Posts by Hilary Stace
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And everything very accessible for those who use wheelchairs, or have vision impairment etc.
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Sorry, correct link from WCC is here
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JLM - Trethewy's 1939 statue is still impressive as an example of the era, but definitely smaller. Kupe's wife is now pointing out to sea. Near historic floating crane Hikitia and boating club. It is one of many public artworks on the waterfront.
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That historic art deco statue almost crumbled away in storage but has now been restored and is outside at the other end of the waterfront not far from Te Papa.
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Me too.
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I tend to think of the Wellington Railway Station concourse & booking hall as interior public spaces,
I agree with Tom on that one, especially after its recent tidying up. It's also one of the busiest areas in Wellington. I use that space almost daily and not so much because of the trains, although it is still very much the hub of the transport network - and sometimes there are even steam engines. The entrance to part of Victoria University is by the ticket office - the main seminar room is the old railways board room - and on the other side of the concourse is a great little supermarket. I love the way that people use the space in such a variety of ways - from the buskers to the students to the travellers passing through.
Integration with a good rail network is one of the reasons for the success of the Wellington stadium. I was one of the initially cynical about the stadium but have attended some great events, from the Rolling Stones to conferences, and my first and only live rugby game (as a result of an invitation to the members' patch - was against the French and Jonah played). It has good design as a ground, and from the outside - particularly when lit up - could be a classy space ship recently landed.
As for leisure places nearby no-one has mentioned the Thistle Inn - the oldest in Wellington and dating from the era when little boats tied up outside, and the railway yards under the sea.
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Jim Mora was ambushed this afternoon by a listener he rang for a lightweight chat. The man instead wanted to complain about the Government's Budget slashing of the Enviro Schools programme.
Unfortunately for Jim, he didn't have any of his regular right wing panellists on hand for a suitable blame it on Phil Goff reply.
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I mean an Athfield inspiration for architecture and design, not as the old man on a bicycle.
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It did help in Wellington that we have Ian Athfield.
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I don't quite get the hostility towards public waterfront space.
The Wellington local authorities had some horrific ideas for sun and view-blocking high rises. They also claim that restaurants and bars can be considered public space. There is also the untested assumption that without buildings the public won't use the area.
The Wgtn waterfront is mainly and most heavily used as the most pleasant and often quickest way to walk from one part of Wgtn to the other, or as part of the public transport network with the ferry terminal, or as a destination it itself for fresh air purposes. There are an assortment of buildings, some of which have ground floor facilities such as restaurants.for which you need to pay money to use. They are better than having cars parked on the space but what do they really bring to the area? The exception and one of the places most at home on the waterfront is our maritime museum which is in one of the original wharf buildings and which is free to visit.
The architects out there will disagree, but I think Aucklanders should fight for as much open and public space on their publicly owned space as possible.
If it hadn't been for citizenship vigilance there would be a lot more of our Wgtn waterfront blocked to people. So better get some counselling for your battered citizen syndrome.