Pockets

Pockets of greenery, though fake turf, had been interspersed along High Street in the Auckland CBD. A small PR move by Viva, people are loving it and demonstrates just how successful it would be if strips of parking were instead something that gave people reasons to linger on the street.

Skaters

Skateboarding VS Architecture: A Study of Public Space and Materiality in Auckland City from SwineTrotters on Vimeo.

Relevant to Auckland's CBD facelift, this is perhaps a perspective that many have not heard of. 

This is really the other side of the story. Skateboarders as stakeholders, standing up for their right to use public space in their own way. Urban design is going a bit anti-skateboarding - those ugly lumps of metal protruding from beautiful finishes of stone and concrete are hardly the elegant solution. Apparently they are an after thought; they were added after the design process had run its course. The worst.

Skating, on the other side of the fence, is viewed as a disruption, nuisance and even vandalism to public property. With the edges of benches and urban design elements eroded from the repeated grinding, do they really see themselves as "protectors of public space"? It almost seems improbable, at the very least biased.

An example in the film is the newly created steps outside the Central City Library, an urban corridor that long needed a facelift and rethink. The pedestrian friendly design is a wonder compared to the dingy street that existed before. The skater's opinion is that it's a naturally good skating playground even though it was not intentional. Good for them. However, the Underground Academy Cinema isn't too happy with all the noise from skating filtering down into their viewing space. There's a subtle give and take with this sort of public stakeholder interaction.

When we design for the public, who are we designing for? What do you think? Feel free to comment below.

24

The interior fit out that renown Hong Kong architect Gary Chang designed is said to allow for 24 different rooms. He's a space ninja - the tiny Hong Kong apartment is created into a deluxe planning puzzle. Using a well-built sliding track system, the walls move to create different living areas such as the kitchen, bedroom, guest bedroom and bath. Although at first glance a bit gimmicky and heaven help you if any of these track systems happen to break, the constant rearranging of the one 3D volume is remarkable.

It may come down to a difference in living culture. No matter how much I try to imagine one of these in New Zealand, it would just seem like a joke. The Kiwi dream is the house with the garden (or beach for a backyard) and all the rooms spread out like an open book. To live in a rubix cube doesn't seem to fit in the ideology. The small apartments that spawn by the hands of developers in the CBD are a constant press for space - none of this innovation occurs. Spaces are arranged as if they were a Kiwi villa but in too little room resulting in shoulder width corridors and awkward cupboard rooms.

Hong Kong and similarly space deprived countries such as Japan, dream up the best that one can provide. Layering of space, compact living and indeed technologies such as the one used by Chang contribute to the modern lifestyle in limited space. It is yet another form of affluenza but I would say it was better thought out for future use.

Bounds

What exactly is the connection between performer and audience? How distant is that gulf between them and how close can that boundary get? Not only with performance; how close can a consumer get to one's design, house even and is there always a distance to that relationship?

Sculpture by Chiharu Shiota.

Whitney

Rainbow

One of the latest additions to Architecture for Humanity's completed projects is the Collège Mixte Le Bon Berger in Montrouis, Haiti. Community acupuncture projects such as this one are continuing to pop up in the still recovering Haiti, rebuilding the environment better than ever.

'Good design' is a great thing to strive for, especially in the aftermath of disaster. Quality can be seen and felt in all these projects. In this relatively simple school building, the paintwork and colours even express a joy in the work that is to be done there. As cumbersome as it may be, the efforts that go beyond the call of duty are what makes these projects an inspiration.

Post-it

Found at the Jasmax Auckland office, apparently courtesy of their barista.