Beijing's 798 art districtBeijing's 798 art district

One of the best things to see in Beijing is the city's 798 art district, a fantastic area of old factories and warehouses now occupied by contemporary art galleries. I was there in February, marvelling at how contemporary art appears to be flourishing in what's supposed to be an authoritarian state.…

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31Mar2011

Our new coverOur new cover

Our new cover (our April/May issue is our annual renovations special) features a photograph by Paul McCredie of a renovation designed by Max Herriot of Wellington's Herriot + Melhuish. We hope you like it. The issue features four renovations as well as four other houses, including shoe designer Kath…

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30Mar2011

Outtakes - Martin PoppelwellOuttakes - Martin Poppelwell

Artist Martin Poppelwell's Napier studio was designed by Wellington-based architect Ashley Cox, and features in our current issue. These are some outtakes from Paul McCredie's shoot there. It's a rare luxury for an artist to be able to have a purpose-built studio - and although Martin's studio is to…

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28Mar2011

Behind the scenes - Art feature photo shootBehind the scenes - Art feature photo shoot

Here's a behind-the-scenes view of our art photo shoot. You can see the final shoot in our new issue out on April 4. The idea of this shoot was to mix the 'old and new', pairing contemporary art and objects with older ones and vice versa.Some of the artwork and furniture pieces waiting to be photogr…

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27Mar2011

The Genius of Louis SullivanThe Genius of Louis Sullivan

It is widely accepted that the origin of modern architecture can be found in the mid nineteenth century with the construction of the Crystal Palace in 1851 by Joseph Paxton. What is often not discussed is that Joseph Paxton was not an Architect, but a horticulturalist (is that a word?) who speciali…

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26Mar2011

Beijing's Summer PalaceBeijing's Summer Palace

Welcome to Beijing's Summer Palace, which I (it's Jeremy here) visited a few weeks ago. It was not at all summery, but it was very beautiful. This is the pleasure palace where the Qing dynasty frittered away all their money while the country descended into chaos. When you visit, you can kind of see…

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24Mar2011

We like: Cosmic Communist Constructions PhotographedWe like: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed

Our copy of 'CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed' just arrived from Amazon, and we're agog. Photographer Frederic Chaubin spent seven years photographing extraordinary buildings that were designed and erected in the last 15 years of the existence of the USSR. The old cliche is of Sovi…

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24Mar2011

We like: SelbyWe like: Selby

One of our favourite houses in our February/March issue is Selby, the 1973 gem just outside Havelock North designed by Miles Warren. It's pure class, from its park-like setting shown above right down to its signature foundation stone and exterior lights:These are some more of the outtakes from Paul …

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23Mar2011

Christchurch damageChristchurch damage

Our friends at the blog Christchurch Modern are compiling a list of classic Warren & Mahoney buildings that have been damaged in the earthquake there. Sad reading. These houses are an important part of Christchurch's (and New Zealand's) architectural history, so we hope at least some of them can be …

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16Mar2011

Obamao in BeijingObamao in Beijing

Some tourist tat from Beijing: 'Obamao' T-shirts were doing a brisk trade, but our favourite item from this line was the mouse pad below. The bottom line on it reads 'You don't bird me, I don't bird you.' No, we don't know what that means either, but we kinda like it! We only hope the Republican Tea…

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16Mar2011

Beijing's Forbidden CityBeijing's Forbidden City

Those of you who detest other people's holiday snaps, turn away! Because I'm about to inflict another Beijing experience on you. This time it's the Forbidden City. If you haven't already been there, you will almost certainly have seen images of it (hopefully in the Bertolucci film The Last Emperor, …

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13Mar2011
 
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