Category Archives: Blog post

Herbsts rule

Written by . published on February 18, 2012. Filed under Blog post, Magazine article. Tagged , , , , , , . No comments.
Herbst-Architects-Timms-Bach-4

A couple of stories I wrote on that great kiwi institution, the bach, have been posted on the Australian Design Review site, including one from my favourite practice, Herbst Architects. They have a way of recreating the camping experience — setting up a half-in, half-out adaptable group of spaces with lots of air and natural light, all arranged around the food prep area (an obvious priority) — that reminds me of all the holidays my family took in our mustard-orange 1960s VW Combi in South Africa when I was little. More….

On the cover…

Written by . published on February 5, 2012. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , , , , , . No comments.
HOME cover Feb 2012

Out this week, HOME magazine’s art issue. The cover story is the first from the European trip I did at the end of last year with Emily Andrews, and features a house in France belonging to the former Auckland art dealer Anna Bibby. Also inside, the Brooklyn apartment contemporary artist Martin Basher and his partner, the TV producer Martha Jeffries, have made their home. Stay posted for more stories from the trip over the next few months….

The magazine is on newstands Monday the 6th February. BOOM.

Low-fi goodness

Written by . published on December 8, 2011. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , . No comments.
PO18830

London: Last week I met up with the talented and hilariously deadpan Phil Cuttance in his Kentish Town workshop. Emily Andrews photographed him with his new range of Faceture vases, and the hand-made roto-molding machine he’s taking to Milan as a street installation. You can see a short film of the process, here, and more of Emily’s pics of Phil after the jump. More….

Written by . published on November 29, 2011. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , , . No comments.
Friel

South London-based Helen Friel had to create a new job description for what she does. The term “paper engineer” sounds surreal; against the images of heavy duty machinery and algorithms the word “engineer” conjures up, paper is a contradictorily throwaway presence. However, Friel’s craft-based design process, where she cuts and assembles paper to create inventive images for Tatler and Vanity Fair, and a range of commercial clients, is pretty straightforward.

More….

Planes, trains and automobiles

Written by . published on August 29, 2011. Filed under Blog post, Web article. Tagged , . No comments.
blog

Amusingly, with the launch of the new Herald sustainability magazine Element, I seem to be getting all the car and transport gigs. (Well, it’s funny to me as I have neither a car nor a work commute, though I guess no-one would actually know that. I don’t think the editor does.) More….

Tank Farm

Written by . published on August 18, 2011. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , , . No comments.
tank_hero4

Indesign just put up my news piece on Auckland’s new Tank Farm development — incidentally, it’s just down the road from my house. Quite exciting to see the city getting something actually quite large and bold in terms of urban redevelopment, without too much politicking or getting bogged down in micro turf wars. The landscape programme is rumoured to be “very High Line” too. Intriguing. I’m interested to see how this develops and becomes integrated into urban life over the next few years.

Day 3: Inappropriate laughter ensues

Written by . published on July 7, 2011. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , , . 2 Comments.
Sister Doreen

Honiara: We’ve been flat out since arriving in the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, with mere snips of time in between meetings and visits to process the information coming our way. So far, we’ve met the local YWCA, a group of Pacific midwives and aid workers here for a conference on reproductive health, the local planned parenthood association, a group of teenagers in the Save the Children peer support programme at Honiara High School, World Vision and Oxfam leaders, and the NZ Deputy High commissioner and his wife — but I think what’s got everyone actually buzzing  is our impromptu trip today to the Christian Care Centre.

Now, those are words I thought I’d never type. More….

Solomon Islands

Written by . published on June 15, 2011. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , . No comments.
IMG_1487

To paraphrase an old comedian, a funny thing happened on the way between my station on the dining table, the fridge and the radio the other day. More….

The Vitrine

Written by . published on May 17, 2011. Filed under Blog post. Tagged , , . No comments.
vitrine

The Vitrine is the work of New Zealander Amanda Spiers and Julien Thery, who developed his savvy ways with furniture restoration at the Paris flea markets. The two are importing antique and industrial chairs, tables and lighting, mostly sourced in France, Belgium and England, through Julien’s contacts, and selling them at their rambling, atmospheric warehouse space hidden around the back of Auckland’s Great North Road. More….

Well, that’s the last time they ask for my opinion…

Written by . published on April 18, 2011. Filed under Blog post, Magazine article, Web article. Tagged , , , , . No comments.

A rambling column written on deadline and captured for posterity in print and now online. This is what happens when you have too little time, an open brief and too many ideas jostling for attention, and end up overshooting your word quota by oh, about 1,000.