There is something about Erskine College that gets everyone going. It’s gothic, it’s iconic, and it certainly looks haunted, but the architecture and the site stir everyone’s imagination. PJ used it for one of his first big films The Frighteners, and for years it was the home of the Learning Connexxion where you could go for classes in painting, sculpture, and probably rhythmic interpretive dance. While…
With Celia Wade-Brown stepping out of the race this morning (announcement to be was made at 10.30am), the race is, at last, wide open. With the exception of rank outsider Keith Johnson (and he is pretty rank – never met such a grumpy old bugger in my life): the candidates so far yelling and screaming with their hands up for the top job are all current…
This should be big news today – although, curiously, it is not showing up as front page news yet on the main media websites. Did you know that yesterday, Key, Joyce, and Barry all stood in Zealandia and declared that they were working for New Zealand to become 100% predator-free by 2050 ? The Nats, long being known as the true blue farmers party that really…
This program crept up out of the blue and whacked me round the face like a groper on steroids. I had no idea it was coming, let alone that it was even in production, or that it was about to go to air last week. I mean, they didn’t even have the courtesy to ask me if I wanted to front it or not. Luckily for…
The Eye of the Fish takes housing very seriously. Lack of housing is causing headaches and headlines from north of Auckland to, well, somewhere further south of Auckland, and everywhere in between: various causes have been targeted for the lack of housing, with blame normally involving a mixture of too many foreigners, too many people wanting to live in Auckland, and too little land being made…
On a cold mid-winter’s night, is there anything better than staying indoors and watching a movie with a few hundred architectural friends? Last night was the screening of “the Competition”, a documentary behind-the-scenes of the competition for the national Art Museum of Andorra. I want to thank the sponsors, E-Boss, Veridian, Gib, James Hardies, Resene, etc, as I’ve been wanting to see this film for a…
Queens Birthday weekend – wasn’t that just the most glorious weather? I think the whole of New Zealand must have been outside enjoying the day – not bad for mid winter. And not a bad day for Maurice Clark either, who has been made an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit, recognising his unstinting appetite for taking on difficult heritage restoration projects, and then carrying…
Today we are all to receive words from on high – if not exactly a set of commandments carved in stone, then at least close to it, as John Key says this will solve everything. Housing, apparently, is uncontrollable by countries around the world, and yet JK is going to solve it with a Policy Statement. This Policy Statement is apparently going to go something along…
“Better Te Aro Collective”. Like others, I’ve been surprised to see the sudden emergence of this Better Te Aro group, who have garnered two newspaper headlines in the last week. Who are they? Where do they come from? Why do they claim to speak for Te Aro? Do they own Te Aro? Do you have to own a coffee shop to belong? There is no website…
The newish route of State Highway One, known as Karo Drive (oh, such droll naming – the Karo tree is a vile weedy thing exploding black pustulant seed pods all over the surrounding area, and grows like crazy – perfect for Cars…), has for the last decade or so had a series of forelorne landlocked lumps of lost and lonely land scattered along the length of…