On Thursday, Wellington held the Inaugural Housing Policy Forum. Admirably timed to help debate housing policies before the election, the Forum set out to examine New Zealand’s peculiar obsession with owning your own home: especially your own, detached, quarter acre, 4 walls and picket-fence type home.
The range of speakers included the right wing: Don Brash, Phil Heatley, Owen McShane, and Hugh Pavletich – and their answers are a predictable right wing response: tax cuts, develop greenfield sites, reform the Resource Management Act. All these measures will – if you are a believer in right wing National Party / Act policies…
read the full entryWhile vaguely in the political arena, I thought I would take a moment to help propogate a recently written address to the New Zealand Institute of Architects. The address follows on from the (relatively) recent Pacific Students of Architecture Congress, and details some of the problems surrounding the disciple of architecture that were explored by the conference.
My knowledge on NZIA matters is fairly limited, so im going to refrain from commentary. But please, feel free to add your say – this is certainly an important issue.
An open letter to the NZIA [pdf]
read the full entryShane Jones – Minister of Building and Construction – is looking to change portions of the Resource Management Act, aiming to reduce the costs associated with building homes. Affecting both a range of project scales, the proposals represent a relaxation of the Act’s strict dictates.
On the smaller scale it looks like DIY-ers will face less restrictions when performing minor alterations to their own property. That is, as long as there is no significant danger involved.
It also seems that something of a bundled plan will be available for new residential projects, possibly trimming up to $3000 from the costs of garnering…
read the full entryHot on the heels of the Barrio development comes another development of inner-city apartments (first blogged on WellUrban). This one is designed by Archaus – the most prolific architects in Wellington. The site has had a couple of schemes proposed for it previously: one by Abri Architects of Auckland which was shot down in flames pretty quickly, and the other, curvy one that never really saw the light of day except for a feature in the Wellurban blog. This one may be around a little longer.
The site, is a highly sought after corner close to Cuba St, right on the…
read the full entryThe potential Hilton hotel has had the appeals against its consent upheld, signalling what is likely to be the end of the controversial waterfront proposal. Having started the applications process back in later 2005, the news seems like it will be a decisive blow to the project; although an appeal is possible, it must go through the High Court.
The presiding judge cited all the usual issues with the project, such as public space, lines of sight and heritage concerns among others. Plenty has been written about the project previously, and its associated drawbacks and benefits. Despite the changes that were…
read the full entryJust as the press is all about the coming end of the property market, and the apartment market crash in Auckland, another development appears on the horizon.
Barrio is the latest high rise apartment building designed by architect Campbell Pope, interestingly just next to his previous work: the Bellagio. While Bellagio seemed a random choice for a name, implying an Italian background, Barrio seems outright wrong – normally meaning a poor neighbourhood in a Spanish speaking country. Not quite a favela, or a slum; but not far from it. Perhaps not what you want rich property investors to be thinking –…
read the full entryWatching TV on Saturday night, I spotted two things that are doing marvellous PR for Architects in New Zealand. Forget about the inept and unregistered on Mitre 10 Dream home – producing the sort of tat we’re all trying to avoid – over on Grand Designs Abroad, the host Kevin McCloud is possibly the best advert for having an architect in NZ, even if it is a British programme – this week set in Spain…
This week Derek and Jen, enthusiastic but interfering South Africans, were their own worst clients, literally chopping and changing the architects’ plans (“we just using them…
read the full entryIs it just me, or has the media coverage of the proposed Courtenay Place changes focused a little too much on the issues related to the curbing of an “out-of-control” party zone, much to the detriment of several other important issues. For example, in the Dominion Post it was noted that:
“Out-of-control drinking … has prompted a radical review, which could result in which could result in closed-circuit television cameras scanning the streets, a 24/7 alcohol ban and peak-hour traffic blocked.”
The polemic of Courtenay as a dangerous embarrassment may or may not be entirely valid, and I understand the usefullness of…
read the full entryIt’s a lonely life being an architectural critic in New Zealand. An art form that’s not so much dying as nearly not born at all, there are precious few who will stick their head above the parapet to comment on the equally few works of architecture we have that appear in the pages of the press. And it is a situation that is going to get worse. Newspaper rolls are falling quite rapidly, with Wellington once having had two newspapers; well respected voices that have since combined into one, although the end result is worse than either was previously, now…
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