Get Set
Fact: The word with most entries in the Oxford Dictionary is “set” — a word able to be used as a noun, adjective or...
Inspiration
Inspiration comes easily to some, but for most of us there’s a touch of panic and a lot of hard work when initially confronted...
Safe danger
Architect Philip Johnson introduced the principle of “safe danger” into his designs.
He would design steps fostering a sense of imbalance or unease. He would...
False memory
We are aware that memories fade as time goes by.
And recent research has shown that a more significant issue is that people, particularly in...
Connections
I recently read the biography of Steve Wozniak — titled somewhat coyly iWoz.
A self-proclaimed genius — he was quick to tell us that his...
Crisis? What crisis?
Two building industry topics dominating the news throughout 2016 have been the housing crisis and faulty building materials.
Both are important issues and both need...
Faulty Towers
Basil Fawlty, always looking for someone else to blame for any misfortune, would have revelled in the latest debacle with Auckland’s super city —...
Unintended consequences
The so-called “law of unintended consequences” is attributed to 17th Century English philosopher John Locke who, interestingly, was commenting at the time on the...
In code
When I first started in architectural practice, engineers still used punch cards to hold the codes defining their calculation data. Containing a series of...
A concrete result
The word concrete comes from the Latin word “concretus” (meaning compact or condensed), from “con-” (together) and “crescere” (to grow).
German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found...