Leviathan
3 Min Read

Everything looks better with sparkles, seems to be the motto of the Cuba Dupa carnival organisers. And apart from the glistening rain drops, everything was indeed sparkling over the weekend, with the whole of Cuba Street entering into the spirit. This town sure knows how to party! I love this city, with the mad way that we have taken the name of one of our first…

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Dedalus
2 Min Read

Did Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, or Jean-Jacques Rousseau have in mind the water infrastructure of Wellington (a city which didn’t exist yet) when they drafted their theories on social contract? We cannot say. Nevertheless, water management is certainly bringing social contract into play in New Zealand, at both a national and urban level: public outcry over international exploitation of national water supplies has highlighted the responsibility…

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Leviathan
1 Min Read

Sometimes an event comes along that you just feel that you HAVE to bring to the attention of others. This is one. On Wednesday March 22, at 6.00pm at the School of Architecture, the principal of Studio LADA (Landscape, Architecture, Design, Art) will present a public talk. Lada Hrsak (ex-Zagreb and now based in Amsterdam), looks at the world’s population growth “through the eyes of a…

Leviathan
6 Min Read

Let’s Get Welly Moving is the regional agency based collaboration, tasked to sort out Wellington’s transport woes. It follows on from the debacle over the failed Basin Bridge proposal, when NZTA decided we would have a “choice” of Flyover A or Flyover B, and both WCC and GWRC sat on their hands and pretended that the problem was “nothing to do with me, mate.” Let’s Get…

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Leviathan
1 Min Read

At some stage, reality is going to have to sink in, to whoever runs these signs around the city: Reading Car Park is Gone Baby GONE, the love has gone away. Unloved, unmourned, uncaring passing, the car park that no one wanted, built by profit chasers for a tower that never came, the building that split its thigh bones, allegedly. I saw no cracks. watched no…

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Leviathan
4 Min Read

There’s a new building in town, going up on the waterfront, and I’m sure you’ve all seen it by now. The 20 Customhouse Quay project (code named XXCQ) is already proving to be the most interesting building in Wellington, and technologically, perhaps the most advanced structural solution for a high rise in the whole country. It certainly has me intrigued. The project is definitely visually very…

Leviathan
2 Min Read

So – the worst kept secret in Wellington is out at last – Defence Force’s HQ, Freyberg House, is to be demolished. It’s perhaps no great surprise to those in the industry, who have heard the rumours before now, but it is sure to be a bit of a shock to many Wellingtonians. There is, of course, another building that will probably also have to come…

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Leviathan
1 Min Read

WELLINGTON STREETS ON THE LIST Adelaide Rd, Berhampore/Mt Cook/Newtown Bond St, Wellington Central Courtenay Pl, Te Aro Coutts St, Kilbirnie Cuba St, Te Aro Dixon St, Te Aro Dundas St, Seatoun Egmont St, Te Aro Eva St, Te Aro Ganges Rd, Khandallah Ghuznee St, Te Aro Hobart St, Miramar Holland St, Te Aro Hutt Rd, Pipitea Kilbirnie Cres, Kilbirnie Lambton Quay, Wellington Central Manners St, Te…