About Philip
Philip is a student studying architecture and landscape design at Victoria. Acting as an editor and author, he is blogging to develop his interest and education in all things design, architecture and urbanism .
Philip also works as a freelance designer, mostly focusing on web-based projects. He created the Eye Of The Fish website, and has a portfolio viewable online.
Ngauranga to Airport (Part 2)
Its that time again - time for another round in the turtle-paced tennis match that is the public consultation process. This time the ball is back in our court, taking the form of a new draft plan for the Ngauranga-Airport transport corridor.
The plan is quick to address what is perhaps the most topical of the proposed options: light rail. …
Overseas Makeover
Just quickly for now: the Athfield-designed Overseas Passenger terminal has just been granted resource consent, having satisfied previously held concerns related to construction issues.
Courtenay loses some parks; gains a Park
The Courtenay Place Park seems more-or-less finished now, having recently unveiled the second and final stage of it’s development. A very minimal and very urban park, it’s strengths lies in the quality of the finish and detailing, as well as the enhancement of pedestrian flow within this highly-traffic area.
The park creates two axes, each in …
The Congestion Pricing Roadmap
It seems that the roadmap to congestion pricing is itself congested: gridlocked by an array of obstacles and opinions.
We have a $200k report/proposal, dense legal obstacles, technical challenges, a mayor that is “not even lukewarm”, and a public that is overwhelming against the issue.
So what happens next? Nothing?
The first hurdle seems to lie with parliament, in the resolution of the …
Fwd: An open letter to the NZIA
While 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 …
This post just received Resource Consent
Shane 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 …
The Hilton vanishes?
The 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 …
Courtenay 2.0
Is 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
…
Body Movie(ing)
If you haven’t yet, I would definitely recommend that you head down to Te Papa and check out Body Movies.
Part of the Arts Festival, the installation projects street photography in combination with the silhouettes of the viewers - producing something akin to overscaled shadow puppetry. Conceived by artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, and sponsored by Meridian Energy, it is the …
To Build a Painting
Late last year, I had an amazing opportunity to meet Bill Toomath, and explore his Roseneath house. In particular, the building features a dramatic addition - a study room that was designed to replicate a scene from the 15th century painting, St Jerome in his Study.
My impressions of the ‘design den’ were that …