The big story of the day – the week – hell, even the year, is of course the sudden and catastrophic collapse of Mainzeal. From what we have heard so far, this is going to echo around the country and cause much misery for quite some time yet. Described as the third biggest construction company after Fletcher and Hawkins, Mainzeal has been around and survived the…
Maximus
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A Wellingtonian, interested in architecture and design. But enough about me, what about you?
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It seems like I heard this a long time ago, but I’m sure you all have too. A boy cries out “Wolf” as a joke, and everyone runs for cover. He does this again, a few too many times, and the townspeople get weary of his false alarms. When the wolf really does come, and the boy shouts once more, the people just assume he is…
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Over on the venerable, hard-working Scoop site, Councilor Ritchie has posted a comment lamenting the possibility of the Athfield-designed “portico” (extension to the Wellington City Council buildings) being demolished: “The Portico provides an important “grand†“archwayâ€entrance to Civic Square, Civic Centre, City Gallery,Town Hall City to Sea Bridge and Waterfront. It is the entrance for many processions and marches, provides a welcome to our civic public…
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A sperm whale washes onto a beach, in Paraparaumu, the place of many, many ovens. It is an extraordinary sight. Very few of the population have ever seen a whale before in real life – even fewer have seen a sperm whale. Almost no one has touched one. A jogger runs past early morning, snaps a photo, posts it onto Flickr. He is lucky: he is…
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Before we really get into the swing of things this year – one delightful piece of urban frippery – community design at its best – Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the Ohiro Road bus-stop. Just delightful. I was surprised and a little disappointed that WCC had advised that it was to be removed forthwith – and then I think that was quietly rescinded –…
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So, them Mayans were wrong again. Ooops, don’t mention the end-of-the-world thing! Embarrassed silence all round from the end-of-the-world believers… Yep, the world is still here, the country is still here, and what is most important of all, the Eye of the Fish is still here. If you’re like me, having been tramping the wide open spaces, and swimming the seven seas over the holiday break,…
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It seems to have become traditional at this time of the year, for Maximus to go off in a huff, despondent with the state of the world, wondering if there is any point still writing a blog when no-one much is building, or worse still that no one’s reading, and everyone is now just mouthing inanities on Twitter, and to mutter into her FishFins that she’s…
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Seems only fair that we should acknowledge this auspicious date in some way, and while I don’t plan to get married (dread thought) on this day, it is worth pointing out that we won’t be getting a similar date for another thousand and one years or so, and then only if we add a thirteenth month. So make the most of it. So this post is…
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Councilor Andy Foster writes: “A recent article asked ‘why isn’t there more evidence of progress for cycling under a green mayor’ ? Questions were also asked about how this all fits with transport overall. (Note: Photos sourced by Maximus, unless Clr Foster wants to send in alternatives…) So let’s start with cycling. As WCC Transport Leader from 2007-09 I led development of the City’s first ever…
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Yesterday, like the majority of Wellingtonians it seems, I went down to Courtenay Place to see a piece of long red carpet. Not that I really got to see much of the actual carpet of course – standing several rows back behind layers of sweaty little hobbit fans, I mainly had a good view of the back of people’s heads. Nothing wrong with that, of course,…