The Architectural Centre Inc

Category: Comment

  • Making porridge pancakes: Te Aro Park

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    I haven’t been down to the container exhibition of WCC’s Wellington 2040 vision, but am looking forward to doing so soon. What I have seen is the recent post over on EyeoftheFish, which gives us a sneak preview of a small part of the type of outcome that might be expected to emerge from that vision:…

  • The great flyover teardown…

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    Those good folk over at the Congress for the New Urbanism run an initiative called “Highways to Boulevards,” seeking to reclaim urban environments and revitalise cities by campaigning for highway teardowns. They pay particular attention to elevated highways, yep, the good old flyover.

  • Trafalgar Square

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    Trafalgar Square – one of the most famous public arenas in the western world. It is one of those names, like the Spanish Steps, the Champs Elysee, St Mark’s Piazza, Piccadilly Circus, Times Square and Central Park, that world travelers knowingly nod their heads at the mere mention, and even non-travelers have heard of. They’re…

  • another quake …

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    We all sympathise with the ongoing trauma of Christchurch.

  • Architects… who…?

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    Last Friday I happened to catch part of the Radio New Zealand Checkpoint show, within which was a story that began thus: Provincial Local Bodies could be stripped of their ability to issue building Consents. The Government is considering changes to the Building Act so that consents are issued from just a few main centres or…

  • Aniwaniwa

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    If you have ever visited the Urewera National Park, chances are that you will have been through the DoC visitor centre and museum, known as Aniwaniwa. Designed by architect John Scott in 1973 when he was at Hoogerbrug Scott Architects, construction began in 1974 and the building was opened in 1976. It has been repeatedly…

  • When is a building “Over” height?

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    In a rare move recently, Wellington City Council publicly notified a building, and exposed it to public comment. While the Architectural Centre did not enter a submission (although we often have done so in the past), it seems that a number of people and organisations did, most of whom seem to have come out against…

  • Basin Reserve proposals “now two”

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    The front page of the Dominion Post recently announced that there are now just two possible options being worked on by the NZTA, regarding possible routes that the proposed Basin Reserve bypass could take. Both of these options have been proposed before – so there is nothing much new here – and as yet, the…

  • architectural ABCs

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    Recently the Guardian reported on the idea of introducing architectural education at schools.

  • The slow crawl up

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    Errol Haarhoff’s recent report on the gender in architectural education, reveals the staggering progress that women have made in the architectural profession.