]> Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:52:43 +1300 recordari https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149583#post149583 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149583#post149583 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:38:02 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149573#post149573 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149573#post149573

So it didn't work out then?

One coffee cart in the atrium. That's it.

]]> Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:25:57 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149572#post149572 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149572#post149572

Having had a good walk around inside the Court of Appeal it is brilliantly brutal (if indeed it is actually Brutalist architecture – I'm no expert) on the inside too. The court room had no windows!!!

The term brutalist comes from the French name for raw concrete: béton brut.

Despite…

]]> Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:25:14 +1300 Patrick Reynolds https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149493#post149493 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149493#post149493 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:43:10 +1300 Leopold https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149470#post149470 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149470#post149470 "Just look at what they're doing to the National Library building. Slapping acres of glass on the front, and Supreme Court style metal facades on the side in order to destroy the form of the original building. "

Fret not. The rebuilding budget has been severely cut back, so the…

]]> Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:29:08 +1300 Hilary Stace https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149463#post149463 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149463#post149463 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:55:13 +1300 Just thinking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149443#post149443 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149443#post149443 If you're wandering around Christchurch, pop out to Sumner 1 The Rocks.
I think it's wonderful and brutal, maybe reflective of the War years and modeled on a tank trap.
Had lots of engineering too, not sure I could live there but I like it very much anyway.
Anyone know…

]]> Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:33:18 +1300 Just thinking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149442#post149442 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149442#post149442 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:24:29 +1300 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149422#post149422 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149422#post149422 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:40:25 +1300 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149421#post149421 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149421#post149421 I would like to see the Tank Farm say something about Auckland's place as the largest polynesian city on the planet.

About navigating, about storytelling, weaving the past and the present. About the future, learning and improving our people and building a proud prosperous place on the world stage.

I…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:33:17 +1300 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149420#post149420 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149420#post149420 Did someone say carousel?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:19:54 +1300 recordari https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149416#post149416 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149416#post149416

He also put in a design for Te Papa, incidentally, I wonder if any of you knowledgeable chaps or chapesses knows where one could get hold of it.

Not claiming special knowledge, but it did exist, and I remember people going 'Oooh' and 'Ahhh!' and 'That'll never fly', which it…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:05:06 +1300 Rickai https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149413#post149413 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149413#post149413 That expresses exactly what I meant!

Having had a good walk around inside the Court of Appeal it is brilliantly brutal (if indeed it is actually Brutalist architecture – I'm no expert) on the inside too. The court room had no windows!!!

Maybe Queen's Wharf could be something similar...

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:52:43 +1300 giovanni tiso https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149411#post149411 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149411#post149411 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:38:12 +1300 Rickai https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149410#post149410 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149410#post149410 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:36:06 +1300 giovanni tiso https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149409#post149409 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149409#post149409 Compare and contrast Hundertwasser's remodelling of the Rosenthal factory in Selb. Although I guess he didn't add any space, just changed its relationship with its environment. (Here's the before picture).

He also put in a design for Te Papa, incidentally, I wonder if any of you knowledgeable chaps or chapesses…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:30:21 +1300 George Darroch https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149407#post149407 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149407#post149407

What is wrong with Varsity Brutalism? Ok, I rephrase, there's a lot wrong with it, but for me it provides an effective and efficient historical narrative.

Just look at what they're doing to the National Library building. Slapping acres of glass on the front, and Supreme Court style metal facades…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:15:08 +1300 Rickai https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149405#post149405 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149405#post149405 Great post Patrick. Good book on villas too.

A few random thoughts...

Sticking a metal thing on a builiding may be appropriate for a cheap and effective retrofit (witness that building at the corner of Newton Gully and K Road, but (and call me an old-fashioned conservative) if the building…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:07:02 +1300 Keir Leslie https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149404#post149404 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149404#post149404

- Victorian stone buildings with pointy bits = good.

God yes. The sacred Gothic fucking Revival.

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:40:33 +1300 Just thinking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149396#post149396 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149396#post149396 Not quite right.
The Architect at the Historic Places Trust doesn't rate Gothic Revival, I don't have it online, can anyone help?
Much of the devestation around Sydenham was done by Dave Henderson who also bowled the Heritage listed theatre on the north of the square next to the lane,…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:52:24 +1300 Gabor Toth https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149392#post149392 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149392#post149392

Christchurch benefits from an architectural tradition; its buildings are of high quality and it is not afraid of the Modern. Its architects were taught by their elders. It has a community which is concerned with the city centre.

Well – concerned about the centre as broadly defined by the track…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:28:23 +1300 andin https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149390#post149390 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149390#post149390

Tried getting to one in your lunch hour from your CBD job in the 09?

You must be talking about yourself, I don't work in the CBD.
And lunch at a beach? You mean on a grassed area near the sea don't you? Which is easy to do.
Eating on…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:17:12 +1300 Tom Semmens https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149389#post149389 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149389#post149389

If it's one thing NZ is not short of it's beaches.

Tried getting to one in your lunch hour from your CBD job in the 09?

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:07:12 +1300 Andrew C https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149386#post149386 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149386#post149386 @Robyn

It seems like Banks and co are looking at things backwards.

I had never thought of it like that, but you are so on the mark.

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:58:52 +1300 Just thinking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149380#post149380 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149380#post149380 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:47:17 +1300 giovanni tiso https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149379#post149379 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149379#post149379

So it didn't work out then?

Zing!

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:39:02 +1300 Just thinking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149378#post149378 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149378#post149378 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:37:48 +1300 recordari https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149377#post149377 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149377#post149377

TVNZ's HQ in Auckland was designed to be converted into a shopping mall if the whole television thing didn't work out.

So it didn't work out then?

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:36:51 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149376#post149376 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149376#post149376

The Christchurch Art Gallery has an emergency role & so is a just concrete box.

Can you elaborate on this? It reminds me of the urban myth that TVNZ's HQ in Auckland was designed to be converted into a shopping mall if the whole television thing didn't work out.

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:30:55 +1300 giovanni tiso https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149374#post149374 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149374#post149374 Yeah. And you wouldn't want to put decorative features on a building, because that's bad.

I'm off to tear down Gothic cathedrals. Will send "before" and "after" postcards to you all.

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:29:30 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149373#post149373 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149373#post149373 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:27:51 +1300 giovanni tiso https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149372#post149372 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149372#post149372

It seems to me that steel construction is a lot more than cosmetic & the design is just a box, so strong, maybe with an emergency role?

This morning on the radio they talked about actual functions beside the aesthetic (which is fine by me on its own), namely security and…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:19:29 +1300 Just thinking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149371#post149371 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149371#post149371 Does anyone know the brief for the Hi Court?
It seems to me that steel construction is a lot more than cosmetic & the design is just a box, so strong, maybe with an emergency role?
The Christchurch Art Gallery has an emergency role & so is a just concrete box.

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:06:53 +1300 andin https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149370#post149370 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149370#post149370

south bank of the river which courses through Brisbane and it works.

Umm.. if I remember correctly the artificial beach is completely self contained. Cause you wouldn't want to be swimming in the Brisbane river, the colour never gets anywhere near blue or green or clear.
A turgid brown is…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:06:09 +1300 Geoff Lealand https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149368#post149368 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149368#post149368

Why not build a lovely golden sand artificial beach backed by landscaped gardens

Just you wait--some bastard on a jet-ski* will turn up. Still, they did something like this on the south bank of the river which courses through Brisbane and it works.

*If you hate them as much as…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:56:51 +1300 andin https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149366#post149366 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149366#post149366 If it's one thing NZ is not short of it's beaches.
And in winter they can be forlorn places for old men with model yachts.

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:54:05 +1300 Tom Semmens https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149364#post149364 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149364#post149364

My suggestion: a museum of the future.

Here is an idea: How about no buildings at all at the Tank Farm site (beyond a DOC sanctioned icecream stand)?

Why not build a lovely golden sand artifical beach backed by landscaped gardens, a bandstand for the Sallies to regale the weekend…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:47:12 +1300 recordari https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149361#post149361 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149361#post149361

Shh, you will get the Sci-Fi fanboys excited.

Reaches for his sack of flame retardant in readiness...

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:40:57 +1300 Ana Simkiss https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149360#post149360 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149360#post149360 Hi Simon Wilson,

Thanks for the good work you are doing in Metro re the super city and other issues that we should all care about a little more. I do wonder sometimes whether the reason why Wellington has a wonderful and mostly public waterfront has something to do with…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:39:07 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149358#post149358 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149358#post149358 .... a museum of the future.Shh, you will get the Sci-Fi fanboys excited. ]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:07:40 +1300 philipmatthews https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149356#post149356 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149356#post149356

Warren hasn't done any good work since the Christchurch Town Hall in the 1970s, but he is 80.

The times they were a-changing: the Christchurch Town Hall pretty much marked the end of that great period of Christchurch modernism. Some really awful post-modernism followed, of which Warren and Mahoney did…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:59:05 +1300 Simon Wilson https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149352#post149352 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149352#post149352 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:51:32 +1300 recordari https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149346#post149346 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149346#post149346

Much of it is additional atrium capacity, for corporate events.

Yes, that's what it looked like. In my experience hanging artworks on glass walls is a little tricky, and too much sunlight is not a good thing.

They would have been better opening the tunnels under Albert Park, white washing…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:23:49 +1300 Tom Semmens https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149344#post149344 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149344#post149344

Actually having had breakfast there the other day i will admit that this does detract from the overall look.

I sat down opposite it for a while and tried to think of ways to make that place look a bit less hideous. The trouble is, the name Timothy McVeigh kept…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:06:56 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149342#post149342 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149342#post149342 I just want to know how much of the space will be actually dedicated to showing art...Much of it is additional atrium capacity, for corporate events. ]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:58:41 +1300 Tony Parker https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149341#post149341 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149341#post149341

From the Marine Parade road front the hotel presents a somewhat tatty wall of discolouring curtains and strapped on aircon units.

Actually having had breakfast there the other day i will admit that this does detract from the overall look.

The barbarians of West Shore have stolen my childhood.

You're…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:54:16 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149339#post149339 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149339#post149339 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:51:47 +1300 recordari https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149338#post149338 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149338#post149338

Speaking of bolting on new bits, found this video flythrough of the new Auckland Art Gallery (with an entrance canopy that looks suspiciously nikau-ish):

Another tacky-on destroyer.

Having worked in the NAG, and been through the discussion and planning for the MONZ/Te Papa, I don't really care what it looks…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:51:37 +1300 Tom Semmens https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149337#post149337 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149337#post149337 Hmmm. When I saw the new Supreme court my first thought was someone should mold in bronze some old pairs of sneakers tied together and hang them from the bronze work.

After all, you'll usually be able to score a tinny off someone in the building. If not from a…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:50:16 +1300 Leopold https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149335#post149335 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149335#post149335 "And speaking of NZ architecture (or lack thereof) I've become really disturbed at how many new houses are built in the style of 1930s state houses."

I'll stick with that design rather than those faux-mediterranee efforts, thanks – far better adapted to NZ climate (hint: we are pluvial) – and…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:36:26 +1300 Hilary Stace https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149334#post149334 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149334#post149334 Robyn, just what I was thinking about the natural disaster aspect of the bronze spiderweb covering the court. It probably has useful earthquake survival properties, such as holding the building together and preventing glass crashing on to the street.

But I do like buildings that cause people to go along…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:36:18 +1300 Caleb D'Anvers https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149331#post149331 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149331#post149331

And let us not forget the new Supreme Court building, opened this very day by Prince William the Balding. Apparently, it is a tree, a Pohutakawa. This probably explains why it looks crap.

Yeah. To me, the pohutukawa motif just comes off as defensive cladding. It looks like it's built…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:24:53 +1300 Tom Semmens https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149329#post149329 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149329#post149329

The new Scenic Hotel Te Pania manages to be beautiful and curvy and of its beachside location without the need for fibreglass sunbursts or chevrons.

Yeah that's not bad and benefits from being away from most other buildings so there no direct contrast with Art Deco.

You guys are joking,…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:06:41 +1300 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149327#post149327 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149327#post149327 Speaking of bolting on new bits, found this video flythrough of the new Auckland Art Gallery (with an entrance canopy that looks suspiciously nikau-ish):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztB0BYUPqzA

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:02:09 +1300 Andrew Stevenson https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149325#post149325 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149325#post149325 When travelling in Eastern Europe I'd keep coming across some god damn awful ugly concrete monstrosity towering over the local buildings and looking completely out of place.
They were instantly recognisable, one was the Chemistry building at Auckland University (complete with pebbled panels), another had to be the PSIS building…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:48:21 +1300 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149323#post149323 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149323#post149323 has a moan about Wellington's city centre civic architecture, calling its nikau palm theme "desperate kitsch" and the new Supreme court exterior "vulgar". Probably pining for some retreaded ivy-clad private school Northern Club yesteryear, or that wonderful integration between its own city's major buildings. ]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:39:30 +1300 Tony Parker https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149321#post149321 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149321#post149321

The Art Deco Trust has killed architecture in Napier, so that everything that is built must be a pastiche of a pastiche.

Not entirely true. Within the inner city there is encouragement to follow along Art Deco lines but no compulsion as such. If it hadn't been for the trust…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:19:17 +1300 Just thinking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149317#post149317 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149317#post149317 I must admit I've never been to Napier, but the idea of keeping an area in a theme isn't bad. They rebuilt in triumphant defiance in the Art Deco style, as it was in NZ.
I see the vision as our version of Warsaw.

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:36:51 +1300 Just thinking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149315#post149315 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149315#post149315 The return to statehouse design is really simple = Leaky Homes. Bad design, building materials & workmanship.
So the search for what worked, statehouses worked, add insulation and double glazing then sit back and relax.

Warren hasn't done any good work since the Christchurch Town Hall in the 1970s, but he…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:27:25 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149309#post149309 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149309#post149309 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:15:49 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149307#post149307 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149307#post149307 BTW, the screen on the Supreme Court building reminds me of the screens I've seen on some buildings in Noumea, designed to protect the building in case of a cyclone. For example, the Best Western. There the practical purpose of the screen shares a pleasing aesthetic quality.

It makes me…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:03:20 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149306#post149306 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149306#post149306

The Art Deco Trust has killed architecture in Napier, so that everything that is built must be a pastiche of a pastiche.

When I was there last, I realised that the buildings built in a non-art-deco style ended up being the ones that stood out the most.

The new Scenic…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:58:12 +1300 Kumara Republic https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149305#post149305 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149305#post149305

Re Christchurch, Peter Beaven said that it was the only city in New Zealand where architecture is practised rather than undertaken.

The same can be said for the likes of Ian Athfield & Roger Walker in Wellywood.

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:36:43 +1300 Andre https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149302#post149302 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149302#post149302 The Supreme Court looks awful outside but okay inside.

I thought the Master Builders Federation House Of the Year Awards were a good idea so we launched the magazine for them and raised their initial sponsorship -Sacha designed it. The basis was that architects were getting credit when at times…

]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:43:17 +1300 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149290#post149290 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149290#post149290

I've had a look about and have only found a couple of very small images here and there – most of the results from searching seem to be either Prince William or the architect's illustrations.

Same. The brief tvnz news story shows some views and talks to the designer.

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:50:03 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149289#post149289 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149289#post149289 But by way of a modest couterpoint Napier is conspicuous and people travel to see the buildings there, surely there must be something learned form that ?Indeed; it will be a chapter in my PhD. Had we kept a few more of our old buildings in Auckland and 'repurposed' them,… ]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:49:25 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149286#post149286 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149286#post149286

Raybon Kan splendidly scathing about the new building on TV3's Campbell Live fill-in, @Seven

Ouch... though not as cruel as one wag's assessment of Norman Foster's reconstruction of the Reichstag dome in Berlin: "This marks a significant advance in Anglo-German relations. At least Sir Norman is designing ugly buildings in…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:38:06 +1300 Ben Austin https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149284#post149284 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149284#post149284 Speaking of the Supreme Court building, does anyone have any links to high quality photos of the completed building?

I've had a look about and have only found a couple of very small images here and there – most of the results from searching seem to be either Prince William…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:36:57 +1300 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149280#post149280 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149280#post149280 Thanks, Hilary.

Britomart station seems determined to be a native forest

A metal one.

ugly is in the eye of the beholder

Raybon Kan splendidly scathing about the new building on TV3's Campbell Live fill-in, @Seven:

Terrorists will drive past and think "let's not bother, that one's already been hit"

…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:01:45 +1300 81stcolumn https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149277#post149277 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149277#post149277 Paul –

I sympathise, Napeir seems to have acquired its very own Prince Charles mentality (I wonder what Brits have to look forward to with Bill the Balding....).

But by way of a modest couterpoint Napier is conspicuous and people travel to see the buildings there, surely there must be…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:47:53 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149276#post149276 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149276#post149276

Craig – the old High Court has been nicely restored too behind this new building and part of the same complex, but I think it was too small by itself for today's purposes.

I do know that, and you don't have to be an expert conservation architect or engineer to…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:45:45 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149275#post149275 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149275#post149275 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:43:37 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149273#post149273 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149273#post149273 Better still, how about a giant statue of Ed Hillary in his bee-keeping days, with smoke-maker in hand..Please, make that image go away.
It's also led to newer buildings taking on an Art Deco style in keeping with the surrounding architecure.
The Art Deco Trust has killed architecture in Napier, so that… ]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:37:03 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149272#post149272 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149272#post149272

Exactly what they did in Britain with the Millenium Dome. The contents seemed to come as an afterthought, so what could have been an inspiring piece of architecture was written off as a white elephant.

And then it was kitted out and renamed the O2 Arena, and its location and…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:35:49 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149270#post149270 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149270#post149270

Iconic architecture is easy. You just design a building that looks like something else which is not a building.

Britomart station seems determined to be a native forest, and is perhaps even embarrassed to be one of those horrible, manmade, land-raping buildings.

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:30:16 +1300 Hilary Stace https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149267#post149267 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149267#post149267 Sacha – first thing I checked out. There is a good ramp there to the front door but you can't quite see it till you get close up. Building will hopefully be exemplary from an accessibility point of view.
Craig – the old High Court has been nicely restored too…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:18:28 +1300 Tony Parker https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149263#post149263 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149263#post149263

It's likely that residents of other New Zealand cities that weren't as flattened during the 1980s of speculation and development as Auckland and Wellington were feel similarly about their architectural traditions.

If it wasn't for Robert McGregor and a few others here in Napier all our Art Deco buildings would…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:11:58 +1300 Tom Isaacson https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149262#post149262 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149262#post149262

It seems like no one's actually given any thought to what, if any, use the building would actually have, apart from looking quite interesting.

Exactly what they did in Britain with the Millenium Dome. The contents seemed to come as an afterthought, so what could have been an inspiring piece…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:09:42 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149259#post149259 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149259#post149259

Wellingtonians were were a bit resentful at losing the park on Lambton Quay where the new court building is and we have watched the bronze spiderwebby thing evolve.

Well, I'm more pissed off by the millions that wouldn't have needed to be spent if the old High Court building has…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:07:45 +1300 philipmatthews https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149257#post149257 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149257#post149257

We tend, in New Zealand, to imagine that architecture happens elsewhere. And with our rather smug anti-elitism we congratulate ourselves for this. For it is a sign of our sensibleness, our moderation, our lack of pretension. A shadow cast, perhaps, by the belief that ours is an egalitarian society.

I'm…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:01:48 +1300 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149255#post149255 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149255#post149255

I think the Supreme Court building is a fine building indeed.

Looked good at first glance. Everyone on telly news seemed to be hung up on the metalwork, though.

I have a different concern. In this day and age, why does the building seem to have steps all along its…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:55:43 +1300 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149254#post149254 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149254#post149254

How about a giant Buzzy Bee? The alert would savour the verbal connection with Wellington's beehive.

Better still, how about a giant statue of Ed Hillary in his bee-keeping days, with smoke-maker in hand..

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:50:24 +1300 giovanni tiso https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149253#post149253 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149253#post149253 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:48:41 +1300 Hilary Stace https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149252#post149252 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149252#post149252 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:47:13 +1300 wendyf https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149242#post149242 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149242#post149242 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:52:35 +1300 dc_red https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149236#post149236 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149236#post149236

It seems like no one's actually given any thought to what, if any, use the building would actually have, apart from looking quite interesting.

Parking, surely?

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:02:05 +1300 Jeremy Andrew https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149235#post149235 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149235#post149235

While I sympathise with Patrick's position, 80% of most things are crap and there's only the rest that's any good (as usual, statistics made up on the spot).

Sturgeon's Law – only more optimistic...

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:55:18 +1300 Mark Graham https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149234#post149234 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149234#post149234 Okay...
there are a lot of people who don't have much money but try to build interesting buildings.

And there are plenty of people with lots of money who build crap buildings.

While I sympathise with Patrick's position, 80% of most things are crap and there's only the rest that's…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:50:12 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149228#post149228 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149228#post149228 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:15:50 +1300 andin https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149227#post149227 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149227#post149227

but who still hold sway in this last outpost of twentieth century thinking.

Hold on, your not saying that................NZ is......that......
But..... the PM said......... and a prospective super mayor said........
I'm flabbergasted...........

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:03:54 +1300 Paul Litterick https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149226#post149226 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149226#post149226 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:59:32 +1300 Sofie Bribiesca https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149222#post149222 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149222#post149222 I've become really disturbed at how many new houses are built in the style of 1930s state houses. I'll blame the bean counters for that too. ]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:39:40 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149221#post149221 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149221#post149221 And speaking of NZ architecture (or lack thereof) I've become really disturbed at how many new houses are built in the style of 1930s state houses.

It's like if it's not a three-bedroom bungalow with a steep roof, then it's not a proper building.

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:32:10 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149220#post149220 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149220#post149220 The thing is, when it was decided to build an opera house in Sydney, they wanted a large venue for the performing arts, not an iconic waterfront building.

Likewise, the Guggenheim Bilbao is a museum, as well as being an interesting building.

It seems like Banks and co are looking…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:29:34 +1300 Ana Simkiss https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149217#post149217 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149217#post149217 Hello Patrick, are you Patrick Reynolds the photographer found @ http://www.patrickreynolds.co.nz ?

As a recent returnee to Auckland I'm fairly disgusted with what's been built in my absence, with a (very) few honourable exceptions. I walk through the future slums of Hobson Street every morning and afternoon and I live…

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:49:16 +1300 Public Address https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149216#post149216 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/speaker-the-architecture-of-elsewhere/?p=149216#post149216 Discussion from blog post.

]]> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:49:16 +1300