Heritage in the Auckland City Centre

For the Culture and Heritage Planning course we had an assignment option of identifying and recommending for protection some heritage places.

I think my interest in this topic is how heritage can be defined—potentially, heritage includes everything. So how to decide what to protect?

I have a penchant for modern architecture and grand and exciting buildings. I am always hearing people complain of bad 1980s architecture or how terrible mirror glass is, but these buildings could be the heritage of the future. I was initially worried that my choices of heritage places was a bit out there, but it was well received.

B. J. Ball Building (1959)

Milan Mrkusich's mural is on the side of the building:

The architectural form the B. J. Ball Building, particularly the white pilotis and long modern style, is significant for its contribution to the important site on the cliff above Fanshawe Street.

Farmers' department store building (1931)

On Hobson Street, with facade and the tea rooms on the top floor being designed by R. A. Lippincott, who also designed the Auckland University clock tower building.

The interior of the tea rooms has aesthetic significance, and is fully intact. The facade actually joins together a number of smaller warehouses into a large and impressive building. This exemplifies Art Deco style, and the way this was used to advance the modern image of the Farmers’ department store reveals part of the store’s history.

Television New Zealand Network Centre (1989)

This one is my favourite. The mirrored and coloured glass were the latest technology and have created a form that is not defined by any sort of column structure. The architects Warren and Mahoney have a collection of buildings in downtown Auckland from this period.

The building has hard surfaces, curved lines and a shiny, reflective look. It has an exterior staircase with landings and an interesting, technology-populated roof. This, and the curved façade and stepped form of the
building make it an elegant example of postmodern architecture in the Auckland city centre.

[All photographs taken by Patrick Clearwater.]

A Pattern Language

This website has a summary of Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language (Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S. and Silverstein, M., with Jacobson, M., Fiksdahl-King, I. and Angel, S., 1977, A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction, New York: Oxford University Press). This book is quite inspiring in its articulation of urban design criteria, and I use it as a reference when I struggle to find the words to explain the ideas of urban form that I know are worthwhile and important.

(Image source: http://thearchitectstake.com/wpb/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/a-pattern-language-book-cover1.jpg.)

Some of the principles, such as 133 Staircase as a Stage—a staircase is not just a way to get from one floor to another, it is a space in itself; if the staircase is not treated as a room, it will be a dead spot, and disconnect the building—I felt like I had an instinctive understanding of, but had not articulated in the terms that Alexander uses or in so comprehensive and connected a way. This criterion is something that I had noticed in houses and buildings. Staircases are a space that connect two whole floors, and therefore play a key role in maintaining social connection. A large, central, exciting staircase means that people can see other people sitting, entering, and seeing for themselves.

The imagery used is interesting. Perhaps this is the 'pattern language' that he approaches across the whole work. It is a unique system of descriptions and nuances and metaphors in articulating verbally and physically the ideas and forms of the city. Other examples include 106 Positive Outdoor Space and 107 Wings of Light (another favourite of mine: buildings should be in narrow wings, so that no one is more than 5 metres from the natural light of a window). There is something more than just description going on here. Language makes a big difference on the way that we see things.