Reflections on Christchurch
I never really understood what Post-Traumatic Shock Disorder was until I began to visit Christchurch a couple of months back.
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What Mies Means to Me
Google reminded me that today, March 27th, 2012, is the 126th birthday of Mies, or, as he named himself Ludwig Mies van der Rohe – congratulations! I guess the 1,280,000 results of Google ensure that almost everything has been said about him and his masterful architecture of ascetic Modernism.
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Urbanized
Urbanized is the latest film documentary of Gary Hustwit, who was the mind behind the films Helvetica and Objectified.
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Keywords:
Urban design
Opinion
Calligraffitti at Saatchi & Saatchi
Last night Niels ‘Shoe’ Meulman (NSM) opened his show at the Saatchi & Saatchi Gallery in Parnell.
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1972 – The Best of German Architecture
Sometimes I get asked what my favourite piece of German architecture is.
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Christchurch Cathedral, spiritual need or historical delight?
Often witnesses to a large degree of devastation (be it natural or man-made) need to step back and create our own point of reference in order to make it “thinkable” at all.
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Being an Architect’s Engineer
I've been pondering what makes our engineers so special.
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Yesterday was the .
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Christchurch Temporary Cathedral
We are, by now, all familiar with the image of the torn and broken Christ Church Cathedral following the earthquakes of February 22nd and June 13th June this year.
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More NZ-Made Design, please
We buy NZ-made cheese.
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Is Auckland Learning from Us?
With the launch of the .
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Put Progress on the Shelves!
Coming back from lecturing at the School of Architecture one day, I stumbled into the bookshop on the campus.
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Keywords:
Architecture
Opinion
For Thirty Pieces of Silver… Auckland dresses up
Last week I was full of excitement about the new humane urban development at North Quay in the Wynyard Quarter; today I realise that Auckland unravels a new face (the true one?) as it dresses up for the Rugby World Cup.
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Keywords:
Opinion
Hamburg in the 1920s – Modernism with a Local Edge
The beginning of Modernism in Germany was very much a personal thing of individuals, such as Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius in Berlin or Otto Haesler in Celle.
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Keywords:
Opinion
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
Finally Auckland wins the harbour back again! Happy pedestrians now stroll over Te Wero island, across the lifting bridge, and along North Wharf; untroubled by motorists enjoying the maritime environment.
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Keywords:
Urban design
Opinion
Herzog & de Meuron reinvigorate NAZI Design for the Bordeaux Grand Stadium
On Friday many of the architecture blogs featured a brand new project by the Swiss architects .
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Keywords:
Opinion
Norman Foster at the NZ Film Festival
This past Sunday morning I attended a screening of “How much does your building weigh, Mr.
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Keywords:
Opinion
Reality TV
Mostly television these days is a carnival parade of the fattest families and 5-year old chefs.
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Day-to-day Revit
When they hear the word ‘Revit’, most people either say one of three things: “Woohoo! I love that thing.
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Keywords:
BIM Technology
Opinion
Auckland City Limits
As yet more land around Auckland is being earmarked for development to enable downsized modern versions of “the ¼ acre dream”, we have to ask ourselves; “what on earth are we doing here?” As all us Aucklanders know and everybody else laughs behind our backs about, getting around in the city and surrounding areas is a big fat joke! The answer is not urban sprawl.
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Keywords:
Urban design
Opinion
Memories of Chernobyl
The 26th of April marked the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster.
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Keywords:
Opinion
Great Design at All Levels
These last few weeks I have been out and about in Wellington helping with reports for Housing NZ on the general condition of some of their local housing stock.
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Keywords:
Opinion