The Architectural Centre Inc

Category: Blog

  • Submission : City to Sea Bridge

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    13th November 2024 ~ Submission to the Te Ngākau Precinct Public Consultation The following is extracted from the Centre’s submission on this consultation. We requested to present to the Council. The full submission is available here. Transcript of the oral presentation is here (Nov 25th).

  • WCC voted on Dec 5 to demolish the City to Sea Bridge

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    The Architectural Centre will be opposing this decision. We believe the Council’s advice to Councillors was not provided with reasonable consideration of the range of development options, particularly considering physical and cultural amenity value of the bridge. The demolition of the Bridge will return the city to pre-1990s urban design which relied on level crossing…

  • Open Whanganui

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    In (unofficial) conjunction with Here’s Open Home Whanganui event – September 28 – the Center will be opening a few more doors for Centre members. The Here programme will visit the Dog Box (2013 – Ben Mitchell-Anyon, Sally Ogle, Caro Robertson and Tim Gittos)… … and the Payne House (1960s, Michael Payne). The Here event…

  • Pūheke : City to Sea

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    As you may be aware Council members were briefed on Te Ngākau Civic Square Precinct Development Plan, created by Pōneke Collective with Council officers, on September 4. The council will receive further briefings on per-site proposals in July next year. The Town Hall, Te Matapihi Central Library, and the Civic Administration Building (CAB) and Municipal…

  • ‘OVERLOOKING SOCIAL CONTENT IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: IN WHOSE INTEREST?’

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    Dr Peter ParkesDesign Architect and Cultural Theorist/Critic Coloqium 25 November 1992 School of Architecture Victoria University of Welington Link to the full paper here. There are many signs in contemporary architectural thinking to suggest that social commitment in design is on the way out. Many architects, commentators and teachers in mainstream architecture seem to be…

  • Public talk : Patrick Reynolds

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    The Centre is very pleased to bring Patrick Reynolds to Te Whanganui-a-Tara to talk about his work as an urbanist in Tāmaki Makaurau. Wednesday June 12, 6pm @ the School of Architecture.

  • “Gordon Wilson Memorial Apartments”

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    What is in a name? You may be wondering why we are calling are calling them this – rather than the Gordon Wilson Flats. Well, here you can see Minister of Housing Mr Fox (on the right looking at the camera), standing in front of the still incomplete building in 1959. This small article, published…

  • Recent Media Attention

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    The open letter to Hon Chris Bishop has stimulated a bit of a response from the media. You can see the activity here: Scoop posted the letter: https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=159785 The Post: https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350249603/last-ditch-bid-save-derelict-eyesore NZ Herald: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellingtons-gordon-wilson-flats-could-be-demolished-for-victoria-university-accommodation/PMPWHZJ26NDPBGPVQQPL6LPGEY/ Eye of the Fish: https://eyeofthefish.org/last-ditch-bid-to-save-fantastic-modernist-building/ TVNZ+: 1News at Six – Saturday 20 Apr (available till 27 Apr) ThreeNow: NewsHub 6pm – Saturday 20 Apr (available till 22 Apr)

  • Adapted reuse scheme for Gordon Wilson Memorial Apartments

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    Refer below to open letter authored by The Architectural Centre addressed to Minister for Housing. We provide a robust, contemporary rationale for the retention and refurbishment of 320 The Terrace, also known as the Gordon Wilson Memorial Apartments (GWMA): Tēnā koe Hon. Chris Bishop, An open letter – 320 The Terrace (Gordon Wilson Memorial Apartments)…

  • Returning to housing

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    The Architectural Centre began with the problem of housing, and the questions of how best to build, who and how it should be made and where, have not gone away. The current Centre wants to drive the debate and demonstrate what is possible.