Architecture

Often credited with inventing a vernacular style of building based on the bach, he took a firm stand against buildings that spoke with foreign accents, advocating preservation of the familiar kiwi twang.

Wood was the way to go, he reckoned; flexible and cheap to build with, and easy to treat with natural preservatives to withstand the wet and warm climate of Auckland. His characteristic "Brown box" approach to domestic architecture was rectangular in shape with a mono-pitched roof and weatherboards stained black with Stockholm tar. This inaugurated the distinctive black-and-white colour scheme which would become Vernon Brown's hallmark and earn his buildings the description of looking like coconuts with a bite taken out. Throughout the 35 years of his life in architecture, a glamorous exterior remained less important to Vernon Brown than a design that could re-create the fun and informality of a summer holidays on Waiheke. His houses epitomised the egalitarian ethos of New Zealand as a classless society, and as an architect he became the preferred option for Auckland's cultural elite. - Blurb from Gus Fisher Gallery exhibition 2007

Read more on Lost Property

Specifying architecture, design or landscape projects? AGM Publishing has launched this new product and material reference tool for NZ.

Big media often gives attention to huge architectural projects like towers in Dubaï or Shanghai - this list from Designer Daily gives some exposure to more human-scaled houses. Queenstown architects Kerr Ritchie make the list with their Drift Bay house.

Via archdaily.com. Italian practice studiometrico share how they converted an old cinema in Milan, into the new Bastard flagship store, which also includes a suspended bowl and offices for Comvert. A skateboarders dream place to work.

"We’re not architects, we’re not historians and we don’t know much about anything. However we do like modern houses and Christchurch is a great place for them." Christchurchmodern.co.nz is an architecture blog that features aesthetically interesting houses from the last century and profiles on some of the architects that designed them. Also see their sister site ‘Hum-Dingers of the Grid City‘

In a 1966 article on Warren & Mahoney’s work in the British journal Architectural Design, Norman Sheppard wrote of Christchurch: “This city, the most conservative in a fairly conservative country, has in its recent public and domestic buildings shown a direction which, if pursued and developed should make it a concrete example of what current planning and design theories propound.” Read more of the Warren & Mahoney profile.

Good article from Step Inside Design on Charles and Ray Eames discussing the impact they had on many different fields of design. Capturing the spirit and vision of artists/entrepreneurs Charles and Ray Eames is akin to grasping white-hot sparks. During their lives, which ended on Aug. 21, 1978, and Aug. 21, 1988, respectively, the Eameses impacted the global design community and mainstream culture with significant, award-winning contributions in architecture, film, furniture design and exhibitions. 

Moving Beyond Modernism is a simple guide for architects that was originally included in Issue 2 of Something Interesting Kit. Full Instructions after the jump.