A battle to redefine humanity.

I don't find it hard to agree with George Monbiot

The Architecture of Cuba Street

This photograph is not typical but is from a show of mine "Bricks and Mortar" which opens today at James Gilberd's Photospace Gallery in Courtenay Place. It continues until the end of January.


In addition to Cuba Street buildings "Bricks and Mortar" includes a set entitled "Post-Industrial Landscapes" taken in Manchester where global warming can be considered to have begun. The Industrial Revolution took place over the period from 1760 to 1830.

The Best New Zealand Travel Guide

One might think that in today's world the internet would be the medium providing the best source of travel information on New Zealand but the publication of a new version of a guide book which first appeared in 1973 contradicts that idea.
Diana and Jeremy Pope's Penguin Travel Guide to the North Island has 700 pages packed with easy to read information. If as a traveller you want to be seriously well informed and enlightened there is nothing better.

The Penguin New Zealand Travel Guide: North Island

A Walk in the Botanic Gardens - Rudderstone

The reflective qualities of the marbles from Brazil and Italy means that this wonderful sculpture by Denis O'Conner changes its appearance with the seasons and the time of day.

Villa Poiana Maggiore

As a contrast to the previous post with a picture of a battered wooden structure on Wellington's South Coast I thought I'd post another picture from my archive. The building is one whose simplicity and form I much admire as I expect do many other people. Palladio's Villa Poiana Maggiore was built in 1546.


In New Zealand the role of the villa in our housing history has been explored in the recent splendid multi-authored book Villa: From Heritage to Contemporary Living.

Maranui Surf Club

As a result of its present predicament doubt has been expressed about the architectural merit of the Maranui surf club building.
I found this photo in my archives; probably taken before the cafe existed. It has a 'modernist' look despite the weather board cladding.

Invading the Sidewalk Space

Verandahs to provide cover from a variable climate are the norm in New Zealand shopping streets but the latest fashion in Wellington architecture is to overhang the pedestrian space to provide modeling to the facade. Here are three examples. Two of them retain the traditional verandah to ensure pedestrian protection. The fourth older building, the City Council complex, encompasses a truly civilised solution, effectively building the verandah into the building.

DayOut in Slaidburn

A former Methodist Chapel is now the village hall.

Aalto at Seinajoki

Alvar Aalto -Turun Sanomat Head Office 1930

The Lutheran Cathedral in Turku

The Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

Aalto's Summer house at Muuratsalo

Aalto - Paimio Sanatorium 1929-33

Sanatorium Chair designed by Aalto

Alvar Aalto - Technical University Helsinki

Bryggman Chapel - Turku Cemetery

The Resurrection Chapel (1939 -1941) by Erik Bryggman sits among the trees.

The Old Church at Petäjävesi

The old wooden church was added to the UNESCO list in 1994 as a prime example of a Nordic building tradition that adapted Gothic and Renaissance architectural styles to suit local timber construction techniques. It was built between 1763 and 1765.

The baroque roof in wood.

The Altar

Finlandia Hall by Alvar Aalto

 

 

Hvitträsk

The influences of the English Arts & Crafts movement (C F A Voysey) and of Charles Rennie MacIntosh are apparent at Hvitträsk, built between 1901–1903 by architects Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen.

Suomenlinna Sveaborg

For the people of Helsinki the adjacent islands of the Suomenlinna Sveaborg fortress are wonderful places to picnic and even to take to the water.

Kapyla

As Wikipedia tells us "Puu-Käpylä [‘wood Käpylä’] is well-known as the earliest example in Finland of the Garden City Movement." Built in the 1920s the mature look of the successful development catering mainly for low income people includes extensive landscaping with the two-level houses harmoniously set among the trees.