Sadly, David Mitchell has passed away. His son Julian put it this way: David John Mitchell, sailor, adventurer, writer, wit, teacher, musician, dancer, styler, reader and architect has left us. We will sure miss the old boy! Love you dad. As an avowed Aucklander, Mitchell may not be known as well down here, but he was a lovely character, always with an impish grin, previously sporting…
For various reasons, I’ve got a huge interest in Sea level rise, both here in Wellington and around the world, but I shouldn’t be any different from anyone else. We should ALL have a strong interest in sea level rise – it sort of goes hand in hand with global warming and climate change. So, when I saw this quite cool article about Wellington City Council…
It’s been a busy week for news so far, and I’m still hiding in bed from all the coldness. But there is some news of go-aheads: the long-debated Chinese Garden gets the go-ahead, although I’m not sure if anyone really wants it; and the Shelly Bay housing plan has the handbrake released, so that too can go ahead. There are things to be said both for…
Front page article on the Dominion Post today, faithfully reporting that there is a good chance that Wellington may indeed have a chance at getting a light rail system. That’s quite amazing – not that we have a chance, but that the DomPost hasn’t immediately been sneering about it. Maybe they have a different attitude to it now that Celia has gone. But what is even…
Although this is a Wellington-focused blog, there are some matters in Architecture that go further afield than our small corner of the world, and sometimes we venture forth. One of these, looked at today, is the Auckland Architecture School Library and Archive, an integral part of the Arch School at University of Auckland. It is, it has to be said, the best architecture Library in the…
Not in Wellington, I know, and not about housing as I had promised, but this sad tale has got me intrigued. Multiple deaths and no doubt multi-million dollar lawsuits to come, but it is worth looking at in closer detail in case Wellington ever decides to go down the overpass route again. We used to have quite a few. Not so many now. So, let’s recap…
The time has come, it seems, for Prefab. We here at the Eye of the Fish have long been ardent fans of Pre-fabrication of things, in order to build faster, cleverer, betterer, and more out-of-the-weatherer than doing it all on site. After all, when you buy a new car, you don’t get a truck delivering a box of bits to your driveway to assemble, now do…
The quest for a rapid transit system in Wellington continues apace. With everyone, that is, except for LGWM itself, who prefer to travel the time tested manner of luxury upon a snail’s back. Even the Dom Post has got into the act, with an editorial extolling the need for some bloody ACTION on the Get Welly Moving front. Just for that, I’m going to post up…
Well, that was fun! Nothing quite like a good old blow. It’s still dark as I write this, but the coming dawn are going to show us a fair bit of damage. “A wet and windy day for most areas” as they say. I’m picking that some of our well-loved buildings may have been damaged, possibly beyond repair. The Boatshed in Nelson for instance – damaged…
The following is a Guest post from Dominic Kelly, the Director of Hashigo Zake: For a year and a half, the conversion of the Manthel building on the Taranaki/Wakefield St corner into Xero’s headquarters caused substantial damage to my business, Hashigo Zake, and to that of our fellow tenant, Zibibbo restaurant. During the period of the work, both businesses suffered a significant downturn in trade, which…