2012-11-16 13:24:13 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
We've got the Santa Parade, the Whitcoulls statue and reindeer, and the Telecom Christmas Tree. And to add to the list of things bringing Aucklanders together this Christmas will be the largest advent calendar the city has ever seen.
2012-11-09 09:24:32 // Design Daily team
// The Idealog Blog
Wynyard Quarter's Jellicoe Precinct and the Auckland City Centre Masterplan have taken the top awards in the brand new New Zealand Urban Design Awards, a new biennial programme that acknowledges the importance of high quality urban environments.
2012-08-27 13:56:55 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Global green expert Jason Jason F. McLennan is in town next month to lead a workshop on green building.
2012-08-23 16:37:40 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
An urban plan designed to attract residents back into Christchurch’s southern CBD by connecting housing along the Central City Plan’s proposed greenway and a concept project to regenerate public green spaces along the Avon River are the top urban design ideas in a competition for rebuilding quake-affected Christchurch.
2012-08-22 15:43:46 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
New Zealand’s first Sustainable City Showcase will pop up in November for a brief three-day stint, featuring the latest in environmentally-aware products and technology.
2012-08-08 09:14:43 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
Christchurch's Awesome Bike Rack Competition has closed with the selection of a winning entry featuring that most classic of Kiwi symbols, the koru.
2012-07-31 09:46:17 // Esther Goh
Christchurch will be divided into precincts of health, arts and entertainment, retail, and the justice and emergency sectors under a new blueprint for the Canterbury rebuild released last night.
2012-07-25 12:00:43 // Design Daily Team
| 3 comments
The government and Auckland Council are set to jointly form an urban redevelopment company to transform Tâmaki (including Glen Innes, Point England and Panmure) in Auckland over the next 15-25 years.
2012-07-23 16:08:26 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 5 comments
Wellington architecture students will soon be turning their creative talents toward developing plans to strengthen Cuba Street’s historic buildings.
2012-07-18 13:51:24 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
Urban design is slowly staking out its rightful place in the mainstream, and a new biennial awards programme acknowledging urban design projects and to promote the benefits of high quality placemaking in New Zealand’s towns and cities has just been launched.
2012-04-19 16:13:53 // Esther Goh
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Wynyard Quarter's visitor kiosk at Karanga Plaza got a new addition this week in the form of a roof garden.
2012-04-11 10:59:43 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 3 comments
Furniture giant Ikea has firmly cemented its place in our homes – and now its real estate arm LandProp Services is on track to build a brand new neighbourhood in east London near the 2012 Olympic grounds, applying the "Ikea philosophy" to urban planning.
2012-02-24 15:52:59 // Idealog
// The Idealog Blog
Cities bring together the best and worst of society. Check out some of the coolest urban projects happening now, planning for tomorrow.
2012-02-09 12:50:29 // Deirdre Robert
// Idealog #37: workshop
Auckland architecture firm Sills van Bohemen is sneaking some green back into Takapuna with the Hurstmere Green. Principal Christina van Bohemen is leading the charge.
2012-01-27 13:30:38
// Idealog #37: features
| 2 comments
Stage one of Wynyard Quarter's redevelopment barely scratches the surface of Waterfront Auckland's extensive vision
2011-12-01 14:09:34 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
Quality land development for years to come will be the legacy of the 2011 New Zealand Institute of Surveyors Award of Excellence ‘Gold’ winner.
2011-09-20 13:40:30 // Esther Goh
| 1 comment
It's a tall order, making Auckland's the 'world's most liveable city' by 2040, but we'll never know if we don't try. Mayor Len Brown today launched the draft Auckland Plan, accompanied by plans for the region’s economic development, the city centre and the waterfront, which outline initiatives for urban design and business growth to secure its future as a "globally competitive city".
2011-09-08 11:49:44 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
Auckland Council has named its 21 urban design champions, charged with helping to drive Auckland towards the goal of becoming the world’s most liveable city. And with the popularity of new development Wynyard Quarter, the opening of the redeveloped Auckland Art Gallery and the buzz around the Rugby World Cup celebrations kicking off tomorrow, Ludo Campbell-Reid, the city’s urban design champion, said there’s no better time for the champions to take on their advocacy roles.
2011-08-25 12:14:33 // Jerome Partington
// Idealog #34: workshop
| 1 comment
What if we mapped our key city, Auckland, into its own bioregions? Or Christchurch, or even Hamilton? What if we identified the social capital and ecological resources available and mapped them over existing infrastructure?
2011-08-09 09:28:12 // David Trubridge
// Idealog #34: workshop
| 1 comment
Even the press have moved on from the once-edgy atmosphere at Milan's Zona Tortona.
2011-07-07 09:20:42 // Design Daily Team
| 2 comments
Being allocated only 48 hours in which to redesign a part of Christchurch’s central city may not seem like enough time, but it was enough to earn NZ Wood the title of supreme winner for the 48 Hour Design Challenge.The competition, run by the Christchurch City Council and held at Lincoln University, provided an opportunity for Council to gain inspiration from the design and architecture industry, while testing the draft Central City Plan currently being developed.
2011-03-18 10:37:18 // Kris Herbert
// Idealog #32: features
| 2 comments
Christchurch’s chocolate-box facade has
cracked. The city will never be the same—
but what will it choose to become? Kris
Herbert meets the Cantabrians who are
reinventing their city
2011-03-14 11:14:37 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
You’d be pretty hard-pressed to find an Aucklander who doesn’t agree that more thought needs to be put into the city’s urban design planning, (just look at the numerous, ugly show-box apartments that have sprung up throughout the central city). So news that Auckland Council is being asked to commit to stronger support of urban design principles is a positive step.
2011-03-03 13:21:16 // Deirdre Robert
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
Time will be the biggest challenge in rebuilding Christchurch. That’s according to Peter Marshall, managing director at Warren and Mahoney. But regardless of the time it takes, he says it’s imperative to incorporate local input into the rebuilding process, though he acknowledges government and nation-wide input is also critical as part of a wider framework of initiatives.
2011-02-22 15:45:07 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
Much sympathy and concern to our friends and colleagues in Christchurch. Your loss is ours.
And let us know about how you and your workplaces are affected. We’re keen to hear and help.
Just add your news to the comment thread.
Also, Google has created this people finder if you're concerned about anyone in Christchurch.
http://christchurch-2011.person-finder.appspot.com/
2011-02-22 09:09:38 // Natasha Markham
// The Idealog Blog
Auckland architect and urban designer Natasha Markham takes a tour of Berlin and finds a family friendly suburb that shows the value of planning.
2011-01-24 11:21:36 // Paul Brislen
// Idealog #31: now
| 1 comment
Anton Garland is on the hard road to automotive design—and is fixing Auckland’s traffic problems on the way.
2011-01-17 09:52:07 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
David Engwicht is one of the world’s most innovative thinkers on creating vibrant public spaces, and now the founder of Creative Communities International is heading our way in March to hold workshops across the country. Here are the details.
2010-10-29 09:36:49 // Stephen Olsen
// The Idealog Blog
A seminal book full of “prototypes for a Maori sustainable future” has been launched this week in Wellington.
Tāone Tupu Ora, meaning an urban environment where nature and culture are not separated, is the third joint publication venture between the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities and publisher Steele Roberts.
2010-10-28 10:10:49 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
The desire to see an alignment between Auckland’s Spatial Plan and the National Infrastructure Plan was just one of the messages gleaned from a recent meeting in Auckland, featuring over 60 leaders in the infrastructure sector. Representatives from central and local government and the private sector were also in attendance. The meeting— facilitated by the New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development and professional services company GHD—was held in a bid to help shape thinking for the next National Infrastructure Plan.
2010-10-28 09:51:29 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
All going well, 650 of Christchurch’s youngins will be working together to regenerate sites left desolated by the Christchurch earthquake. Two schools— Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti and Discovery 1—are on the hunt for empty earthquake sites they can transform into green spaces.
2010-10-18 16:22:24 // Stephen Olsen
// The Idealog Blog
Envisioning our global future in the shape of cities continues to be a flavour of the new decade, further evidenced this month by the October cover story of Foreign Policy, the widely available journal of global politics, economics and ideas otherwise known simply as FP.
2010-10-05 15:56:14 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
The Auckland Waterfront Development Agency has a brand spanking new chief executive by way of John Dalzell. We have one of the most stunning waterfronts in the world and our challenge over time, says Dalzel, will be to transform it into an internationally recognised urban waterfront environment.
2010-10-05 11:33:16 // Simon Todd
// The Idealog Blog
“Cycling in Auckland’s only for the brave now. Only what I call Road Warriors are left.” So lamented a neon-bib wearing member of Cycle Action Auckland Inc as he, sandwich and plonk in hand, waited for the start of ‘Urban Design for a Super City’, part of the cycle club’s AGM. And who better to start the battle, than Auckland’s Environmental Strategy & Policy Manager, Ludo Campbell-Reid.
2010-09-29 14:48:58 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
Why pay for your parking when you can decorate it? That’s precisely what will be happening this Friday in New Plymouth as part of International PARK(ing) Day, an annual worldwide event aimed at giving metered car-parks a makeover, by turning them into green parks—places to actively re-imagine the possibilities of the urban landscape.
2010-09-28 12:18:36 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
High profile architect/urban designers Christina Van Bohemen, Barry Copeland and James Lunday will each be delivering a show and tell of their urban design ideas for the Supercity, as part of a panel discussion this coming Thursday. The event is part of Cycle Action Auckland Inc AGM, which will kick off with Ludo Campbell-Reid's 'Urban design for a Super City' presentation.
2010-09-27 14:04:32 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
Creating public spaces which make people feel at home is the guiding philosophy that defines ‘placemaking’—an urban design and community development model that focuses on creating amazing public spaces. And next month, Placemaking New Zealand (PMNZ) will be holding it’s second annual forum, which is open to anyone working in urban design, infrastructure & community development throughout the country.
2010-09-23 11:57:57 // Deirdre Robert
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
With the Government's announcement that it will contribute $10 million in addition to local funding to assist with the repair, restoration and strengthening of heritage and character buildings in the Canterbury region, comes news that three buildings on Wellington’s Willis street—all over 100 years old—are being demolished, without any public notification. But the owners of heritage buildings that fall under similar fate aren't necessarily to blame.
2010-09-23 10:05:58 // Simon Todd
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
This week, our man on the street Simon Todd takes the plunge into public loo territory. Heritage buildings are so often in private hands, he says, and we can’t afford to let the public ones go down the toilet.
2010-09-22 10:13:30 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
Time is of the essence and if you’re a Rotorua local, you’ve just been granted more time—until October 15 in fact—to provide feedback on Rotorua District Council’s (RDC) Urban Design Framework, which seeks to provide an overarching concept and direction for new and existing developments and activities in the city centre.
2010-09-08 10:01:47 // Stephen Olsen
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
Emerging partially out of a ‘fit of gloom’, Property Council New Zealand has opened a debate in Wellington about what it will take to super-charge the city, commencing with the launch this month of an agenda-setting publication titled The Future Of Our Capital.
2010-09-07 12:38:04 // Stephen Olsen
// The Idealog Blog
| 1 comment
If there’s a niche space to keep an eye on in our urban landscapes and landscape architecture it seems we don’t need to look much further than the nearest wall or roof. The sustainable benefits of green walls and roofs are causing businesses around the world to look up, with the green roof industry in North America alone growing by an amazing 16 percent last year and still accelerating. And in Europe the French are particularly renowned for green walling entire buildings, most notably the entire exterior of the Paris Museum.
2010-09-06 11:28:16 // Simon Todd
// The Idealog Blog
On Thursday evening our man on the street Simon Todd ventured into Auckland Museum’s LATE event, ‘Late Innovate: City’, to take stock of what columnist Rod Oram, architect Pete Bossley, urban historian Chris Harris and panel chair Finlay Macdonald had to say about the direction of Auckland’s Supercity.
2010-09-02 17:07:28 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
The state of urban planning in New Zealand has been a contentious issue for sometime now, and in a recent speech to the New Zealand Planning Institute at their Auckland Spatial Plan conference, Nick Smith revealed the Government’s plans to make urban and infrastructure planning a more effective process, both nationally and in the context of Auckland’s Super City.
2010-08-27 15:22:36 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
How do you beautify ugly scaffolding? You could try taking 130 hollowed-out yellow balls, fill them with lights, attach them to various posts of scaffolding and then fill with birds to create a series of ‘Urban Nests’.
2010-08-19 09:57:00 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
The new look Rotorua CBD and lakefront is one step closer to becoming a reality with the release of a document that lays out the desired future look of the city centre. The Rotorua District Council’s Urban Design Framework provides an overall concept and direction for new and existing developments, proposes a new zone for the lakefront area, and offers a series of recommendations to attract economic growth and tourists to the city centre.
2010-08-18 11:57:47 // Simon Todd
// The Idealog Blog
Design Daily's man on the street Simon Todd investigates the case of the missing Freyberg Place sculptural drink fountain. Having graced the street over the summer, it was a case of here one day, gone the other.
2010-08-17 15:14:03 // Vicki Holder
// The Idealog Blog
| 2 comments
In this week’s Tuesday Chew, we catch Nelson architect Min Hall in a reflective mood as she takes time to step out of the ratrace - in Auckland of all places.
2010-08-16 14:50:14 // Fraser Gardyne
// The Idealog Blog
Designer Fraser Gardyne, of gardyneHOLT design partners, poses the question: How many buildings constructed over the last fifty years in Auckland do you remember, let alone wish to protect into the future? Only a few spring to mind, and that, he says, is a real problem for this country. In his opinion piece, Gardyne argues that considering the longevity of our design decisions is integral to the successful brand of Auckland.
2010-08-16 11:08:39 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
Urban designers are being propelled into the development limelight with the release of new report, Urban Design Panels - A National Stocktake. The report is authored by urban designer Sarah Duffell on behalf of the Ministry for the Environment, and recommends that more weight be given to the expertise of urban design panels as a key tool in the decision making process followed by councils around New Zealand. Duffell says that urban design panels that are operating effectively can save time and money, for both applicants and councils, because consents can be decided on “better-resolved designs”.
2010-08-16 09:11:12 // Vicki Holder
// The Idealog Blog
Several years ago, a young Vietnamese graduate with a Masters Degree in Urban Design came knocking on Kevin Brewer’s door. “He could hardly speak any English, but he could draw well,” explains Kevin, who is a principal of Auckland architectural firm Brewer Davidson. Little did he know it, but Kevin had opened the door to one of the biggest commissions his practice had ever had the good fortune to be involved with.
2010-08-11 10:38:56 // Simon Todd
// The Idealog Blog
Hot on the heels of its Bledisloe Way Light Boxes, Auckland City Council has unleashed another public arts venture called Micro Sites. The 15 locations on the Micro Sites trail are superbly nestled in and around world-class Albert Park. Design Daily's man on the street Simon Todd takes an artistic stroll through the park.
2010-07-28 09:56:41 // Simon Todd
// The Idealog Blog
Design Daily readers, we’d like you to meet our man on the street, Simon Todd. Simon will be offering up regular quirky updates on what’s happening on the urban design-scape of the mean streets of Auckland, in a segment we like to call, ‘Auckland’s urban beat from our man on the street.’
To kick it all off, Simon takes a stroll though the latest offering from Auckland City Council’s Art in Public Places project - the Bledisloe Walkway Light Boxes.
2010-07-23 14:28:21 // Design Daily Team
// The Idealog Blog
The University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning has announced Momoyo Kaijima - one half of the Tokyo-based architectural firm Atelier Bow-Wow - will be holding a public lecture in Christchurch. Kaijima is visiting New Zealand as the University of Auckland International Architect in Residence.
2010-06-22 12:00:21 // Deirdre Robert
// The Idealog Blog
The cultural and social heart of Auckland’s waterfront is set to beat fiercely by mid-2011, with the expected completion of five new attractions in Wynyard Quarter.
2010-06-21 16:25:04 // The Editors
// The Idealog Blog
Just hours before New Zealanders were about to erupt in unprecedented soccer-esque jubilation, the creative minds behind the NZI Centre found their own reasons to celebrate after taking home the most coveted award at last night's annual Property Council New Zealand Rider Levett Bucknall Property Industry Awards.
2010-01-28 08:47:00 // Graham Reid
// Idealog #25: features
The Beatles may have brought Liverpool fame, but the city was stuck in the Mersey Beat for decades. Now ambitious new architecture is reigniting interest in Liverpool and the city suddenly is celebrating its past and setting itself up for the future. Envious Aucklander Graham Reid reckons the formula could work in New Zealand’s timid cities, too
