Category: Comment

  • Architecture of the Basin

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    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…

  • Architecture Students: read this

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    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…

  • “Is it because rich people own yachts?”

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    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.  

  • A Review on ‘Shaping Our Places’: The NZIA manifesto for New Zealand’s built environment

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    After leaving the launch for the New Zealand Institute of Architects manifesto for New Zealand’s built environment ‘Shaping Our Places’, which took place on 2nd September at Parliament’s Grand Hall, I had a surprisingly positive feeling about the newly formed document mostly because of the fact that such a document exists now, more so than…

  • The Elephant in the Room

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    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.

  • Maggie grows up

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    While some people claim that the Simpsons taught them everything they ever needed to know about anything, and phrases of Bart and Homer have entered happily into the English language (D’Oh!)!, there is one member of that loveably dysfunctional family that has never spoken. Until last week. Maggie, the wide-eyed, dummy-sucking rug-rat that Marge loves…

  • New Zealand House

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    Not just any old New Zealand house, this is about THE New Zealand House. Hitting the news this week, and probably the gutter / talk back radio as well: Taxpayers face a $150 million bill to renovate New Zealand House in London – $23m more than the building’s book value. The newspaper seems

  • Property Porn

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    “Porno is the unconsciousness of culture, the libido of humanity.” (unknown) A comment from one of our contributors, ‘Helen’, suggested that we explore the proposal of Property Porn. Very well, Helen, we’ll see what we can come up with. Innuendo, for a start, I guess. But first a choice quote or two (seeing as we…

  • Ever Near a Fairy-Land

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    The Architecture Centre pays hommage to the passing of the King (of Pop) pity he wasn’t also a king of architecture. As the Architect’s Journal yesterday said: the ranch was a disneyfied mashup of Queen Anne Style and New England vernacular. Not that I’ve got anything against mash-ups, Charles Jencks & Terry Farrell made them…

  • Barbie Architecture: yep it’s pink

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    A casual comment about architect costumes at the last Arch Centre committee meeting made me wonder what the most fashionable fashion victim of all time: Barbie – might be able to offer to the subject of architects and architecture.