Architecture stands proud in post-quake Christchurch
OPINION: My wife says I’ve got too many hobbies: motorbikes, vintage cars, the 1992 Cricket World Cup, architecture … and that’s an abridged list.
I think it’s perfectly reasonable for any good barman to have a swag of topics to wax lyrical about while polishing glassware and solving the world’s problems. Also if I play a hobby right it can be a damn good money maker – I’m talking about a 5 per cent increase in Alf telephone values over the past three years.
Besides, if you’re going to be an opinionated git in the paper each week, it pays to have a range of topics to talk about. You’d all get bored if I only talked about how motorcyclists prop up the entire ACC system.
Having too many interests can pay off though.This year I had the privilege of being invited to be the layman judge on the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) awards for the Canterbury region.
‘‘You’re interested in architecture aren’t you?’’
I was worried I’d be revealed as a fraud. You see, as a charlatan, I’ve learned salient points about a raft of topics so as to appear more learned. But when depth is required, it better be one of the four Bs (books, booze, bikes and Beatles) or the pool of knowledge gets shallow.
In the end I couldn’t resist the opportunity to spend time being guided through Christchurch’s best and most exciting architecture.
And so I found myself touring Christchurch’s best architecture – stuffed five in a car like teenagers off to a party – with a bunch of bona fide architects. You know the kind. The kind who design buildings, look cool, wear zippy socks and take notes in leatherbound notebooks, sandwiched in with me, a journalism dropout publican.
The architects were patient and told me what was what: negative detail, positive detail, Canterbury dropped eaves, the pedagogy … it was like a bloody architectural education over the course of a week.
Now the results are out, the winners have been notified, the ceremony’s happened and the hangovers have worn off.
What I took from the whole exercise was just how high the quality of architecture in Canterbury is at present.
An earthquake showed up and dropped half the city to the ground. This put Canterbury in the unique position of having people and insurance companies with cash to burn that they wouldn’t otherwise dream of.
What’s special is that so many houses are being built by people who thought they’d never build a house again in their life. Now they’ve got some money and they’re building houses that they want to live in, not some house that they think they can flick on for a profit some day.
This means a bunch of houses are personal, special and representative of people’s personalities and not of personalities of real estate agents or moneylenders.The winners of the NZIA awards represent the very best of what’s been built in the city and the practices involved are at the top of their game.
Architecture is one of those gigs where every Jo-on-the-street has an opinion. It must be frustrating for architects to hear another ‘‘it’s just a boring glass box’’ comment.
The winning architectural practices should be proud for what they’re doing for the city: providing beauty in a city that was ruined, providing homes for people to love and live in and buildings in which businesses can flourish and grow.
Well done to all the winners – this layman’s impressed.
Check out the winners, there’s some really cool stuff.
Here’s hoping that the next phone call I get is from the Smithsonian, wanting to buy up my Alf collection.