Indice dei contenuti per Issue 97 in Urbis

Many of New Zealand’s main cities are in a thrilling state of flux and apartment buildings can be crucial ingredients in their success. If done well, higher density can help re-energise many city centres and, as seen on page 58, architecture can foster a sense of community amongst its inhabitants. Sure, the typology is not the silver bullet for urban sprawl and in its most recent incarnation, urban living has seen some planning failures. New Urbanism, for example, often ignored large families and thought of the CBD as a village for child-free hipsters. Up to this day, some city makers are still struggling with the place of the child in this coffee-coated, bearded fantasy of a city. Also, the suburb has a huge place in our cultural psyche. The kiwi…

100 Chairs in 100 Days 8 April – 13 August/ Wellington In 2007 Martino Gamper set himself the challenge of reinventing 100 found chairs in 100 days. The result was an ode to imagination and the careful balance between free play and functionality needed in design. This is the travelling exhibition’s first time in New Zealand. citygallery.org.nz Comedy Gala 27–29 April / Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch A stellar line-up of local and international comedians come together for the opening of the NZ International Comedy Festival as well as its 25th birthday. Hosted by funny woman Urzila Carlson. The show will be leaving Auckland for the first time, with shows in Wellington and Christchurch. aucklandlive.co.nz Secret Art Sale 6–7 May / Auckland Each of the postcard-sized works at this inaugural event…

1 Naughty Gnomes I went to an art fair in 2009, saw them at a stand and wanted them straight away. They’re by Ottmar Hoerl and they’re a little bit cheeky. I love that. 2 Max Gimblett I’ve always wanted something by Max and this is from the Art of Remembrance series he did for St David’s, the Soldiers’ Memorial Church, in Auckland. I just love his free-spirited style. 3 Deborah Paauwe Ballerinas Deborah was one of the first artists I showed at my gallery in Wellington. I love photography, her pieces have a way of reflecting life and society, perfect from a distance but flaws evident when viewed in more detail. 4 Shane Cotton Bats. We love to collecting art with our children in mind (AraBella, 21 months, and…

“I was interested in the idea of breaking the house into two parts. The white weatherboard front section is a heritage zone, paying dues to the street style of the area, then out the back is all this black steel joinery, with a glass link between the two.” STANDING AT THE FRONT DOOR, this 510m2 house appears like any other bungalow you might see on a tree-lined street in Remuera, but some surprises lurk beyond the original 1930s façade. The back half of the house – which takes in amazing views of the Orakei Basin below and Rangitoto in the distance – is a steel and glass addition designed by architect John Irving. The rest of the house was also renovated, and the two are linked by a glazed section…

REBECCA GROSS New Zealand-born Rebecca lives in Sydney and for this issue, she writes about an apartment in Moscow on page 108 This issue focuses on small spaces. Tell us about your own. I currently live in a rented apartment in Sydney, and it has my two top essentials: open-plan spaces and plenty of natural light. Functionality is also important and it has been a priority in all spaces except the bathroom. Every day my bathroom reminds me of the difference between good design and bad design and how simple solutions can go a long way to making apartment living easier. You have a Masters in the History of Design and Decorative Arts from Parsons School of Design in New York. What makes you passionate about the topic? I am…

This is Frank Lloyd Wright by Ian Volner, illustrations by Michael Kirkham. Published by Lawrence King Publishing Like a picture book for adults, this is an incredibly accessible overview of the great architect’s life and work – with quirky illustrations, striking photographs and neat, bite-sized sections of text, in a cool, thick-covered volume. Auckland Writers and Readers Festival 16-21 May – Auckland This year’s programme boasts an impressive list of authors. We recommend: Paul Beatty talking about his Booker winning novel The Sellout. A book that is as much about race as it is about urbanism and its effects on minorities. George Saunders: his short stories are gems of humour, impeccable style and raw observation. Also local architecture writer Douglas Lloyd Jenkins and the street-savvy Teju Cole, among others. A…

Ikea Wireless Charging Furniture The flat surfaces of these minimalist side tables and lamps are able to wirelessly charge your mobile devices using the Qi wireless charging protocol, eliminating ugly charging cables from your life. Our favourite is the Riggad LED work lamp, which is 43cm high, adjustable and clad in warm wood. It also allows you to charge two devices at once – with a USB port as well as the wireless charging port. Ikea has also put this technology in some of its nightstands, which is a great place for phone charging, of course. What is this sorcery, you ask? Qi wireless is an international standard for the induction charging of portable devices – coils in the base station and device use magnetism and vibration to send a…

EVEN THOUGH HOUSING DENSITY is a hot topic, even though the number of resource consents for high-rise apartment buildings in Auckland is at an all-time high and even though there’s a fierce market for private apartment development in Wellington, it’s clear that we’re still in love with the quarter-acre paradise. Yes, apartments still get a bad rap in New Zealand. There’s a certain stigma attached to apartment dwelling as ‘second best’ – if you can’t afford a house, you’ll settle for an apartment. The same could be said for social housing, once seen as a national success story, now widely misunderstood as a failure. Somewhere in the post-war era, the individual, privately-owned, single-family house took on the connotation of freedom. For these reasons and more, we face new questions about…

AS A YOUNG CHILD, DESIGNER FRANCIS SULTANA borrowed architecture books from the public library in his hometown, the Maltese island of Gozo, and pored over them, copying designs he particularly liked into his notebook. As a design-obsessed nine-year-old, he came across an article on renowned designer David Hicks, who had his home in Albany, London. Albany was London’s first apartment building, built in 1770 close to Piccadilly and the Royal Academy of Arts, and was converted into sets of rooms for bachelors in 1802. A fan of Hicks’ work, Sultana loved the idea of living in this historic, Georgian building and making one of the apartments – or sets, as they are traditionally called – his own. Sultana travelled to London as a 19-year-old and, with a folder of drawings…

Baby Blue (2016) is a collaborative project between Wellington creatives Gina Kiel (illustrator), Xoe Hall (artist and clothing designer) and Ashley Church (photographer). According to Gina the collage, which forms part of an ongoing series, began as a creative outlet while she was working on client driver projects. “I started doing them just to keep myself inspired… So that illustration and design didn’t become just a job. This was a good way to keep the passion going because it is such a different process, it is purely about colour and composition and form.” Gina, who has collaborated with organisations ranging from Te Papa through to car and confectionary brands, says this piece was about “having no limitations on the creativity behind a fashion editorial photo shoot. It was about pushing…

ARCHITECT FOOI-LING KHOO’S recent clients were living in a modestly sized apartment and looking to upsize when they stumbled across a rather unusual offering. The two-storey Victorian cottage they eventually purchased in Melbourne’s Albert Park was so spectacularly rundown, it was almost a ruin, and nothing short of an extremely ambitious renovation could restore it. Fortunately, the couple (who work in the construction and design industries) relished the challenge, confidently taking on the heritage-listed weatherboard structure occupying a triangular site measuring only 48m2. Khoo, who along with David Brand, is co-founder of Melbourne-based practice OOF! Architecture explains, “The renovation was actually about formulating the right design question to get to some sort of reasonable response, and in this case, the question was quite loud. The site itself was just so…

THE RIGHT APARTMENT SHOULD MAKE YOUR LIFE EVEN MORE ENJOYABLE WHILE EXPANDING… LIFESTYLE OPPORTUNITIES. FOR PEOPLE EMBARKING ON one of the more ambitious apartment projects Auckland has seen recently, the Love’s seem remarkably chilled. If they laugh the observation off with references to remedial champagne, there’s no hiding the scale of the responsibility they’ve assumed. The blandly-titled Auckland City Council Administration Building looming above Aotea Square is at once hugely divisive and hugely important. It also carries a category A historic listing so, despite the wishes of a large chunk of the city, knocking it flat and starting again isn’t an option, yet somehow this Remuera couple aim to transform it into one of the most sought-after addresses in the city. OK, they may be zealous promoters of apartment life…

The Skyline Shifter Ground is soon to be broken for The Pacifica, a soaring new apartment complex that has the ability to reinvigorate an enclave of Auckland’s downtown. Height is not this development’s sole attribute, but an exciting combination of retail, hospitality and thoroughfares all stitched together with a deft architectural language make this space one to watch. Auckland city is, without a doubt, witnessing an unprecedented bout of daring and in some cases record-breaking apartment complexes. The Pacifica falls in a category of its own: the city’s highest residential tower. At a soaring 178m, the development is not just poised to redefine the local skyline but to do so with a certain sense of flair. From the harbour, The Pacifica sits to the right of the Vero Building with…