As summer continues it’s blazing trail across the Wellington region, this blog site has been a bit sleepy too – but got woken up with a jolt recently, as a direct challenge was fired across the bows of the architectural profession. From a headline in the NBR, and Dom Post, an article caught my fish eye: “Blame the architects for the building my company is about…
Leviathan
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Levi has recently taken on some blogging duties following the disappearance of Maximus. Reluctantly.
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Nearly a month in, Eye of the Fish makes a return. I feel refreshed and reawakened, by an excellent evening presentation from Seattle-based architect Tom Kundig, at the City Gallery. What a lovely guy! And refreshing way of presenting too, instead of all me, me, me, he mainly let his work do the talking, while he and Jeremy Hansen sat and had an in-depth conversation about…
Leviathan
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The hearing on the future of the Gordon Wilson flats is in it’s last day, and opinions over the building and it’s possible future are varying widely. “Specialists” viewpoints are widely opposed, of course, and currently the “developer” Maurice Clark’s opinion that the building would be like a “turd covered in glitter” is getting some prominent airplay. The media loves a good soundbite… But Mr Clark…
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What a great note to end the year on. The long derelict site opposite Te Papa is to be the location, apparently, not just for a Convention Centre, but also a Film Museum with props from the Jackson empire. I’m truly impressed that this has been put together – and kept secret (well, at least kept secret from me), and that two really good purposes have…
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Architecture. Pyramids. Grain stores. I know it is a long way away from Wellington Architecture and Urbanism, but we do have a link – we have a Pyramid in Civic Square (sort of), so I reckon we can stretch the bounds of reason to get in a story about this. The stupidity of the average American public amuses the heck out of me, no end. On…
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The Blyth Performing Arts Centre, at Iona College in Havelock North, has scooped the winning pool and been awarded the NZIA 2016 New Zealand Architecture Medal, for best building in the country. For the sake of those of our readers who are not 11-16 year old girls, or who don’t live in Havelock North, the Eye of the Fish made a special visit to Iona –…
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Stuart Gardyne (of Architecture +) has won the NZIA Gold Medal for Architecture, for 2015. Well done. That’s a great achievement – click to watch the film here. It’s nice to see a Wellingtonian be recognised once again – there currently seems to be a strong Auckland-only focus to the NZIA. But Gardyne hasn’t been selected just because he lives and works in Wellington, or just…
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I’m loving the new kiwi version of Grand Designs. The host, Chris Moller, seems to be settling well into his job – and last night’s show was an absolute blinder. Architect Nic Ballara’s house (BBC Architects), clinging to the side of a cliff in Wellington, was a fascinating build to watch, and the finished creation was a joy to behold. Even the Stuff website has some…
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Zealandia: funny name, funny building, great concept. When it was started off, it was seen as a mad, wild-eyed crazy concept, that all rodents could be eradicated and just the flightless birds kept. It became New Zealand’s first – and perhaps the world’s first mainland sanctuary for flightless birds. Nowadays, of course, it has proved that it can indeed be done and indeed, the concept is…
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Today is the Future. Yes indeed: we have finally got there. 21 October 2015, the far off future as envisaged by Spielberg and the Doc and Marty McFly all those years ago in 1985. Yes, I know, half the world may also be celebrating this fictional episode, but why can’t we do that at the Eye of the Fish as well? After all, if you’re going…