Welcome to 2018 and welcome back to the Eye of the Fish, the uniquely Wellington look at architecture and urban matters in and around our glorious and perfectly formed small city – the self-proclaimed Coolest Small Capital in the World. The holiday season is now half over, and while you have been at the beach or up on a mountain top, some other people have been…
Wellington earthquake
10 Articles
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Leviathan
1 Min Read
Its taken over 5 years since the first Canterbury quake for some actual real action to be taken on strengthening, and not before time. Now that the laws allow for this to happen, the Council has stepped in and said: Strengthen those weak and easily remedied bits first. Don’t sweat the big stuff right now – work on those floppy high walls of brick masonry and…
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Leviathan
5 Min Read
It’s not just Bunny Walters and ZsaZsa Gabor that have gone to meet their maker in the last few days – it is the building at 61 Molesworth St that is quickly shuffling off this mortal coil. They say that modern buildings have a 50 year life span – Zsa Zsa got to 99, Bunny got to 63 – but ICI only just passed 50. Almost…
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Dedalus
2 Min Read
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts! Or, is it?!†proclaimed no one in the furore which surrounded Wellington’s rapid reopening after the 7.8 Kaikoura quake. Well. I think someone should have. With the dust firmly settled – at least for now – from last month’s earthquake, it is timely to note how this most fabled designer’s maxim extends far past the aesthetic….
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Leviathan
6 Min Read
Following last week’s large earthquake in Kaikoura (now uprated to 7.8, which is a sizeable monster), a number of buildings in Wellington have been cordoned off, and so far, three buildings have been slated for demolition. They are: the former ICI House (designed by Stephenson & Turner, constructed 1962-65) in 61 Molesworth St. the Statistics building (designed by Jasmax, constructed 2005) at Centreport. the Car Park…
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Leviathan
3 Min Read
Following on from the previous post singing the praises of the structural engineers inspecting our buildings in the heart of the capital, this post is almost the opposite: don’t let anyone “Red Zone” our city. I’m not sure who is even promoting the idea, but it is not one to be taken lightly. Yes, we had an earthquake recently, and around a thousand aftershocks. Yes, we…
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Leviathan
1 Min Read
Once again we have an earthquake, and once again, our city gets off lightly. Despite all the hoohaa and sirens and tsunami warnings etc, and apart from the tragic loss of a couple of people in the South Island, Wellington has brushed off the quakes with a shrug. And that is exactly what we should be able to do, every time it happens. The Geonet warning…
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Maximus
3 Min Read
Sometimes you get the feeling that the world is trying to send you a message. This is a map of brick buildings in Wellington – unreinforced brick masonry, or URM as they are now fashionably known. These URMs are going to be a headache for all of us for the next 10-20 years… Light blue shows a URM, dark blue shows you an old (pre-1939) URM….
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Maximus
4 Min Read
This is a public service announcement from the Eye of the Fish: As the Expert Panel reported back yesterday with recommendations as to what NZ needs to do in regards to the earthquake strengthening of our buildings, and seeing as you all / we all in the urban design / architectural / engineering / construction field are going to be intimately affected by this over the…
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Maximus
3 Min Read
I can’t recall the last time I sat and cried all the way through a movie – maybe it was a love story or maybe it was a tragedy – but this time it was a documentary. What an extraordinary film. Go. See. It. Now. Filmed by Christchurch resident Gerard Smyth, When a City Falls is a quite remarkable documentary, of fascinating interest to engineers, architects,…
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