Ok, so this one is probably more widely ‘known’ than the previous example that I raised of international works of architecture that bear strong resemblance to buildings that we might find on our own Wellington streets, but it is worth Read the rest of this entry »
Of course everyone knows that the Arch Centre was born – no doubt on a dark and windy Wellington evening – on Tuesday the 23rd of July 1946 in the Baronia Lounge. Read the rest of this entry »
Returning in early 2009 after an absence of a couple of years, the 20 under 40 competition was once more staged by Arch Centre, this time with a concentration on the more relaxed side of Architecture – namely, a Play on Time. The brief was a short and gruesome one, set in the near distant future: the year is 2040 and New Zealand is once more in the grips of a depressing recession. Or perhaps that should be a receding depression. In any case, the good people of our fine country have lost the ability to laugh, to live, to love, to cry. The Ministry for Architecture is having dialogue with the Ministry of Play, and the Minister is about to unveil his plans for the new Play facility, when he is tragically run over on the new inner-city Monorail. The brief is for the entrants to piece together the remnants of the bloodied brief and put together their own vision of what a facility for Play might be. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on 27th April 2009
Under: 20u40, 20under40 | Comments Off on A PLAY on TIME – 20under40 – 2009
Here is a companion piece to the Prince Charles post of a couple of weeks ago (I hope it is clear by now that my Zaha comments were made with tongue embedded firmly in cheek…). Here, for your viewing pleasure (or displeasure perhaps?), is a very short clip propounding the virtues of Poundbury:
Our AGM is TODAY at 6pm – Thursday, 23rd April, and it is really important that we get as many of our members there as we have some pretty important business to discuss. If you are a current member, we want you there.
You will have received the mailout of the newsletter and the email about the proposal for a bequest to the Arch Centre of a valuable building, and the resulting need for Arch Centre to act as its guardians in perpetuity. Please come to discuss and vote.
And if you haven’t paid your subs for a bit, please come and pay those as well!
6pm, School of Architecture, Victoria University, Vivian St. See you there
“Naked streets” or “Naked roads” – some even call them (more tamely) “Shared Spaces” – have apparently been around since the 1980s. Credited to Hans Monderman, the Naked street idea is based on a psychological approach which supports designing roads to reflect the different cognitive skills needed in different transport situations. Shared suburban spaces are contrasted to motorways and argued to need specific skills for their complex human context. This whole area of thinking has developed more formally into the field of “psychological” or “second generation traffic calming.” Read the rest of this entry »
