Bending Beauties
Ugly low buildings to a degree can merge with their surroundings, but ugly tall ones have nowhere to hide.
Some years ago, when I was staying with an architect friend in Glasgow, I was invited to a planning meeting with the developer, his consultants, and the council to discuss a high rise proposal in that city. The Glasgow District Plan has no height limits because it wants to control the design and appearance of buildings by means other than the blunt instrument of maximum height. The purpose of the meeting was to find a balance between the interests of the good representatives of Glasgow and the desires of the property developer. Read More
In Praise of the Picturesque
Miss M and I have just returned from a trip around Northland. It was in 2002 when I last visited the Far North.
The Kerikeri Stone Store and Kemp House in Kerikeri, The Mission House in Waimate and Pompallier House in Russell, were all looking pristine, gorgeous in their settings, and were attracting hordes of tourists.
The Stone Store
As I was steering around the lovely Far North roads, I got to contemplating what has happened to the design of timber frame domestic architecture in the 150 odd years since these treasures were built. Read More
Plan to keep breathing
The team from Walker Architecture and Design was in Christchurch last night to hear the Minister of Building and Housing announce the winning project for the Breathe Urban Village.
By now you may well know through media coverage that ours was not the winning scheme (at least not in the eyes of those who made the decision!)
The news was not new to us. After a period of intense meetings and negotiations with us and one other team, organisers informed us early last week that ours was not the scheme to go through. Read More
THE TEZUKA’S TALK
Another warm, humorous and imaginative Japanese architect popped up in our soup last night.
Takaharu Tezuka began a talk at the University by speaking of the importance of family. ‘I dress always in blue, my wife in red, and our daughter in yellow’ he explained.
He said architects should be happy in order to make other people’s lives happy.
Apparently Takaharu and his wife Yui’s career began with clients who regularly climbed out their window to enjoy living with the openness, elevation and spirit of their roof.
Petcha Kutcha – Food Architecture
This was Roger’s contribution to the Petcha Kutcha event held at the Opera House as part of Wellington on a Plate, 2013.
KITCHEN FIRE
I am surprised to have been invited to this event, as I cannot actually cook.
In my university days this is what happened when I introduced cold water into boiling fat in an attempt to make some potato chips.
I will therefore be only talking about ambience and architecture.
