Pride commeth before a fall, as the old saying goes, but there’s normally something else that happens before the stock-market crashes, as we’re seeing at present. It seems that while the market gets busier and busier, more and more bullish, and developers develop balls of steel, that tall buildings are the things that truly commeth before a fall; that there is a direct link between ego and…
Fish
1,107 Articles
Maximus
4 Min Read
Despite the doom and gloom talk of global financial melt-down, the proposed redevelopment of our tightly packed city continues on, showing no fear (as yet), with a bullish report in the DomPost today. The latest proposal is for AMP’s redevelopment of the Gen-i building, sited on Customhouse Quay with stunning views out over the harbour. Nestling into the rear of the Maritime Tower site, and indeed…
Maximus
1 Min Read
If you’re an architect or architectural groupie in Wellington, waking up this morning with a hangover, then you must have been at Athfield’s party last night. By all accounts, it was a “ripper of a night” and a great time was had, drunk and eaten by all. The ears and eyes of the fish reported back that the Embassy Theatre was packed, with faux movie trailer…
Maximus
1 Min Read
Yes, that’s right – Havana Coffee, home to some of the best roasted beans and some of the choicest cuts of real estate too. The guys at Havana seem to have a handle on all their senses: a feel for what makes a great bar, a good eye for catchy graphics, a fine nose for roasting, and an ear out for some choice sites. Here’s three…
Philip
1 Min Read
Down here on Holland St, construction is definitely nothing new. Of late we’ve seen the Century City development starting to shape up, as well as the smaller additions of the oh-so-contemporary product spec office and the always-vibrant fuel expresso HQ. I had assumed that the construction site present on the first floor of the ‘zebra hostel’ was just simple renovation or the like; but the additon of an interesting catipillar-like lighting…
Maximus
1 Min Read
Following on from the previous post, where we had observed how good Wellington can get on a nice day (not so good today, unfortunately), there were a few photos left over that we just had to use. There seems to be a few simple principles at work here for successful public space design in general, but throughout the waterfront especially. Always face your seating to…
Maximus
1 Min Read
They say it, and you can’t. Here’s proof. Waitangi Park, multiple award winning and hugely popular outdoor space, for all Wellingtonians. What was all the fuss about then, eh? We love it. The new waterfront promenade outside the old Herd St Post Office. Most ridiculously priced fish and chips in town, but hey, great spot for people watching. Shed 5 dining by the waters edge, nary…
Maximus
1 Min Read
The Eye of the Fish can see many stories, read many texts, and understand many things: but one language that fish don’t speak is Wildstyle. Graffiti – writing or drawings scribbled, scratched or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place. While we hope to write more on the burgeoning graffiti art scene in Wellington (which can be argued as a good…
Maximus
2 Min Read
It has been announced by the Wellington City Council, that following on from the demise of the proposal for a Hilton Hotel, there will be an ideas competition for the end of the Outer T on Queens Wharf: currently home to an old tin shed, as I’m sure you all know. The Hilton-to-be, as you will recall, was vanquished by the continued badgering of the combined…
Maximus
1 Min Read
Wellington has long had an ambivalent attitude to alternative means of transport unloved in other cities – we still have trolley buses (long absent from Auckland or Christchurch), we have a cable car (NZ’s and one of the world’s few commuter vertical transporters), and the cops here seem to turn a blind eye to youths driving scooters, sidewinders or skateboards. In most major cities of the…