The Architectural Centre Inc

Category: Comment

  • Rebuilding Warsaw

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    Christchurch is not the first city in the world to be destroyed by an earthquake, and it won’t be the last one either. As far as modern disasters go, it is actually rather restrained, with a remarkably minimal loss of life – we have, currently, 168 dead. In a similar sized quake in Haiti, they…

  • Old Dungas to Go

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  • Resilience: earthquake resistance

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    In a city destroyed by earthquakes, and around the country as well, confidence in our built environment has taken a massive hit this week. After a decade of suffering stories about leaky buildings, and the recent quakes that have destroyed the centre of Christchurch city, what people need to have now is confidence in their…

  • Cake tin

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    Wellington’s famous “Cake Tin”, sometimes also known by the name of the Westpac Stadium, is getting a new skin. Very quietly, and rather quickly, every single panel of external cladding is being replaced on the tin, as pictured here. Thanks for the photo Nick !

  • Wellington Whare Waka

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    A new building awaits us on Wellington waterfront. Opening early on Waitangi Day this coming weekend, the new Whare Waka is being officially named and declared open. We’re going to devote some room to an an-depth discussion of the building in our next Arch Centre newsletter, due out soon, where we will have a full…

  • The architecture of tragedy: commemorating Pike River?

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    The Pike River Mining disaster has been cited as the worst mining disaster in New Zealand history.

  • Do we have any world heritage?

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    In a discussion the other day, a couple of us wondered if we (New Zealand) had any architecture which could be argued to warrant a World Heritage Listing.

  • Book Review and Launch: 4 Architects

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    Bill Alington, Jim Beard, Bill Toomath and Derek Wilson (ABT&W) have undoubtedly been outstandingly influential on Architecture in Wellington and in New Zealand.  Their body of work, extending from the late 1940’s to the 1990’s typically exhibits a modernist style, largely inspired from their education and work in the UK and the US. The book…

  • Empire State Building vs Bhurj Khalifa: World’s Greatest Building

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                      For years, when asked to name the greatest building in the world, most people would have said the Empire State Building.  But has that mantle now passed to the Bhurj Khalifa (formerly the Bhurj Dubai)? For 40 years, the Empire State Building stood as the tallest building in the world and a symbol of…

  • Wellington’s Urban Design

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    At the Architecture Centre we feel it is time to ask some questions. The rumblings from our city have been going on for some time – the big question is : what IS going on at the Wellington City Council with regards to the Urban Design and Planning of the capital city? Arch Centre has a…