Tag: Ruminations
Saving light
Each year more than 120,000 people visit Cape Reinga and its lighthouse. The Cape itself is certainly worth checking out as it is currently...
Australia’s notorious Port Arthur
Australia has been celebrating its convict past — again. In 2010, 11 dinky-di former convict sites were inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. They...
99 Quay Street, Auckland, turns 100
In the hurly burly that has cluttered our year to date, including the teething pains of a Super City, sundry occupations of assorted CBDs,...
Cologne’s convivial mosque
In 2007, German Muslims commissioned the building of a large central mosque in Cologne. About 12% of the population of Germany’s fourth largest city...
Our Old Government Buildings
British architect Andrew Waugh recently spoke eloquently on national television as to the virtues of wood, specifically when it comes to rebuilding Christchurch. ...
If you seek his monument, look around
This is no mere superb construction — it is a work of art and is most easy on the eye. The good burghers...
Dwelling with Gaia
The primary concern here is with so-called earth houses, aka earth berms, as opposed to rammed-earth or earth-sheltered homes. Earth homes are set...
Christchurch’s Cardboard Cathedral
Japanese-born Shigeru Ban is a remarkable designer. In the media he is sometimes known as The Emergency Architect. He studied in the early...
The contentious Beehive
Urban legend holds that Spence dashed off his initial concept on the back of a napkin during dinner with the PM. Other accounts claim...
New Zealand Parliament’s home
The Government of the day was in no hurry to spend money on new accommodation, and it was not until February 1911 that Prime...