I didn’t want to write a post for this, not yet, but the latest news has forced my hand: could we really be about to see the demise of the Athfield designed Wellington Central City Library ? News headline from the DomPost today: “Wellington Central Library: ‘Knock it down and start afresh’ option with earthquake rating pending” Mayor Justin Lester said the library’s fate was “to…
Fish
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Leviathan
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There is a lot of mud being slung over in Shelly Bay at the moment, some of which is landing on the shoulders of innocent passers by, but most of which is falling back down and hitting the people throwing it. Peter Jackson, one of the wealthiest men in New Zealand, and certainly the most powerful man in Wellington, is calling the Mayor Justin Lester all…
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Leviathan
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What do these names have in common? Why does Wellington have a potential problem? Why is it that I have to solve this basic problem for the city, yet again? Isn’t there a simple answer, staring us right in the face? Our great city is built upon rock. Well, at least the hills are rock, while most of the city is built on the flat, from…
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There are two ways of looking at the Civic Square debacle – the worst thing ever, or the best opportunity ever. You know which side I’m going to take! Wellington’s Civic Square, Te Ngakau, is / was / should be the capital’s pride and joy. Comparable in function to Sienna’s Palio, to Rome’s Piazza Navona, to London’s ummm, Trafalgar Square? Leicester Square? Soho Square? our Civic…
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The Wellington Town Hall is getting strengthened and some people are getting exasperated at how long the process is taking. To be fair, the building has been sitting empty, closed off for a number of years now, and only recently (2018) has it actually been behind work hoardings. So – what is likely to be happening? We’re not completely sure, but here at Eye of the…
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A bit of a change of tack here on Eye of the Fish – away from burning cathedrals and crazy housing – we thought that it may be useful to bring to your attention a MBIE discussion paper on legislative reform of the Building Sector. It is quite a wide-ranging review, probably the biggest for years since the actual review of the Building Act itself in…
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I woke up this morning to hear the unbelievable news that Notre Dame de Paris was on fire – and by tonight it was all over. Impossible to think that it could happen at first, and yet when you stop to think about it, it is a wonder that it hasn’t happened before now. 850 years old with barely a scratch, and then when you start…
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Well, hello hello. Good news! The extravagantly stupid plans for the Petone to Grenada Link Road, have been ditched. With the road through Transmission Gully currently on route to be the most expensive road in New Zealand’s history, and with P2G due to clock in at – rough estimate – at least 4 times more expensive than Trans Gully – well, at long last someone has…
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Yet again the Dom Post is going all out for Click-Bait headlines, with front page news alleging that “Character homes may go”. That’s a title worthy of April 1st, not April 3rd. Perhaps a new boy on the news desk, trying to turn a few heads with spurious bullshit. Fonseka: back of the class for you mate! Time to grow up and write a serious, well-researched…
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These poor Aussies seem to have a screw loose about Wellington traffic conditions. I thought that a quick mash up of actual site conditions, taken from actual photos of actual cars actually driving on Taranaki St, might help their design skills along a bit. Free to a good home, A+ !!!