Cuba vs Manners

So I was thinking to myself, as you do on a fine summer’s day like today: what is it that makes Cuba St so special, whereas Manners Mall just doesn’t cut the mustard? 

Is it the paving? Grey bricks just aren’t as warm and friendly as the orange hues of Cuba. Is it the architecture? Cuba’s sure is older, while Manners is newer: but is that all there is?

Is it the people? Surely not - its often the same people in both spaces. 

Is it the shops? It’s noticeable that the fast food barns congregate on the corners of Manners Mall, whereas its the fine food of Matterhorn that coagulates the centre of Cuba St.

Is it the buskers? Harp-lady and violin boys stick to Cuba, while the guitar men and mariachi-singer are happy to play in either space.

Is it the tuatara that happily waits for you to climb on its back, or is it the Bucket Fountain that is resplendent in new paint?

What about the height of the buildings - is it that 2 stories in Cuba makes

…

Architecture Awards night

Yes, tonight is the night for the architectural community, as the local Wellington region Awards for Architecture and annual knees up are being held tonight. Last year the awards went to the New Dowse, the Masterton Police Station and the Greytown Town Hall, Holiday Inn, the new Maritime Tower, Len Lye’s water whirler, the waterfront refurbishment of Shed 13, and the highly deserved award for Conservation House (which went on to win a Supreme Award by the year’s end), as well as a swathe of awards for some very fine housing. Awards are being held in the very evocatively period Shed 13 tonight - lets hope that the owners have managed to install some toilet and kitchen facilities which are noticeably absent in this picture from last year!

While Eye of the Fish hasn’t been invited to participate in the awards, hopefully we can bring you an update soon after to confirm what are Wellington’s top architect-designed buildings for 2008. While there are lots of projects to consider this year, the global (and eventual Wellington) slow down will have a restrictive effect in years to come. Residential building consents have plummeted apparently, with commercial

…

Mauled Mall - Bus Route

As you’ve probably noticed, the WCC is canvassing for opinions on the proposed change to the bus route through Manners Mall.

We’re a bit surprised how little public dialogue there has been so far on the proposal - and so we thought we’d open up a place for your informal dialogue and discussion to go. The picture above is of Manners Mall, taken on the corner of Cuba, just a few days after mid-winter. Its a little after lunchtime, and so the afternoon sun is streaming into the mall, keeping those pedestrians happy. Seems  like a nice place to walk, no? Or better as a route to drive a bus down?

The premise is simple: buses to be re-routed so that they no longer do the dog-leg through Mercer-Victoria-Wakefield-Cuba-Manners-Courtenay, but instead they’ll continue along Willis a bit longer, and take a turn straight down Manners to Courtenay.

Simple on the face of it, but what is behind it - what is it really for? The Council is very keen on connecting up the 2 parts of the Golden Mile - at present it is a

…

Rate your blog

On a small and temporary slant away from the woes, whys and wherefores of Wellington’s wonderful wacky edifaces and erections, we’d just like to note that the Eye of the Fish has been nominated for a TAWA by our fast and furiously blogging colleagues over at the Wellingtonista. It’s a great honour - we’re not worthy - especially as Tumeke says we have slipped to position 84 in the NZ Political Blogosphere. Oh No! Slipping! We’re almost off the radar folks! Only you can save us!

But first: a Warning. This blog entry may contain pictures of a “Well-known Vegetarian” doing unspeakable things to pregnant women. You have been warned.

Anyway, continuing on after that brief political announcement: Other nominees for the TAWA include Poneke, coffeeGeek Brenda Wallace, Webstock, and Wellingtonians on FlickR: all well deserving too, although there are a lot of other Wellingtonians blogging as well. I’m still not sure how Tumeke gets hold of all the info, but one thing is for sure: the more we post, and the more you comment, the higher up the greasy pole of bloggerdom we climb. There are a lot of people out

…

No Fly Zone

The Basin Reserve: do you want Flyovers with that?

I can’t believe that people are seriously thinking about this awful proposal. There is a meeting next week to organise a group against this throwback to the 1950s, at St Joseph’s church, on 25th November. Read more about it here. Meantime, those that are in favour (hands up Mayor Kerry and the Transit crew), should ponder this: Newmarket viaduct in Auckland has been transporting cars overhead since 1965, and is about to be enlarged via a total rebuilding, at massive cost, to achieve a single extra lane.

Recently the bridge has come under criticism about the fact that debris flies off the viaduct to busy Newmarket below, seismic susceptibility and that the bridge has been separating in sections to create wide gaps.

Hmm, not so good then. A mere 40 years on, its chocka, and falling down.

It’s also worth considering the Victoria Park Viaduct, which, like the proposed Basin Reserve Viaduct, cuts right across the Park. Again, there are problems with the viaduct, and it is being proposed to

…

More Mall for J’ville

Thanks to the very friendly and amenable Wellington City Council External Media Advisor, Richard Maclean, we’ve been able to bring you some further info about the proposed new expansion to Johnsonville Mall. Now that’s what I call a helpful public service. So, to recap since our last message on Johnsonville, although the Council is still deciding whether it will publicly notify the scheme or not, the project is available for public view anyway, and as part of that we thought it would be helpful for you to see some of what is being proposed. Especially, no doubt, if you live in Johnsonville. We can’t show you it all: there is stacks and stacks - its a massive application, with a vast amount of written information and some very useful images. Here’s a small part of the elevation on Johnsonville Road, and below that is a similar small sized chunk of the Broderick Street elevation.

Yes, it’s true, the Broderick St facade has a small area of wild criss-cross things in a manner fast becoming common in recent Wellington building proposals. All that aside, what is most

…

End of Year Degree Shows: On Now

Just in case you need a reminder, the Schools of Architecture and Design at Victoria, Massey, and Weltec are on now in the Capital, and are definitely worth a look. Some fantastic presentations to view in the Schools, unveiling some major new talent bubbling up from the student world.  

School of Architecture & Design, Victoria University (the Red building, Vivian St) Final Year Degree Show: open for one more week.

Massey University School of Art & Design - Exhibition : Blow.08 - open from November 7 - 22, at the old Dominion Museum building.

WelTec final year Interior Design - Exhibition : Tangent - from November 7, 2008, at Chaffers Park Gallery.

And of course, if you want to take a business card and offer some of this young talent a job, I’m sure they would be most obliged.

(image courtesy of Johnson Tong at Victoria Uni - apologies for poor reproduction)

A personal favourite of the Fish, showing that student talent can go far compared to the mainstream architects (and when unfettered by commercial restraints), is Johnson Tong’s scheme for the reworking of the Overseas Passenger Terminal. Some great points: you can see

…

So: the End of an Era

So: New Zealand has spoken, and we have a new government about to form. Aunty Helen, head of the world’s first largely women-based government administration, has been axed by the voters, and we are about to go back to a far more male oriented, traditional, white middle-class form of government under the tutelage of John Key. While I lament the lack of any signs of inspiring leadership in the election run-up, in sharp and pointed contrast to the reborn USA electoral scene, the resignation of both Clark and Cullen show that they know as much as the public seem to be saying: we’ve had enough, and it’s time for a change, even if some things in the change may not be to our advantage.

Cartoon courtesy of the fantastic Trace Hodgson

However: seeing as this is an urban blog, and not a political commentary: what then does this mean for Wellington architecture and urban life?

On the face of it, not a lot. There’s no inherent reason that Key will change the landscape more than Clarke, when it comes to building a physical presence outside the confines of Government. When each was

…

Fireworks for Obama Day

Amazingly, the weather held off enough for a perfect evening for another great Fireworks night. 

Photo courtesy of Jake Faulkner on Flickr. And Wellington’s best comes out on Guy Fawkes night, as the waterfront fills up, the roof parties get going (neighbours greeting each other from their Mt Victoria rooftop locations for the first time again since last year), and Oriental Parade opens up their expensive sea views and we get to see them instead. But possibly never before had the notion of celebrating Guy Fawkes Day seemed so inappropriate, so English, so totally pointless. So why do we keep celebrating the day when someone tried but didn’t quite succeed in blowing up the British Parliament - some 400 years ago. So he was a Catholic - so what? So he didn’t quite succeed in giving the Brits a well-deserved rocket - so what? The only Wellingtonian still banging on about that is Hector Westfold of Haitaitai, who no doubt was out burning an effigy of the Pope as he has done for the last 400 years

Yesterday for me was all about Obama this and Obama that, a total Obama-rama (ramalamadingdong).

…

Fish Cash Scandal

Yesterday’s DomPost headlines said it all: “Second Minister caught in Fish Cash Scandal.”   Or some such - the story has disappeared from DomPost’s website already, although Peter Dunne’s rebuttal still remains.

We hasten to add that of course, this Fish Cash Scandal has nothing to do with the Eye of the Fish, and that our electoral integrity remains unimpuned in New Zealand. Although, it does give us a good chance, on the eve of the US election, to run this delightful picture, of a soon to be Ex-President. Thank goodness for that.

Seems kind of apt for our situation too: come on Helen, you must be thinking: time to hand over the reins and let someone else sort out this enormous nappy full of crap the country is in.