There was some wonderful wooden news about Wellington last night, with the announcement of a new timber tower for the CBD. It’s a new building being developed for Robert Jones Holdings, which in itself is unusual as Sir Robert Jones normally just likes to buy and hold, but here his company has decided to redevelop the existing site. The new building has been designed according to…
Fish
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nemo
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I’m filling in here while Levi is away (not sure when he’ll be back again), so here is a welcome tale, not exactly about Wellington, but definitely about Architecture. You’ve probably all heard about the Venice Biennale of Art, where New Zealand has been exhibiting for the last several times, some more successfully than others? There’s also a Biennale of Architecture too, and Aotearoa has been…
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Leviathan
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Sad news today that the Matterhorn is to close. A Wellington institution, a Cuba St staple, a 60s icon beyond compare. In many other worlds, the Matterhorn would be a sacrosanct thing, a protected and listed function, and yet here, at the word of an engineer, it is to be largely destroyed. Sad indeed. But hold on a sec – is that all true? Is it…
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Leviathan
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There’s something ever appealing about Walt Disney’s mouse creation that transcends the years – but even I thought I had double vision at this sight – somewhere in a german back street from memory. But this got me thinking – not really in any particular urban or architectural way, but just generally thinking about Mickey as a cultural icon. In a uniquely NZ context of course,…
Leviathan
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While my efforts have been wilting lately, thankfully, other blogs are springing up to take the place of this one. First up is Congestion Free Wellington, which is, as it says on their blog, a “congestion-free Wellington coalition made up of Cycle Aware Wellington, FIT: Fair Intelligent Transport, Living Streets Aotearoa, OraTaiao: The NZ Climate & Health Council, Save the Basin, and Trams-Action.” That’s a pretty…
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Leviathan
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The report of the Mayor’s Housing Taskforce is out and you can download it to read at your leisure. Spear-headed by Mayor Justin Lester and Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle, the report has been prepared by a group of people, Members of the Housing Taskforce, that reads like this: Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle, Chair Stephanie McIntyre, Downtown Community Ministry Morrie Love, Wellington Tenths Trust Jo Taite, Kahungunu…
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Leviathan
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In the world’s slowest playing and longest lasting saga, what could be the final chapter has been announced. A new building – the last new building? – for the Wellington waterfront. The Dominion Post of course rushes straight to get an opinion from the bunch of wild rebels that were probably teenagers when this controversy started: the aged and creaky-jointed citizens who appointed themselves to rule…
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Leviathan
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Is there anything more scary than the sight of a tall building on fire? Grenfell Tower in West London was in flames all Wednesday, burning through the night like a giant torch – this is a major, major incident. Apart from the loss of life (at the moment only reporting 6 dead, but surely set to rise considerably), my guess is that this will also have…
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Leviathan
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The announcement that the Council (WCC) is looking at getting developers to take city office blocks and convert them to housing is a big game-changer. It is a sign of an increasingly heated property market and an increasingly frustrated Council, seeing as the Special Housing Areas set up by the Government have not really had any effect so far. It’s always hard to get new buildings…