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 »

Architecture has historically had a difficult relationship with fashion, and, despite the challenges of the Urbis generation, it continues to perpetrate an image of consistent fundamentals, along with its younger siblings: Urban Design and Town Planning. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes riding my bike into work I bemoan the fact that the laws of the sea aren’t replicated in the laws of the road.   Read the rest of this entry »

We’re pleased to note that Her Worship the Mayor Kerry Prendergast, and the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable John Key, have been getting together to launch “Our Extraordinary Democracy – The Capital City Initiative“. It seems that it is not often that architecture, design, and especially urban design get discussed at such high level - and so long may this trend continue.

Read the rest of this entry »

Phil Jones‘ talk on last Wednesday (9 Sept 09) presented the idea of shared spaces (also known as naked streets) in the context of the council’s proposal to convert lower Cuba St into a shared space.

Read the rest of this entry »

In conjunction with plans for the indoor sports stadium on Cobham Drive (not that this is mentioned in any of the council documents) Kilbirnie town is to become a bit more of  a town.

In the usual fashion the Council plans for infrastructure have no ambition for sending light rail through to the airport; indeed it is clear that the ‘Transit’ route on Cobham Drive to the airport is snipped out of the zone for consultation.

The architecture of Kilbirnie, if it can be said to have any, is lack lustre, and if you haven’t noticed, the Airport Retail Centre in Lyall Bay is booming, dragging plenty of our consuming citizens out east. The social and community space of your average big-box development is pretty awful, and the only thing that redeems the Lyal Bay one is the beach, where people go to walk their dogs. The counsultation process associated with the proposed development is a good opportunity for the Architecture Centre to exert some town planning ambitions. If you would like to forward us ideas just send an email through.

Public consultation sessions will be held at Kilbirnie / Lyall Bay Community Centre in Bay Road :

Thursday 4 June (1.00pm - 4.00pm)

Saturday 6 June (10.00am - 2.00pm)

Tuesday 9 June (5.00pm - 8.00pm)

If you want to submit independent feedback this needs to be returned to the council via Freepost 2199, Kilbirnie Town Centre Plan, Wellington by Monday 15 June 2009. Or use this online form.

“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 »