So: New Zealand has spoken, and we have a new government about to form. Aunty Helen, head of the world’s first largely women-based government administration, has been axed by the voters, and we are about to go back to a far more male oriented, traditional, white middle-class form of government under the tutelage of John Key. While I lament the lack of any signs of inspiring…
Fish
1,121 Articles
Maximus
1 Min Read
Amazingly, the weather held off enough for a perfect evening for another great Fireworks night. Photo courtesy of Jake Faulkner on Flickr. And Wellington’s best comes out on Guy Fawkes night, as the waterfront fills up, the roof parties get going (neighbours greeting each other from their Mt Victoria rooftop locations for the first time again since last year), and Oriental Parade opens up their expensive…
Maximus
1 Min Read
Yesterday’s DomPost headlines said it all: “Second Minister caught in Fish Cash Scandal.” Or some such – the story has disappeared from DomPost’s website already, although Peter Dunne’s rebuttal still remains. We hasten to add that of course, this Fish Cash Scandal has nothing to do with the Eye of the Fish, and that our electoral integrity remains unimpuned in New Zealand. Although, it does…
Maximus
3 Min Read
In a move to the suburbs, an area not normally frequented by the Eye of the Fish, a Mall is on the menu. Johnsonville Mall, to be precise. And there’s a big fuss brewing. Not about the concept of a mall – after all, there’s one there already. But this one is due to be different, to be bigger. Much bigger. Unusually however, we can’t show…
Maximus
2 Min Read
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…
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…