NZIA IN:SITU Conference 2019
Every two years New Zealand architects have their conference. I really look forward to it, and after weeks of anticipation, the two days of it were over in a flash. I needee to comment on the last conference and I need to comment on the significance of this one. It was the largest ever, with 1300 attendees. Morning , lunch and afternoon breaks were so socially intense that I actually looked forward to getting back to the auditorium to sit quietly... Read More
An Architect on the Road
On November 11 2016 I was awarded the NZIA Gold Medal. I believe this is what you get for working 45 years of 60 hour weeks. I felt honoured. One of the things that come with this award ,as well as a very heavy round medal, is a book, and an enjoyable obligation to undertake a roadie trip around the country delivering a one hour illustrated talk at each of the eight NZIA branches, as an entree to the main course which is the annual ceremony of the... Read More
Enduring Again
In addition to the Flint House, Roger Walker’s 1969 Stroud House also won an Enduring Architecture Award recently, this time in the NZIA Wellington Region Local Architecture Awards. Judges commented; “This house has worn extremely well. It remains a wonderful insight into a more gentle and optimistic time. The tiny but nurturing scale is extraordinary and the ordinary materials are reassuring. The complex spaces and labyrinthine... Read More
Enduring Award
Roger Walker’s 1969 Flint House recently won an Enduring Architecture Award in the NZIA Auckland Region Local Architecture Awards. Judges commented, “This perfectly maintained example of a house from a classic period of New Zealand architecture is a reminder of how fresh, playful and essentially novel Roger Walker’s work was — and still is. In a series of individually-articulated volumes set in a grove of kauri trees,... Read More
IN SITU CONFERENCE 2015
Just as my cellphone needs regular recharging, my creative juices need replenishing. Every two years our Institute arranges presentations for us, from an array of local and international architects. They inspire, entertain, agitate and impassion us. Between the 10th and 13th of February last, this event happened at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland and it was brilliant. It’s great to learn how different cultures respond to design issues... Read More
Enduring Architecture Award
On Friday 25 October, we received an Enduring Architecture Award from the Waikato / Bay of Plenty Branch of the NZIA. The house was designed for Christine and Norman Harris in Lake Crescent in 1980. They moved to Katikati a few years later. Fortunately an enduring architecture award does not require the owners to endure, but their house did also receive an NZIA Branch award in 1981,under their watch. Sally Wise, the new owner, repaired the cedar weatherboard... Read More
Conference inspires
Following the successful and enjoyable 2011 conference at Auckland’s Sky City, I was full of anticipation about this year’s conference. But it got off to a good start simply by being held in Gordon Moller’s recently completed ripply-roofed , sparkly glass jewel box Viaduct Events Centre. Moller has finally shed Wellington’s Queens Wharf Events centre shedness. After the disasters in Christchurch, last year’s theme was about architects and... Read More
