Hooray!  At last there has been some recognition of Architects in the New Years Honours list.  Today, it was announced, that two men were to be recognised for their services to Architecture: John David Sutherland, of Auckland, and also of the S in Jasmax and a former adjunct Professor of Unitec – and also Friedrich Eisenhofer, of Waikanae, and a keen proponent of using the sun’s energy in his architecture. He’s the one with the house like a series of bubbles, set into the sand dunes in Waikanae.

Congratulations to both of these architects for their achievement. They have both been awarded with the ONZM, which means they are “Officers of the Order” – not the high rank of Knight Companion, so we don’t have to call them Sir, but a very honourable recognition nevertheless. We hope to see more Architect members in the future!

There’s a paucity of architectural Christmas videos on the web – surprise surprise … but here’s a little nostalgia, good-will, and the trauma of reality – yes watch until the very end …

Merry Christmas everyone …

The Architectural Centre, having just put in a submission on the future of Wellington in the year 2040, where we had the pleasure of looking at the city as a whole, are of the opinion that in 30 years time the city will be very different from what we have now. Traffic needs of the city, currently throttling it to death in various places, need to be reassessed – and with a free mind.

Things like the Basin Reserve for instance, may not need to be continuously ringed with roads for traffic. Indeed, we are most concerned that the Basin Reserve is currently reserved mainly for use as a giant traffic roundabout – there are better uses for a Basin than that, and there are certainly better roundabouts. But what if the traffic was to go elsewere? While the traffic planners at Opus and the NZTA are crying “OverPass”, what if the traffic was to go in a tunnel?

Like just about any idea in the world, someone else has thought of it all before. Read the rest of this entry »

If you thought that sometimes the writers at the Architectural Centre get grumpy about Architecture, then its time to show you that we aren’t nearly as harsh as some others around the world.
First up there is a site called Bad British Architecture, in which the critic certainly pulls no punches. Sample diatribe: “one of Europe’s biggest public spaces. I tell you this in case you were labouring under the impression that said image was created by a child in a remedial class with only three felt tips to choose from: puce, flesh and powder blue.” And that’s the polite bit. I’d love to tell you more, but I’m blushing at the language worthy of a seaman of the lowest order. Some of it is so grumpy it is even all in capitals. Shock! Horror! SHOUTING!! Someone needs to chill out a bit more…

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s no irony that at the moment when John Key is supposedly at a Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen: City of Cyclists, that the government is poised to increase road building – a 4-lane road from Levin to Wellington – via Transmission Gully or otherwise.  While Key is fluffing around on the other side of the planet (moving from supporting specified targets for reduction to a more general “political” statement), back home the government is trying hard to waste the planet we’ve got.  Aren’t we meant to be trying to reduce our impact on the environment? Read the rest of this entry »

No, no, don’t get upset with me, apparently it’s true.

You see, I’ve got one of those new-fangled iPhone things, and downloaded an application – Architecture – by two Dutch blokes Bas Berck and Vincent Verwell, at a software company called Makayama. Yes, I know, sounds Japanese, even if it is all just double dutch. But don’t rush off and get it. Not yet. Because it is the:
Worst.
App.
Ever.

Thing is, you turn it on to look for the nearest piece of modern architecture, and things look ominous. It asks if it can use your current location, and as the CIA aren’t after me yet, I say OK. It tells me that it can pinpoint me with accuracy to the nearest 500m, which is OK, as if they try to get me, they might get that old lady Mrs Clusterfutt up the road instead.

But then it says that the nearest city is “Sidney” and even there it appears there is only one building in the town – the Sydney Opera House. Spelling guys, spelling! I know it is engrish and all, but really, it is a major city. Surely you’ve heard of it before? Helpfully, it tells me that I am 2233 km away from there.

Then to add insult to injury, it tells me that the next nearest building of modern architectural worth after that is the Petronas Towers, and they’re a mere 8869.9 km away.

And so it goes.

So, you see, there really is no architecture in New Zealand.

What these guys need is a local NZ based partner…..

Who would want to be an architecture student?
For the full article, click here.
A grim story, with selected passages taken from The Times, England, October 15, 2009. Better to stay here this summer, than go abroad…

“Bad pay, few jobs and an uncertain future? Who’d want to be an architecture student in the current climate?
….This new bunch of architecture students, though, has added reasons to be worried. The recession has decimated the construction industry. Unemployment among architects has risen more than in any other profession. Architectural firms are in the red. Even Norman Foster’s fêted company has had its losses double in a year, from £8.5 million to £16.1 million — and that after laying off 400 staff. Fifteen years ago I graduated from the Bartlett during another recession. That was bad enough. This one, though, is a lot worse.
Read the rest of this entry »