rough sheds, sydney london

Tinshed by Raffaello Rosselli
Amy Frearson | 21 June 2013 ● Dezeen
Australian architect Raffaello Rosselli has repurposed a corroding tin shed in Sydney to create a small office and studio apartment. Rather than replace the crumbling structure, Raffaello Rosselli chose to retain the rusty corrugated cladding of the two-storey building so that from the outside it looks mostly unchanged. The project embraces that it will continue to change with time through rust, decay and repair.

“The humble tin shed is an iconic Australian structure,” he explains. “As the only remaining shed in the area it is a unique reminder of the suburb’s industrial past.”

The architect began by taking the building apart and replacing its old skeleton with a modern timber frame. He then reattached the cladding over three facades, allowing room for three new windows. The frames of the windows are made from sheets of Corten steel that display the same orange tones as the retained facade.

“The materials have been left raw and honest, in the spirit of its industrial economy,” adds Rosselli. In contrast with the exterior, the inside of the building has a clean finish with white walls and plywood floors in both the ground-floor living space and the first-floor office.
Read more + Images

*Photography by Mark Syke, apart from where otherwise indicated.

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Collage House, London

Dezeen Published on Feb 13, 2017
Movie explores Jonathan Tuckey’s home in a 19th-century workshop 14 years on
Filmmaker Tapio Snellman has documented the ageing process of architect Jonathan Tuckey’s home, 14 years after he overhauled a 19th-century London workshop to create it. The architect, who is the founder of London-based firm Jonathan Tuckey Design, renovated and extended the steel fabricator’s workshop in 2002 to create a unique home for his family and their dog. He left the bare brick walls tarnished with black marks and chose “simple and everyday” materials to rejuvenate the character of the building, but also because they would weather well. Snellman, who shot Collage House in 2016, captures the ageing of these materials – including nicks and scratches on a series metal fixture and doors by splitting the screen into four – a trick he repeats throughout his film. “The split-screen sequences talk about the occupants and about the way architecture is integrated seamlessly with family life and personal expression,” Snellman told Dezeen. “The four simultaneous views create one strong spatial impression without any single image dominating the effect,” he told Dezeen. Both moving and fixed larch plywood panels clad the exterior, while beach plywood sheeting used as a floor lining inside the house, along with a concrete covering. Douglas fir stud work was planed and left exposed to partition spaces. This enables zones of activity to be defined, while also maintaining openness throughout.

Movie explores Jonathan Tuckey’s home in a former London steel workshop
Eleanor Gibson | 13 February 2017 ● Dezeen
This photography taken by James Brittain when the project completed in the early 2000s shows how Tuckey overhauled the industrial building by partially demolishing walls to create a central courtyard. “Plywood has weathered beautifully on both the interior and exterior and the scuff marks of 15 years use now tell the personal story of the family,” Tuckey told Dezeen. “The concrete floors have patinated and subsequently become more beautiful,” he continued. “The exposed brick was already there but continued to age gracefully as it was used to hang pictures and the kids used it to draw on it.” A space that forms a central part of Snellman’s film is the open-plan kitchen-cum-dining room, which occupies the former workshop. Here, he captures diagonal patterns of light that floods in through the long skylight between the original wooden bowstring beams restored by Tuckey. Snellman contrasts colour footage with black and white in the film, as well as tracking members of the family through the house. “The very controlled track shots try to eliminate the viewers awareness of the presence of the camera, as if the space would be seen at its most intimate, when no-one is present,” the filmmaker told Dezeen.

Ground floor plan [click to enlarge]

First floor plan

When renovating the building, Tuckey’s aim was to maintain as many of the building’s existing features as possible, while also creating plenty of playful spaces that catered to his then-young children. He divided the long and narrow building, which widens at the southern end, into three parts. He also demolished one of the existing buildings to create a courtyard and a small pond. The entrance hall and living area occupy the northern end with a mezzanine above, while the kitchen-cum-dining room occupies the central space. A walkway links these spaces to the two-storey structure added to the southern side, which houses the bedrooms and a bathroom. Since the original renovation, Tuckey has reconfigured the arrangement of the bedrooms, as his now teenage daughters needed more space. The children’s bedrooms have moved upstairs from the downstairs, while the single room used by the parents was divided into two interconnected rooms. A pair of hatches in the bedrooms open to the rooftop terrance, which was also only recently completed by the designer.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

iD Dunedin Fashion runway events

Otago Polytechnic Published on Mar 23, 2017
2017 iD International Emerging Designer Awards
Otago Polytechnic is proud to be a sponsor of the iD Dunedin Fashion Week. One of our favourite events is, of course, the iD International Emerging Designer Awards. In this coveted competition, students from Otago Polytechnic compete against others from around the world – this year there are 33 finalists. It’s Australasia’s largest emerging fashion design competition, and this year it’s at Dunedin’s historic railway station. For more info about studying fashion at Otago Polytechnic, rated in the world’s top 50 fashion schools, check out http://www.op.ac.nz/fashion

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At Twitter:

iD Dunedin Emerging Design Award Winner 2017 https://t.co/9YGWQAXTJp

— What if Dunedin (@whatifdunedin) March 24, 2017

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ID Dunedin Fashion
March 23, 2017

Australian Finalist takes out 13th iD International Emerging Designers Awards
A stand-out Australian emerging designer collection that reinvents archetypal garments including the biker jacket and blazer has won tonight’s 13th annual iD International Emerging Designer Awards held at the Dunedin Railway Station in New Zealand. Australian-based Nehma Vitols from Sydney’s University of Technology tonight took out the H&J Smith $6,000 First Place prize with her collection, ‘XXX’ – described by judges as “inspired”, merging new fabric technology with handcraft while deconstructing familiar silhouettes in an entirely unique way. Paper, silk and cotton merge to form hybrid materials that oscillate between two and three dimensions and between garment and sculpture. During Vitol’s fashion education, the former student from the University of Technology, Sydney, was selected to participate in the Woolmark Global Studio Program in China and the Textile Print Global Studio in Pukshar, India. Alongside her Bachelor of Design, she completed a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies.
The judging panel made up of Tania Carlson, NOM*d’s Margi Robertson, Marc Moore from Stolen Girlfriends Club, Australian fashion editor Georgina Safe, and iD’s international guest for 2017 Paulo Melim Andersson say the standard of finalists at this year’s event was very high. An overriding focus of the designers was on the ocean with aquatic inspired collections and a renewed focus on sustainability. Says Andersson: “All of the collections are a result of research and a commitment to new ideas. There was little evidence of international referencing and instead each finalist created their own vision in a collection that was fresh, unique and original.”
Hosted by ZM’s PJ Harding and Jase Hawkins, 29 international emerging designer collections showed at [last] night’s 13th annual event, supported by Otago Polytechnic.

This year’s winners are:
● The H&J Smith First Prize ($6000) Nehma Vitols, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
● Laffare Second Place ($4000): Lila John, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria
● Gallery De Novo 3rd Place ($2000): Paul Castro, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
● The Fabric Store Award for Excellence in Design worth $3000 (includes $2000 fabric): Tess Norquay, Massey University, Wellington, NZ
● Dunedin’s Golden Centre Mall Most Commercial Collection Prize ($1000): Talia Jimenez University of Technology Sydney, Australia
● The NZME and Viva Editorial Prize (awarded to best NZ collection): Megan Stewart, Massey University, Wellington, NZ.
● The Emilia Wickstead Internship: Emily Cameron, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia.

Backstage, Dr Margo Barton from the Otago Polytechnic School of Design and a team of students was in charge of managing the Awards, while Dunedin-based salon Klone Hair, led by Danelle and Karl Radel, took charge of the runway hair creations. Makeup looks for the models, supplied by Aart Model Management and 10 international models from the University of Shanghai Engineering Science, were created by the Revlon sponsored makeup team, led by Christal Allpress.
iD Dunedin Fashion Week is supported by the Dunedin City Council. iD Link

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At Facebook:

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Talented Swedish designer Paulo Melim Andersson is the International Guest Judge for this month’s iD Dunedin Emerging Designer Awards on 23 March. Andersson has designed for top European fashion houses Chloé, Marni Margiela and Zadig & Voltaire during his fashion career and he will show a retrospective collection at the iD Dunedin Fashion Shows at the Dunedin Railway Station on 24 & 25 March. Read more

Paulo Melim Andersson – Chloé 2007 [via fashionnz.co.nz]

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C U R R E N T ● E X H I B I T I O N

17-30 March – MUSE at Gallery De Novo, Stuart St, Dunedin
Dunedin artist Suzy Platt’s fashion illustrations are on show at Gallery De Novo in her new exhibition ‘Muse’. Suzy’s paintings recently caught the attention of renowned British photographer Nick Knight who asked her to illustrate the Haute Couture collections at Paris Fashion Week. The illustrations can also be viewed in London at the SHOWstudio Gallery.

At Facebook:

Related Post and Comments:
5.3.17 iD Dunedin Fashion Week 2017 [includes videos]

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Posted by Elizbeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

iD Dunedin Fashion Week 2017

Received.

From: iD Dunedin Fashion
Sent: Sunday, 5 March 2017 10:42 a.m.
To: Elizabeth Kerr
Subject: Just two weeks to go until iD Fashion Week 2017! 💋❤👠💅😍

[excerpts]

TWO WEEKS UNTIL iD DUNEDIN FASHION WEEK 2017!
With a full calendar of events designed to send you into fashion heaven, iD Dunedin Fashion Week 2017 kicks off on Saturday March 18, 2017! Featuring exhibitions, designer talks, runway shows, open design studios in the iD Hub at Dunedin’s Golden Centre Mall, and more, Dunedin is set to come alive with an amazing fashion week.

Tickets are still available from Ticketmaster for iD’s premier shows – the iD International Emerging Designer Awards and the iD Fashion Show at the Dunedin Railway Station.

Secure your seats today!

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iD INTERNATIONAL EMERGING AWARDS TO MOVE TO DUNEDIN RAILWAY STATION

This year’s iD International Emerging Designer Awards will be moved from the Dunedin Town Hall to the Dunedin Railway Station giving emerging finalists from around the world an opportunity to be part of the unique Railway platform runway experience associated with iD’s premier Fashion Show.

“This is an outstanding opportunity for these young designers to be more integrated with the overall events of iD Fashion Week,” says iD Committee Chair Cherry Lucas.

“Experiencing the magic of iD’s iconic runway show at the Railway Station as a new designer is exciting and unique. And for iD audiences, this is a fabulous opportunity to see the platform runway reinvented through the iD Awards, with all its distinctive, edgy and experimental qualities that people love to see.”

The venue will also enhance the audience’s experience, giving fashion lovers a closer look at the designs, say organisers.

“I’m so excited for the audience,” says Otago Polytechnic Professor of Fashion Dr Margo Barton.

“I get to see these creations up close every year but I never cease to be amazed by the creative talent out there. For the first time the audience will have that up-close experience too.”
Ms Lucas says the move to the Railway has also helped reduce set up time.

“This is the first year that we have had a large cruise ship visit on the day of our Railway Show. A growing number of logistical challenges were developing and it was decided that by bringing the set-up forward a day, many of the logistical challenges we were facing could be avoided or reduced.”

Ticketmaster and the iD team are working together to ensure all the current ticket holders receive similar seating to what has been purchased for the new venue. Current ticket holders will be contacted by Ticketmaster.

The iD International Emerging Designer Awards is supported by the principal partner for the event, the Otago Polytechnic.

iDFW insider Published on Mar 2, 2017
Meet 2017 iD Awards finalist Zhuxuan He
Meet University of Technology Sydney fashion graduate Zhuxuan He as she prepares for the 2017 iD International Emerging Designer Awards to be held in Dunedin, New Zealand in March.

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CHECK OUT THE iD HUB AT DUNEDIN’S GOLDEN CENTRE MALL
As iD’s major sponsor, Dunedin’s Golden Centre Mall becomes the iD Hub every year, holding meet and greet experiences with international guests and awards winners, alongside catwalk shows, VIP events and shopping experiences. Dunedin’s Golden Centre Mall is the city’s most fashionable retail space, with shops such as Hype, I Love Paris, Storm, Ziera, and Platypus offering shoppers fabulous clothing and shoes from New Zealand and abroad. The Golden Centre has been a major partner with iD for the past seven years.

This year’s Hub offerings include an open studio from the Otago Polytechnic’s School of Design, meet-and-greets with iD awards winners on Friday March 24, and many more events that you’ll find at www.idfashion.co.nz.

[ends]

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O T H E R ● V I D E O S

iDFW insider Published on Feb 15, 2017
iD Fashion week 2017 – Teaser
The 13th annual iD International Emerging Designer Awards will take place during iD Fashion Week (Dunedin, NZ) 18 – 26 March 2017. One of this year’s 35 international finalists Cecily Reed (a graduate of the Otago Polytechnic) shares some of her designs for the Awards.

iDFW insider Published on Oct 18, 2016
iD Fashion Show 2016
Set along one of the world’s longest catwalks on the platform of Dunedin’s historic Railway Station, the iD Fashion Show 2016 featured UK-based designer Emilia Wickstead, alongside top Kiwi designers including Kate Sylvester, Zambesi, NOM*d, Carlson, Company of Strangers, Mild-Red and Charmaine Reveley.

OtagoDailyTimes Published on Mar 17, 2016
Dunedin iD International Emerging Designer Awards
iD International Emerging Designer Awards is New Zealand’s largest fashion design competition and a highlight of the iD Dunedin Fashion Week. Thirty finalists have been selected from a field of over 90 applications from some of the world’s most prestigious design schools. All finalists will be in Dunedin to present their collection and vie for the cash prizes, internships and other benefits provided to the winning designers.

Channel 39 Published on May 1, 2016
Dunedin International Emerging Designers Awards 2016
Highlights of the 2016 iD Dunedin fashion week show. Featuring live performances from the ‘Dunedin Sound’ Musicians, zealander 2, Carter, Morley and Yeats….

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█ Criticism. Frankly, iD Fashion organisers, get over yourselves – let’s hope there’s better music for this year’s runway shows! The dismal so-called ‘Dunedin Sound’ was an abject failure, on and off made the audience grossly uncomfortable. Must’ve been bloody hard for the runway models – JFC, bad enough watching the videos!

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Education: Art and Design #UK

UK NSN report responds to the ongoing concern over the decline in the number of young people studying art and design, prompted by statements from numerous industry figures.

Brexit Effect | National Society for Education in Art and Design said art and design in schools was being eroded while the Creative Industries Federation described the failure to educate a new generation of creatives as “economic suicide”.

Art and design can help drive up standards in schools, says UK government
Amy Frearson | 8 February 2017 ● Dezeen
The UK government is urging schools to promote art and design subjects, after a report found that schools with more creative pupils achieve significantly higher grades. Released today, the New Schools Network (NSN) Arts Report reveals that schools with more arts GSCEs per pupil achieve above-average results. This was proven to be the case for schools in deprived areas, as well as those in affluent neighbourhoods. It shows that offering a broad mix of subjects, in addition to those included in the controversial English Baccalaureate (EBacc) system – which favours more traditional subjects like science and history – leads to better performance. At a launch event for the report earlier today, digital and culture minister Matt Hancock said the government is doing all it can to support creative subjects, but it is up to schools to deliver a varied curriculum. “This should not be an argument about a battle between the arts and other subjects, but instead a battle for stronger, better, well-rounded education,” he said. “Ultimately, the best schools in the country do this. They combine excellent cultural education to complement excellence in other academic subjects,” Hancock continued. “This report backs up that analysis. It looks at the data and says, if you want to drive up standards across the board, push your arts and music offer.”
Read more

Note: The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is a performance measure for schools, awarded when students secure a grade C or above at GCSE level across a core of five academic subjects – english, mathematics, history or geography, the sciences and a language.

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Corned beef at NZ….

Installation view of Povi Christkeke by Michel Tuffery 1999
Education | Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu [christchurchartgallery.org.nz]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

ODT feature : Streets of gold #Dunedin

In case you missed the ODT four-part series on Dunedin’s residential heritage in late December….. here it is, via Dave Cannan’s The Wash (Facebook).

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█ The four parts, abridged for quick reference and linked here below, had an excellent (research) information follow-up by Kim Dungey.

Some very approximate dates have been added care of Quality Value (QV), these are based on (limited) property records held by councils; as well as year dates for historical architects, where known.

Streets of Gold, a Summer Times series celebrating Dunedin’s rich architectural heritage. In collaboration with Heritage New Zealand researchers Heather Bauchop and Susan Irvine, with additional research by David Murray, archivist, Hocken Collections; and Alison Breese, archivist, Dunedin City Council.

### ODT Online Tue, 27 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: High St
High Street has an association with the medical profession dating back to the 1880s, when the Mornington cable car started running and some impressive new houses were built along its route.

CAVENDISH CHAMBERS, 211 High St.
The company behind the venture, Medical Buildings Ltd, was incorporated on March 1, 1926, and the shareholders all took professional rooms in the new property. The building was completed in 1927. Architect: Eric Miller (1896-1948).

236 HIGH ST
This prominent residence (QV: c.1900?) with a turret and projecting windows was designed in 1888 for Scottish-born Dr Frank Ogston. Ogston gained his medical degree in Aberdeen and emigrated to Dunedin in 1886 to take up a position as a lecturer in medical jurisprudence and hygiene at the University of Otago. Architect: Henry Hardy (1830-1908), and builder-developer.

238 HIGH ST
An Arts and Crafts-style design, the house (QV: c.1909?) is finished in roughcast with brick exposed on the ground floor sills. It was built for Dr D.E. Williams and his family as a private residence and doctor’s surgery and was home to the Williams family until the 1960s. Architect: Basil Hooper (1876-1960).

296 HIGH ST
Built in 1904, the Chalet Hospital (a private facility) was described as being “finished in coloured and tuck-pointed brickwork … the whole of the relief and ornament is carried out in bold cornices over the windows”. Architect: John Louis Salmond (1868-1950).

Read more + Photos

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### ODT Online Tue, 27 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: York Pl
York Place features two large homes once owned by members of the Speight family.

LARBERT VILLA – 371 York Pl
It is unclear exactly when the villa was built. Coppersmith Alexander Burt, of A and T Burt, married Janet Crawford in 1866 (they had a family of six sons and three daughters) and the couple were living in York Pl by July 1868 when Janet gave birth to a son at the house.

FORMER SPEIGHT RESIDENCE – 362 York Pl
Built for Jessie and Charles Speight after their marriage in 1898, the residence appears in the Dunedin City Council rates records in the 1899-1900 year. Architect: J.L. Salmond.

HAEATA – 273 York Pl
The residence of Charles and Jessie Speight from the time it was built in 1915, it remained in the Speight family until 1960. Bearing a strong resemblance to the Theomin family’s Olveston (built 1907, designed by Sir Ernest George). Architect: John Brown (1875-1923), a neighbour.

MRS TURNBULL’S GROCERY STORE – 324 York Pl
Known more than a century ago as Mrs Turnbull’s Grocery Store, this unusual wedge-shaped building began life as a home, stables and shop built for John and Janet Turnbull in 1875. In January 1875 tenders were invited for a two-storey dwelling and shop to be constructed of wood. Architect and Surveyor: E.J. Sanders [aka Saunders].

Read more + Photos

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### ODT Online Wed, 28 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: Highgate
Highgate has a fascinating and storied collection of prominent dwellings.

RENFREW HOUSE – 111 Highgate
Thought to have originated as a single-storey bluestone house with a central front door and double hung windows on each side. A second storey was later added. The exterior walls were built of double stone – more than 70cm thick – and the interior walls of double brick. With its wrought iron lacework, it has been described as one of the “finest examples of classic Victorian architecture in Dunedin”. Home of businessman Andrew McFarlane (1842-1904) and his wife Jane Wilson (1847-1920). By the 1890s, the family referred to their home as “Renfrew House”. Architect: credited to Nathaniel Wales (1832-1903), a neighbour.
 
KAWARAU – 204 Highgate
Designed in 1900 for dredging tycoon Alexander McGeorge, this grand residence reflects the fortunes made in Otago’s gold dredging boom of the late 1890s and early 20th century. Trained at Dunedin firm Cossens and Black, McGeorge (1868-1953) held a variety of significant engineering posts. The two-storeyed house is built of brick, has a slate roof, ornate decorative detailing, and features Tudor influences in the half timbering and veranda details. Architect: J.L. Salmond.

FORMER HUXTABLE RESIDENCE – 233 Highgate
This 1907 brick and tile residence designed for Anna and Alexander Huxtable, is a beautifully detailed example of an Edwardian villa, one with historic and architectural significance. Anna Huxtable was granted the land in 1907; a survey on May 15, 1907, indicates the foundations for the new dwelling were already in place at that date. (QV: c.1910?). Alexander Murray Huxtable described himself as both a commercial agent and patent medicine manufacturer. Architect: Edward Walden (1870-1944).

MELROSE – 384 Highgate
Likely designed for lawyer Arthur Nation (1852-1927) around 1876. In October that year, tenders were called for the construction of a “brick cottage” in the suburb of Melrose (a private subdivision in what is now known as Roslyn). However, Nation appears to have built more than a cottage: when his property was offered for sale in 1879 it was described as “a substantially-built and well-finished brick house”, its original features including hand-painted ceilings, timber joinery and stained glass. Architect: credited to John McGregor (1838-1911), and harbour engineer.

Read more + Photos

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### ODT Online Thu, 29 Dec 2016
Streets of gold: Royal Tce
Royal Terrace has a fascinating and storied collection of prominent dwellings.

DAISY BANK – 12 Royal Tce
Associated with the prominent Hudson family. An Italianate, two-storeyed symmetrical house with a large basement, “Daisy Bank” was built of concrete and wood, circa 1897. Architect: J.A. Burnside (1856-1920).

LINDEN – 22 Royal Tce
Built in the 1870s, a two-storied, two-bay Victorian residence of more than 15 rooms, with an exterior comprising plastered triple brick with quoins, foundations of Leith Valley andesite and a slate roof. Associated with the prominent Isaacs and Hudson families. Architect: Mason and Wales (likely Nathaniel Wales).

CLAVERTON – 30 Royal Tce
Associated with prominent local politician and businessman Richard H. Leary and one of New Zealand’s most prominent artistic families, the Hodgkins. Claverton was most likely built in 1877 by local politician and businessman Richard H. Leary (1840-95). Architect: likely Maxwell Bury (1825-1912).

ALYTH – 34 Royal Tce
Built in the 1870s by prominent businessman, community leader and one-time Dunedin mayor Keith Ramsay (1844-1906). Named Alyth after Ramsay’s birth place, the house was completed, at the latest, by March 1875. Architect: Robert Arthur Lawson (1833-1902).

Read more + Photos

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It doesn’t have to be a mansion located on the high streets….

Crabapple Cottage, Otago Peninsula [thecuriouskiwi.co.nz]

Lastly, a THOROUGHLY USEFUL guide for those unfamiliar with historic heritage archives, technical sources and search methods.

### ODT Online Fri, 30 Dec 2016
What is your house hiding?
By Kim Dungey
Enjoyed this week’s Streets of Gold series, in which we have profiled various Dunedin houses of historic significance? Fancy playing detective and tracing the history of your home? … In recent years, Heritage New Zealand has run “how to research your home” workshops in Dunedin, Invercargill, Oamaru and Central Otago. The popular seminars have drawn together the sources it uses every day to tell the story of historic places. Archivists say some people want to restore their homes to their original states, are curious about former owners or simply want to know the age of their houses for insurance purposes. Others require archaeological assessments of pre-1901 properties or have reported seeing ghosts in their homes and wanted to work out who they might be. Interested homeowners have a wealth of resources at their fingertips….
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Win! to DCC candidate Paul Pope #DunedinHospital

ODT 22.8.16 (page 6)

*overlay by whatifdunedin

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Posted by Stop Dunedin Hospital from being downgraded
Monday, 22 August 2016

[screenshot]

Comments on Monday, 22 August 2016 at 7:12 p.m.
[screenshot – click to enlarge]

█ For more, enter the terms *hospital*, *sdhb* and *food* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Misero-mercenary at U of O

Just in, Rhodes says:

Naylor Love stiffed by U of O.
$100M Dental School to be awarded to Leighs Construction.

But…
Naylor Love’s consolation prize is the new $18M Otago Polytechnic Hall of Residence, where they were significantly more expensive than other local rival Amalgamated Builders, but scored much higher on non-price attributes, which gave them top ranking.

Amalgamated Builders, clearly not flavour of the month at either Polytech or University —it’s understood the same thing occurred at the recent Commerce Building Upgrade.

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Related Post and Comments:
1.7.16 No one wants to work for U of O
31.5.13 University of Otago development plans

For more enter the term *university*, *campus master plan*, *property services*, *leith flood protection* or *landscaping* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Election Year. This post is offered in the public interest.

Hong Sheng Chiong : Design Insights to preventable blindness —Smartphone retinal imaging

Sun, 24 Apr 2016
ODT: App a real eye opener
An award-winning Dunedin junior doctor has produced a world-first smartphone app to help diagnose people who may have sight-threatening illnesses. Dr Hong Sheng Chiong’s medical company oDocs Eye Care has created an app-kit that performs a similar function to $50,000 worth of eye-examination equipment. Already, 200 units have been sold around the world and the open-source product downloaded by more than 2000 people in countries including the United States, Indonesia, Mexico, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Nigeria and Britain.

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oDocs Eye Care will save the sight of millions by making affordable and accessible ophthalmic equipment.

“We care deeply about preventing blindness. We have committed to using half of our net profit toward saving sight in the regions where it is needed most. Its time to revolutionize eye health by building accurate equipment that is accessible and affordable. Visual impairment and blindness is a global problem, with 285 million people suffering with this disability around the world, 80% of these cases were preventable or treatable. It is unfortunate that a 90% of those cases are found in developing areas. Established in 2014 by Dr. Hong Sheng Chiong and Dr. Benjamin O’Keeffe, oDocs Eye Care (formerly OphthalmicDocs) is an innovative company in the field of portable eye care. With thousands of users, our social approach has inspired many others to join the initiative. You can contact us at info @odocs-tech.com or come have a coffee with us here at GridAKL, 101 Pakenham St West, Auckland, NZ.”

Website: http://www.odocs-tech.com/
About + Team: http://www.odocs-tech.com/about/
Facebook: ophthalmicdocs

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[last year]

“We believe everyone deserves access to quality eye care. It’s supposed to be cheap, to help people in developing nations. So why would you put a label on it or mark up the price by 300-400%? Those things really make me sick.”
–Dr Hong Sheng Chiong

### idealog.co.nz 22 Oct 2015
One in the eye for blindness: the free app that thinks it’s an eye doctor
By Hannah Bartlett
A Kiwi eye specialist has invented a simple tool that turns a smartphone into a diagnostic tool – and now it has won the People’s Choice Award at this year’s Innovators Awards. In early May, ophthalmologist Dr Hong Sheng Chiong released a cunning 3D printable gadget that turns a smartphone into a retinal camera for eye examinations. Twenty four hours later, he woke to 150 emails. Another three days, and there had been more than a thousand downloads of his adapter, the OphthalmicDocs Fundus. It hadn’t cost anyone (except him) a penny.
And that’s just how Hong likes it.
By day, Hong runs the eye clinic at Gisborne Hospital. But in his spare time, he is working towards a wider goal: giving doctors in the third world the tools to detect – and therefore treat – preventable blindness.
The OphthalmicDocs Fundus (OphthalmicDocs is the name of Hong’s company; fundus is a scientific name for the retina) is a 3D printable gadget; basically a small arm which holds a condensing lens at one end and attaches to the camera part of a smartphone at the other. It turns a mobile phone into a retinal camera, which can look into the back of the eye, the most difficult area to view. Combined with the OphthalmicDocs Eye App, free eye-testing software containing tests and imaging, the camera puts a portable eye clinic in the hands of a doctor.
Hong says even eye charts on the wall of a clinic can cost thousands of dollars, so he’s converted all the basic vision tests into a smartphone-friendly app format.
Hong believes he has built the first, free, open-source eye equipment in the world. And that’s just how he likes it too.
Read more

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TEDx Talks Published on May 22, 2015
Fighting blindness with $20 and a smart phone | Hong Sheng Chiong | TEDxAuckland
How Hong has managed to fight blindness with 20$ and a smart phone and in the process is changing how we think and create medical equipment.
Dr Hong Sheng Chiong is currently an eye doctor in Gisborne hospital. He completed his clinical training in Ireland before he crossed over to New Zealand where he initially worked as a registrar in neurosurgery and general surgery before he stepped into the world of eye. His main interests are eye regenerative medicine, bioengineering and telemedicine. His exposure to third world medicine in Kenya, Nepal and Malaysia have given him the insight to the burden of preventable blindness. He believes the problem lies in the access to quality eye care. In 2014, he founded OphthalmicDocs, an R&D company that focuses on the development of ultra mobile and economical eye tests and diagnostics devices. He has invented several eye imaging adapters that can be used in conjunction with a mobile application to diagnose and monitor eye diseases. Fighting preventable blindness is his career’s primary mission.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organised by a local community.
Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images:
idealog.co.nz – slide 3 | smartphone retinal camera | TEDx 22 May 2015
odocs-tech.com – website image
globalwomensforumdubai.com – Hong Sheng Chiong

Dame Zaha Hadid 1950 – 2016

31 March 2016 | Miami
The acclaimed Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, the first female winner of the top Pritzker Architecture Prize, has died at the age of 65. Born in Baghdad in October 31, 1950, Hadid first studied mathematics at the American University in Lebanon, before pursuing architecture at the Architectural Association in London in 1972. In 1979, she established her own practice in London, the Zaha Hadid Architects.

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Last year it was announced that British architect Zaha Hadid was to become the 2016 recipient of the Royal Gold Medal for architecture, marking the first time a woman has won the prize in her own right. Awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects, the medal is presented annually in recognition of a significant contribution to the profession. Hadid is the first women without a male partner to win the award in its 167-year history. Hadid said she was proud to be the first woman to receive the honour in her own right. “We now see more established female architects all the time. That doesn’t mean it’s easy,” she said.

Necessarily having to disperse effort through a studio production, rather than being a lone artist, she cottoned on to the potential of the computer to turn space upon itself. So Zaha with her mathematics background seized upon this, she has been smart enough to pull in some formidable computational talent without being phased by its ways. Meanwhile, with paintings and special small drawings Zaha continued to lead from the front. Read more at Dezeen

Rosey Chan Published on Sep 28, 2013
“Parametricism” by Patrik Schumacher – Zaha Hadid Architects – AADRL
Music by Rosey Chan – entirely recorded on acoustic piano + prepared piano

Dezeen Published on Dec 2, 2015
Zaha Hadid unveils prefabricated Volu dining pavilion at Design Miami
Architects Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher have designed a dining pavilion shaped like an open clam shell.

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█ Zaha Hadid Architects http://www.zaha-hadid.com
An international architecture and design firm founded by Zaha Hadid, with its main office situated in Clerkenwell, London. We work at all scales and in all sectors. We create transformative cultural, corporate, residential and other spaces that work in synchronicity with their surroundings.
950 projects 44 countries 400 staff 55 nations | About us 1 year ago

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Architecture Today Published on Mar 21, 2016
Library and Learning Center – Campus WU / Zaha Hadid Architects
Project Development and Structural Engineering: Vasko + Partner Ingenieure (Vienna). Video by Damir Kovačić, for the video exhibition series Austrian Architecture Today. Music: The Jazz Piano – Artist: Ben Sound

ArchiveTecture Published on Oct 27, 2015
Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre by Zaha Hadid
A new performing arts centre housing five theatres, music hall, concert hall and opera house – conceived as a sculptural form, emerging naturally from the intersection of pedestrian pathways within a new cultural district – a growing organism that spreads through successive branches which form the structure like ‘fruits on the vine’.

SOHO China Published on Oct 8, 2014
The Story of Wangjing SOHO: Exclusive Dialogue with Zhang Xin and Zaha Hadid
SOHO China’s Wangjing SOHO, designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Dame Zaha Hadid opened 20 September 2014, with over 20,000 visitors to Beijing’s newest architectural landmark. In a live dialogue, SOHO China CEO Zhang Xin interviews Pritzker-winning architect Dame Zaha Hadid to uncover the inspiration her design language.

SOHO China Published on May 27, 2014
Musical Interlude at Wangjing SOHO 望京SOHO水景巅峰之境
This video highlights the spectacular water features and landscape design of one of Beijing’s newest landmark architectures. Wangjing SOHO, designed by world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid, covers an area of 115,392 sq metres with a total construction area of 521,265 sq metres, and is comprised of three highrise mixed-use office and commercial buildings, and three lowrise commercial buildings, the tallest tower having a height of 200 metres. Upon completion of construction in 2014, Wangjing SOHO will be the first tall landmark architecture visible en route from the airport into the city.

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ARk1T3CH Published on Jan 2, 2014
Who Dares Wins • Zaha Hadid
BBC Scotland [2013] – Español CC (duration 1:10:39)
█ [profile interview and backstory]

Dezeen Published on Aug 14, 2015
Zaha Hadid wins contest for landmark bridge across Taipei’s Tamsui River
This animation by MIR and Morean shows Zaha Hadid Architects’ proposal for a 920-metre-long bridge across the mouth of the Tamsui River in the Taiwanese capital. Billed as “the world’s largest asymmetric cable-stayed bridge with a single tower”, the Danjiang Bridge will be supported by just one 175-metre-high concrete mast to reduce its visual impact on the Taipei skyline. Its steel deck will create a new route for cars, trains and pedestrians, easing congestion on existing transport networks. Zaha Hadid Architects – which has previously completed bridges in Spain and Abu Dhabi – is partnering with engineer Sinotech Engineering Consultants and master builder Leonhardt, Andrä & Partner on the project. Read more at Dezeen

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Portraits: Zaha Hadid – Philip Sinden | Mary McCartney

DPAG April #exhibition arrivals

[click to enlarge]

LIGHT SWITCH AND CONDUIT
The Jim Barr and Mary Barr Collection
9 Apr 2016 – 14 Aug 2016
This exhibition explores the relationship between artworks and the domestic context by delving into the personal collection of Jim Barr and Mary Barr. Light switch and conduit focuses on their recent period of collecting and brings together works by key figures in the rising generation of contemporary New Zealand artists, alongside more established New Zealand artists and several international artists as well. This exhibition includes work by Dan Arps, Fiona Connor, Simon Denny, Oscar Enberg, Glen Hayward, Kate Newby, Campbell Patterson and Luke Willis Thompson. Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Michael Parekowhai Canis Minor 2016 (detail), Axminister carpet, brass, bronze, c-type photograph | Photo: Max Bellamy

NZ flag is the NZ flag is the #NZflag [beach towel selection in context]

RNZ/Toby Morris — eight_col_DIY-FLAG

### radionz.co.nz
RNZ: On the Inside
OPINION: Flag failure – Where did it go wrong?
By Toby Morris
Well, that’s that. The votes are counted and at last the shambolic flag saga is finally over, banished to eternal life as a series of pub quiz trivia questions. An embarrassing phase best forgotten like a national bad haircut.
As much as I’ve always wanted a change, in the end I think we made the right choice. So why do I feel so rotten?
I had a bad feeling about it from the start, and I wasn’t alone. This time last year, anyone who has ever worked on any kind of corporate creative brief took one look at the chosen panel and their proposed process and saw that it would result in a mediocre, safe choice. It was creativity by committee, with no designers involved, and a process that allowed no room for development or refinement.
So we expected the worst, but like George W Bush said, we ‘misunderestimated’ them. Things went from worst to ‘worster’ as they lurched from one disastrous step to another. An inane and vague campaign to engage people about what they stood for led to the saddest road trip ever as the panel toured the country for public meetings with record low turnouts. No one was interested.
By the time the public was able to submit entries, the mood became more evident…. In large numbers, we were treating the flag process as a huge joke.
Read more + Cartoons

RNZ: How the world saw NZ’s flag decision
RNZ: Kiwis have their say; flag’s here to stay
RNZ: NZ flag result – how it happened
RNZ: MPs split down party lines on flag vote

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Put that thing away. Embrace the old one till we find the right one. #nzpol #nzflag pic.twitter.com/VgYRTxGLsN

— Sharon Murdoch (@domesticanimal) March 24, 2016

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NZ Herald
● ‘Wasteful vanity project’ ….How world reacted to flag result
● Defeated PM defends $26m flag vote as critics round on him
● Andrew Little: PM’s pet project has cost NZ $26m

Related Posts and Comments:
29.2.16 Jonkey a flag!
14.11.15 New Zealand Flag: 1000s of public submissions ignored by panel…
25.9.15 New Zealand Flag —symbolism
28.2.15 Campbell Live | TXT POLL: Does NZ need a new flag?

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Jonkey a flag!

Prime Minister John Key has warned if people vote against changing the flag they will not get another chance until New Zealand becomes a republic.

### radionz.co.nz Updated at 12:46 pm today
RNZ News
Has the PM mistaken himself for a flag?
By Finlay Macdonald
OPINION: To borrow a title from the late, great Oliver Sacks, we appear to have a prime minister who mistook himself for a flag.
John Key is now arguing that a vote against the silver fern flag in the March referendum is really a vote against him. He is echoing those commentators who have already tried to depict opposition to a new flag as simply anti-Key sentiment in red, white and blue drag.

Last chance to change flag before republic – PM
Only citizens should vote on flag change – NZ First

The flag debate, they claim, has been “politicised” by the Left out of bitterness and spite. Aside from their own absurd partisan assumptions, what those arguments can never address is the ideologically diverse nature of so much opposition to the Lockwood flag.
How else to explain the informal alliance of lifelong republicans and ageing anti-establishment boomers with monarchists and RSA traditionalists? If anything unites these camps it seems less likely to be a shared loathing of the prime minister than a nose for what you might call a false dichotomy – an unnecessary choice between two inadequate options.
Because you can say a lot of bad things about the alternative flag, but probably the worst is that it makes the current flag look good.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
14.11.15 New Zealand Flag: 1000s of public submissions ignored by panel…
25.9.15 New Zealand Flag —symbolism
28.2.15 Campbell Live | TXT POLL: Does NZ need a new flag?

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Tweets:

@bryce_edwards hi Bryce, this was final version of flag cartoon in Press pic.twitter.com/RQVZNQQL6b

— Sharon Murdoch (@domesticanimal) November 1, 2014

The branding exercise: the ABs, the fern, the #flag & the PM. My #cartoon @PressNewsroom #nzpol pic.twitter.com/cn3NJ63eaJ

— Sharon Murdoch (@domesticanimal) September 1, 2015

Dezeen: W57 —West 57th Residential Building by BIG

Durst Fetner Residential commissioned Copenhagen based BIG in the spring of 2010 to introduce a new residential typology to Manhattan.

sltube7 Uploaded on Feb 10, 2011
Jacob Slevin Bjarke Ingels Is BIG in New York City with W57
(by Designer Pages)

GlessnerGroup Uploaded on Feb 15, 2011
W57 – West 57th Residential Building [no audio]
W57 is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise, West 57th has a unique shape which combines the advantages of both: the compactness and efficiency of a courtyard building providing density, a sense of intimacy and security, with the airiness and the expansive views of a skyscraper.
©Glessner Group, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

Construction is due for completion in 2016.

█ Architect: Bjarke Ingels Group

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### dezeen.com Tue, 8 Feb 2011 at 12:41 pm
West 57th by BIG
By Catherine Warmann
Durst Fetner Residential (DFR) today announced the design of West 57, a 600-unit 80/20 residential building on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. The building is designed by renowned Danish Architect firm BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and is their inaugural North American project. The building’s program consists of over 600 residential units of different scales situated on a podium with a cultural and commercial program. The building will strive for LEED Gold Certification.

“It’s extraordinarily exciting to build a building whose architecture will attract visitors from around the globe,” said Hal Fetner, CEO of Durst Fetner Residential. “BIG’s design is innovative, evocative and unique and the building’s beauty is matched only by its efficient and functional design that preserves existing view corridors while maximizing the new building’s access to natural light and views of the Hudson River. West 57th will establish a new standard for architectural excellence and its creative design, sustainable-construction and operations, breathtaking views and distinctive amenities will make it New York’s most sought after residential address.”

“New York is rapidly becoming an increasingly green and livable city. The transformation of the Hudson River waterfront and the Highline into green parks, the ongoing effort to plant a million trees, the pedestrianisation of Broadway and the creation of more miles of bicycle lanes than the entire city of my native Copenhagen are all evidence of urban oases appearing all over the city. With West 57th we attempt to continue this transformation into the heart of the city fabric – into the centre of a city block,” Bjarke Ingels, Founder, BIG.

“The building is conceived as a cross breed between the Copenhagen courtyard and the New York skyscraper. The communal intimacy of the central urban oasis meets the efficiency, density and panoramic views of the tall tower in a new hybrid typology. The courtyard is to architecture what Central Park is to urbanism: a giant green garden surrounded by a dense wall of spaces for living.”
Read more + Images

[view full screen]

BIG from DRKHRSE (posted 4 months ago)
An aerial view of Bjarke Ingel’s newest building in NYC, at W57

█ Drone Photography: Darkhorse

### dezeen.com Wed, 16 Sept 2015 at 11:10 am
Drone video shows progress on New York “courtscraper” by BIG
By Jenna McKnight
Communications firm Darkhorse has used a camera mounted to a drone to capture footage of Via 57 West, the residential building by Bjarke Ingels Group that is now rising in New York. Construction is underway on the tetrahedron-shaped building, which is located on West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The design is pulled up at one corner, to create a 467-foot-tall (142-metre) structure. It topped out several months ago, with the addition of the final structural beam, and work is now continuing on the building’s facades. The unofficial movie by Darkhorse shows images of Via’s sloped exterior, which is punctuated with south-facing terraces that look toward the Hudson River.

Encompassing 861,00 square feet (80,000 square metres), the building will contain 709 residential units and a large central courtyard. The project also calls for retail space totalling 45,000 square feet (4,180 square metres).

“We call it a courtscraper,” Ingels told Dezeen in an interview last year. “It’s a combination of a skyscraper and a courtyard building. One side is the height of a handrail and the other side is the height of a high-rise.”

The project is being constructed in an area with a mix of building types. W57 is sandwiched between a power plant, a sanitation garage and a highway. The building’s amenities will include a pool, fitness centre, basketball court, golf simulator, library and screening room. Residents will also be able to reserve “living rooms” for entertaining that feature fireplaces, chef’s kitchens, dining rooms and large terraces.
Read more + Images

█ Other residential projects now underway in New York include 152 Elizabeth Street by Tadao Ando in the Nolita neighbourhood, 520 West 28th Street by Zaha Hadid near the High Line, and a luxury condo building by Alvaro Siza that is slated to rise near BIG’s Via 57 West.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dubai skyscrapers | Martin Aircraft Company-designed jetpacks #NZ

Chief TV Published on Dec 31, 2015
Dubai Fire Address Hotel – Dubai Hotel On Fire Before New Years Eve Fireworks – 2015

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### dezeen.com 31 December 2015
Huge fire breaks out at Atkins-designed Dubai skyscraper
On New Year’s Eve, a fire engulfed The Address Downtown Dubai hotel tower. Burning debris was seen falling from The Address, designed by international architecture and engineering firm Atkins. The skyscraper occupies a site close to the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which hosted a massive fireworks display despite the nearby blaze. The 302-metre-tall, 63-storey Address tower was completed in 2008, and is currently the 19th tallest building in the Emirate. The fire engulfed around 20 floors of the building. The blaze was contained to the outside of the building. Internal sprinkler systems prevented it from spreading to the interior.

Starting in 2016, the Emirate plans to use jetpacks to reach people and deliver equipment during skyscraper fires.

█ Developed by New Zealand manufacturer Martin Aircraft Company, the jetpacks are being tailored to meet the needs of firefighters and rescue workers, including allowing them to be operated hands-free in hover mode. This will make it easier for firefighters to carry equipment or assess heat sources using thermal imaging cameras. “Dubai is leading the world in high-rises, and sometimes we have challenges or difficulties reaching those buildings,” Dubai’s Civil Defence chief Ali Hassan Almutawa told the Khaleej Times. “Sometimes we also find it difficult to communicate with people in those high-rises, especially when people are panicking from windows or balconies.”
Read more

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BACK STORY

Dubai skyline during Torch fire February 2015 [via dezeen.com]

[As at Nov 2015] Dubai is home to 911 high-rise buildings, 88 of which are taller than 180 metres (591 ft). Burj Khalifa, by Chicago office Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, is the world’s tallest structure at 828 metres (2,716.5 ft).

### dezeen.com 13 November 2015
Dubai to fight fires in world’s tallest skyscrapers using jetpacks
Dubai, home to the world’s tallest skyscraper, will use jetpack-equipped firefighters in high-rise emergencies as early as next year. A fleet of emergency-service jetpacks will be delivered to the Dubai Civil Defence in 2016, according to the Khaleej Times. Specially trained firefighters will use the jetpacks to tackle flames in some the city’s tallest buildings. The news comes months after fire tore through one of the world’s tallest residential structures located in the United Arab Emirates city. The fire broke out on the 50th floor of the 79-storey Torch, a 336-metre-high skyscraper, in February.

“In an emergency situation, we can’t use the elevators and have to depend on firefighters physically climbing ladders,” said Dubai’s Civil Defence chief Ali Hassan Almutawa. “With this we can lift equipment for our firefighters.”

“There will now be a new generation of firefighters with this,” said Martin Aircraft Company CEO Peter Coker, who went on to explain how “easy” the flying machines are to operate. “It’s got a fly-by-wire system that has a sort of flight computer, so the aircraft is very stable,” he said. “If you let go of everything, the aircraft will come to a hover.”

Manned test flights of a Martin Aircraft Company-designed jetpack were first approved in 2013. The company claimed its design was the world’s first practical jetpack.

“In a few years they will likely be used by customers in a very controlled environment, and we’ll probably have situations in which we create clubs for people to go and fly the jetpacks,” said Coker.

The use of jetpack technology in the United Arab Emirates isn’t restricted to its emergency services. Earlier this month, footage emerged of two jetpack-equipped daredevils flying alongside a passenger plane over Dubai’s landmarks to promote the country’s Emirates airline company.
Read more

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Clarification: The following footage, worth watching, doesn’t involve Martin Aircraft Company-designed jetpack componentry. Visit MAC’s website (link given above) to view their practical jetpack units.

Aeronauticator Published on May 14, 2015
Yves Rossy & Vince Reffet – Birdmans Fly over Dubai Sky
Flying like a bird is always human’s dream. And the dream comes true.
Join Jetman Yves Rossy and his protege, Jetman Vince Reffet as they explore the limits in the city of dreams. “The real dream is to be completely free.”

XDubai Published on Nov 4, 2015
Emirates: #HelloJetman
Armed with unguarded ambition and the vision to push boundaries beyond the unthinkable, Jetman Dubai and Emirates A380 take to the skies of Dubai for an exceptional formation flight. A carefully choreographed aerial showcase, conducted over the Palm Jumeirah and Dubai skyline, involving the world’s largest passenger aircraft and the experienced Jetman Dubai pilots Yves Rossy and Vince Reffet. Over the last three months, Emirates and the Jetman Dubai teams worked closely to diligently plan and coordinate every detail of this project. Featuring an all Original Soundtrack by Erik Groysman – “Flight”

Tourism and Events Published on Nov 7, 2015
Emirates HelloJetman Emirates A380 and Jetman Dubai Formation Flight Emirates Airline

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ELEMENTAL | UC Innovation Center

An open and eco-friendly university building.

Location: San Joa­quín Cam­pus | Uni­ver­si­dad Ca­tó­li­ca de Chi­le | San­tia­go, Chi­le
Client: Grupo Angelini | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Category Winner: Architecture
Designs of the Year 2015, Design Museum, London

Architects: ELEMENTAL (Chile)

“Santiago’s climate requires to change the conventional approach to working space design. We substituted the contemporary typical glass skin, responsible for serious greenhouse effect in interiors, for a thermal mass on the perimeter that avoids undesired heat gains. On the other hand, innovation and knowledge creation requires increasing encounters among people, so openness is desired. We multiplied open air squares throughout the building’s entire height and proposed a permeable atrium core so that while circulating vertically, people could see what others are doing. This reversed placement of opaqueness and transparency is the way sustainability and human relationships informed the form.”

Construction Year: 2012-2014
Budget: USD 18 million

ELEMENTAL (Alejandro Aravena, Gonzalo Arteaga, Juan Cerda, Victor Oddó, Diego Torres) is a Do Tank founded in 2001, focusing on projects of public interest and social impact, including housing, public space, infrastructure and transportation. A hallmark of the firm is a participatory design process in which the architects work closely with the public and end users. ELEMENTAL has built work in Chile, the United States, Mexico, China and Switzerland. After the 2010 earthquake and tsunami that hit Chile, ELEMENTAL was called to work on the reconstruction of the city of Constitución, where we had to integrate all the previous experiences. The approach we developed proved to be useful for other cases where city design was used to solve social and political conflicts. At the moment, we keep on expanding into new fields of action.

█ Website: http://www.elementalchile.cl/

Photography: Cristobal Palma, Felipe Diaz Contardo (www.fotoarq.com), Nina Vidic, Nico Saieh

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Social housing, Incremental housing, Half a good house instead of a small one…. Housing as investment

Kosovo Architecture Foundation Published on Oct 8, 2015
Prishtina Architecture Week 2015, Day 4, Alejandro Aravena
Principal of Alejandro Aravena Architects, established in 1994 and, since 2006, Executive Director of ELEMENTAL, a for profit company with social interest working in projects of infrastructure, transportation, public space and housing, partnering with Universidad Catolica de Chile and COPEC, Chilean Oil Company.

He has been member of the Pritzker Prize Jury since 2009. The laureates chosen during his presence in the Jury have been: Peter Zumthor (2009), SANAA Kazuyo Sejima (2010), Eduardo Souto de Moura (2011), Wang Shu (2012), Toyo Ito (2013) and Shigeru Ban (2014). He was named Honorary International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 2009; member of the Board of the Cities Program of the London School of Economics, London, since 2011; Regional Advisory Board Member of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies;

Board Member of the Holcim Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland, since 2013; Foundational Member of the Chilean Society of Public Policies; Leader of the Helsinki Design Lab for SITRA, the Finnish Innovation Fund for the Government of Finland to design a national strategy towards carbon neutrality; and Board Member of Espacio Público, an independant chilean research center created in 2012. He was one of the 100 personalities contributing to the G+20 Rio Global Summit in June 2012, and was one of the speakers of TED Global 2014 in Rio.

Aravena was recently named as the Director of the 15th Architecture Exhibition of the Venezia Biennale.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ELEMENTAL | Participatory design, social modelling for housing

Dezeen: Harbin Opera House, north east China | MAD

### dezeen.com 16 December 2015
MAD’s sinuous Harbin Opera House completes in north-east China
Beijing studio MAD has completed an opera house in the Chinese city of Harbin, featuring an undulating form that wraps two concert halls and a huge public plaza. The opera house is the first and largest building that MAD has designed as part of Harbin Cultural Island, a major new arts complex among the wetlands of the Songhua River. The 79,000-square-metre building features a three-petalled plan. One houses a grand theatre with space for up to 1,600 visitors, while the other is a more intimate performance space for an audience of 400. The building is designed to mirror the sinuous curves of the marsh landscape, with an exterior of smooth white aluminium panels and glass. These contrast with the rooftops, where a textured surface of ice-inspired glass pyramids allows light in from above. According to MAD, the building is designed “in response to the force and spirit of the northern city’s untamed wilderness and frigid climate”. “We envision Harbin Opera House as a cultural centre of the future – a tremendous performance venue, as well as a dramatic public space that embodies the integration of human, art and the city identity, while synergistically blending with the surrounding nature,” said studio founder Ma Yansong.

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█ MAD Architects: http://www.i-mad.com/

MAD has designed several cultural buildings, including an artificial island of art caves, an icicle-shaped wood sculpture museum also in Harbin and Chicago’s proposed George Lucas Museum. Curved surfaces are a recurring theme through them all, picking up Ma’s ambition for a new style of architecture, referencing the landscapes of traditional Chinese paintings.

“We treat architecture as a landscape,” he told Dezeen in an interview last year.

The smooth surfaces of the opera house’s exterior continue inside.
Read more + Images

█ Photography by Adam Mørk and Hufton + Crow.

Related stories:
China Wood Sculpture Museum by MAD
MAD reveals concept design for George Lucas’ Chicago art museum
MAD Architects unveils slimmed-down design for Lucas Museum in Chicago

Related movie:
MAD wants to “invent a new typology” for high-rise architecture, says Ma Yansong
In this exclusive video interview filmed in Venice, Ma Yansong of Chinese architects MAD explains his concept for a “shan-shui city”, a high density urban development inspired by traditional Chinese paintings of mountain ranges.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC: Restriction of Vehicles from Parts of Jetty Street DECLARED

Received by direct copy from Lynne Robins
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 at 3:29 p.m.

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From: Lynne Robins
Sent: Wednesday, 16 December 2015 3:29 p.m.
To: Karilyn Canton
Cc: craig.borley@odt.co.nz
Subject: Update – Proposed Restriction of Vehicles from Parts of Jetty Street

Further to my emails on the Proposed Restriction of Vehicles from parts of Jetty Street, please note the following update.

Council met on Monday 14 December 2015 and gave consideration to the recommendations from the Jetty Street Hearings Committee. Council approved the proposed recommendation and has declared parts of Jetty Street to be a pedestrian mall as per the attached declaration.

The declaration was been made under section 336 of the Local Government Act 1974. Under that section 336, any person may appeal to the Environment Court by 14 January 2016 or such later date as the Environment Court may allow. The Council would not oppose any request to the Environment Court by an applicant for the appeal period to be extended until up to 1 February 2016, but that would be a decision for the Environment Court rather than the Council.

A copy of the declaration will be published in the Council’s ODT noticeboard.

Thanks

Lynne Robins
Governance Support Officer
Dunedin City Council

█ Download: Jetty Street -declaration

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█ TOPICAL But what has Large Retail got to say on DCC Planning decisions affecting Large Retail [zoning] ?! Watch this space.

Related Post and Comments:
4.6.15 Exchange makeover —or pumps and pipe renewals, um

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Uglies: Black-tie at 715 George

715 George St, corner Regent Rd, Dunedin

█ Clan Construction Commercial Ltd
http://www.companies.govt.nz/co/4013678

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### ODT Online Thu, 10 Dec 2015
Student apartments going up
Construction has begun on six new student apartments at the corner of George St and Regent Rd, Dunedin. The 962sq m triangular-shaped site is owned by Straits International Ltd, and was the site of a service station for about 80 years. The Dunedin City Council has given resource consent for the company to construct four residential units in a two-storey building (block 1) and two residential units in a three-storey building (block 2), thereby creating 22 habitable rooms. Construction is expected to be completed next year.
ODT Link

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Comments at ODT Online:

Student apartments
Submitted by Barnaby on Thu, 10/12/2015 – 6:35pm.

No! This was not a service station site for 80 years. There was a beautiful two-storey substantial brick heritage house on this site until about the 1970s. This is just another step in the incremental loss of North End heritage. This shows very poor planning from DCC, making this part of town, and the main street in this case, an ever expanding precinct of badly designed cheaply built high density housing. These will add to the stock of other similar structures forming “North Dunedin’s slums of the future”. Ratepayers’ will probably end up funding the future purchase of such cheap accomodation to mitigate associated social problems and the appalling visual amenity. Very poor city planning indeed.

Habitable room disasters
Submitted by ej kerr on Fri, 11/12/2015 – 12:43pm.

Prominent George St corner sites are being trashed by the banal. More habitable rooms – No emphasis on good contemporary design, no flair.
This one’s built right to the footpath on the main street, with little modulation and no hint of garden or vertical planting possible, except something to the corner part-screened by the witless bus shelter shoved on its concrete pad.
Given the rich inheritance, where has Dunedin street architecture gone? Where are the design professions? Why so much visual erosion? Where is the NZ Institute of Architects? Why no City Architect Office and independent Urban Design Panel to uphold design values for Dunedin residents and ratepayers?
Ugh! DCC planning fail. DCC urban design fail. DCC district plan fail. When will DCC grow up – to promote sympathetic edgy contemporary architecture and design for major city axials, at the very least. A step up from turning Dunedin into bog city with tawdry gateway approaches.

Related Posts and Comments:
[distasteful]
6.1.14 George Street: Two new uglies (thanks DCC, no City Architect…)

[sensitive]
9.1.14 Facadism: 3%, 10%, 50%, 75%, 99.9% (how much is enough) | University of Otago warps Castle Street

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: misted lettered tweaked by whatifdunedin

New Zealand Flag: 1000s of public submissions ignored by panel [+ Paris]

It was outside the panel’s remit to consider criticism of the process or support for the current flag……..

### ODT Online Fri, 13 Nov 2015
Readers support Mallard in flag debate
Source: NZME
Readers have weighed in to support claims by Trevor Mallard the flag referendum process is “total spin”, following analysis showing feedback from thousands of people critical of the process had been ignored by the flag consideration panel. Analysis published today on new data platform ‘Herald Insights’ shows official reports published by the flag panel had ignored thousands of public submissions – nearly a third of total feedback – that were critical of the process or supportive of retaining the current flag.
Read more

█ Herald Insights: http://insights.nzherald.co.nz/
█ http://insights.nzherald.co.nz/article/the-flag-debate
█ http://standfor.co.nz/

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Related Posts and Comments:
25.9.15 New Zealand Flag —symbolism
28.2.15 Campbell Live | TXT POLL: Does NZ need a new flag?

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: flagz.co.nz – NZ Flag; Stuff.co.nz – Flags

Dunedin Hospital #despair

Initially, it was hoped the $11 million upgrade would not get bogged down in a drawn-out approval process.

### ODT Online Fri, 30 Oct 2015
ICU upgrade approval not before March
By Eileen Goodwin
Approval for the long-awaited Dunedin Hospital intensive care unit upgrade has been pushed back to March at the earliest, it has been confirmed. […] The upgrade was considered urgent last year, when the unit lost its accreditation to train specialists, and it was initially hoped building work would start by mid-2015 or sooner.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
17.6.15 Southern District Health Board sacked !!!
9.6.15 Southern District Health Board
16.4.15 Talk of replacing Southern District Health Board with commissioner
1.5.14 Dunedin Hospital buildings SORRY STATE
25.2.15 South Link Health, hmm that name….
6.8.14 Otago Therapeutic Pool at Dunedin Hospital
14.1.14 DCC: Hospital area parking changes #cyclelanes
5.12.13 Swann case: ODHB/SDHB and friends
10.11.10 Neurosurgery STAYS @Dunedin
6.8.10 SERIOUSLY

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: clker.com – red cross Joshua Dwire 03-svg-med; text overlay (help) by whatifdunedin

DCC cycle lanes, the real reason……. foul-ups @DUD

Received from Brian Miller
Sat, 24 Oct 2015 at 5:40 p.m.

The real reason why DCC wants cyclists to have their own cycling lane.

So this is why those people in funny clothes wander all over our roads!
—I knew there was a reason why I took up biking.

THE RETIREMENT BICYCLE
Image: Supplied

My doctor says to drink lots while exercising!
And I always follow the doctor’s advice.

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Related Posts and Comments:
22.10.15 Bloody DCC —superlative cost blowout #cycleways #SUCKS
6.10.15 DCC v Tauranga CC + costly stadium cycle/walkway :[
12.9.15 Cr Kate ‘Cycleways’ Wilson —(disingenuous) fails constituents
3.9.15 Dunedin support for extensive cycle lanes and Free bicycles
22.8.15 DCC cycleway$ now tied to more ‘urban de$ign’ $pend…
18.7.15 DCC Cycleways: SEEING RED, apology NOT accepted
10.4.15 DCC cycleways propaganda continues #SpendSpendSpend
20.3.15 DCC Shame …John Wilson Dr nonsense, now Portobello Rd cycleway
11.2.15 Dunedin Cycleways: Pet project staff, ‘entitlement’? #irony

█ For more on Dunedin’s inordinately expensive Strategic Cycle Network, enter the term *cycle* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Vogel Street Party —Sat, 10 October

Admission: FREE

The inaugural Vogel Street Party was held last year in conjunction with the first ever Dunedin Street Art Festival; this year’s event will again be staged in the warehouse precinct and will collaborate with the Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature group for a party themed around Literature and Light.

LITERATURE To celebrate Dunedin’s creative city status as a UNESCO City of Literature Dunedin, New Zealand. You can find us sitting alongside only 10 other cities in the world that hold this status, including Edinburgh, Melbourne, Dublin, Prague & more.

LIGHT As 2015 is the International Year of Light, the VSP will be Dunedin’s major effort to join in the world-wide celebration of light and light based technologies.

The events, exhibitions and activities will follow these themes and showcase the talent and creativity we have hidden in our city.

The Vogel Street Party 2015 — fun attractions for people of all ages.
PARTY STARTS 10 October at 3pm.
Note start times vary for Open Hours at Heritage Buildings.

█ Webpage: http://vogelstparty.nz/

█ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1611938749075531/

█ Download: Vogel Street Party PROGRAMME

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OPEN Buildings [excerpt from programme – click to enlarge]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

New Zealand Flag —symbolism

NZ First likens Red Peak flag to Nazi war symbols
[Source: Parliament TV via ONE News]

Received from TQoFE
Fri, 25 Sep 2015 at 10:43 a.m.

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█ Compare flags for Japan and Canada….

Red Peak, First to the Light – nice idea, bland design for our nationality ??

Images: (top) Stuff.co.nz | nz.news.yahoo.com

Related Post and Comments:
28.2.15 Campbell Live | TXT POLL: Does NZ need a new flag?

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Law Courts | ODT editorial

The Dunedin courthouse is one of the city’s finest historic buildings, and part of a heritage cluster impossible to match anywhere in this country.

We await an “unequivocal commitment” from the Government to return court services to their Dunedin home.

### ODT Online Tue, 22 Sep 2015
Editorial: ‘Nonsense’ courthouse costs
OPINION Really? Would earthquake strengthening of Dunedin’s courthouse really cost more than $15million as officials claim? Or is this another example where supposed post-earthquake costs are used as an excuse? Or can the Government simply not design and commission building work for reasonable prices? There is probably a bit of both.
Read more

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Dunedin structural engineer Stephen Macknight called the Government’s $15million strengthening figure “absolutely ridiculous”.

Director of Dunedin construction company Lund South, Russell Lund, said his experience suggested the $15million figure was “just not even credible”.

### ODT Online Sat, 19 Sep 2015
$15m bill for court rejected
By Craig Borley
Dunedin engineers and construction experts have rubbished the Government’s claims the city’s historic courthouse needs earthquake strengthening work worth more than $15 million. […] Lou Robinson, director of Hadley Robinson Engineering, said he knew the courthouse intimately after being involved in the 2002 work on the complex. He estimated an “upper limit on strengthening of perhaps $3 million”.
Read more

█ Website:
http://www.saveourcourthouse.nz

█ Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/SaveOurCourthouse

█ Petition to Justice Minister Amy Adams:
http://bit.ly/1FlZIWy (via Avaaz platform)

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Related Posts and Comments:
7.9.15 Public petition to save Courthouse for courts use
11.7.15 Dunedin Law Courts “an incredible historic building” –Minister
14.5.15 Russell Lund on Ministry closure of Dunedin Law Courts
14.5.15 Justice at Dunedin
2.5.15 Ministry serves INJUSTICE for Dunedin Courthouse #HistoricHeritage

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Post and image (2015) by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC cycleway$ now tied to more ‘urban de$ign’ $pend, after reha$h numero…..

Image: examiner.com

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Dunedin City Council – Media Release
South Dunedin Cycle Network Changes Start Soon

This item was published on 21 Aug 2015

Alterations to some parts of the South Dunedin Cycle Network will start shortly as the Dunedin City Council works to deliver safe, high quality and attractive cycleways in the city. General Manager Infrastructure and Networks Ruth Stokes says the DCC has listened to public feedback about existing South Dunedin cycleways and in response changes are being made to some intersections.

“We’ve accepted we didn’t get these designs right first time, but we have taken on board what the community has told us and we are making changes. As always, the priority will be safety, not just for cyclists, but for pedestrians and motorists too. There will also be a new urban design element to the construction that will enhance every street which has a cycleway.”

The first step is to remove sections of the existing South Dunedin Cycle Network (SDCN) that have given rise to public concern regarding vehicle access. As each section is due to be altered, residents and businesses in and near the affected streets will receive notification from the DCC and its contractor, Downer. The work is scheduled to begin later this month.

This remedial work incorporates the following:
● At the Hargest Crescent/Richardson Street and Richardson Street/Moreau Street intersections the ‘floating’ traffic islands will be removed to improve traffic flow (kerb protrusions will remain).
● The Marlow Street/Royal Crescent intersection will have two way traffic flow reinstated in response to residents’ requests. Two way traffic flow will also be reinstated at the Prince Albert Road/New Street and Churchill Street/Bellona Street intersections.
● Coughtrey Street and Richardson Street – ‘ghost’ road markings will be removed and new road markings laid.
● Signs and road markings will be installed across all the existing SDCN to improve intuitive way-finding for cyclists.

Over the next few months the design of these SDCN sections will be reviewed and improved with a focus on safety and ease of use for all road users. Residents will be asked for feedback before the designs are confirmed.

Designs to improve the Portobello Road cycleway between Timaru Street and Portsmouth Drive have been prepared in consultation with the community, aiming for a highly practical road and cycleway layout, improved road markings and signs, complemented by a vastly improved general environment providing a family-friendly atmosphere. The design will take residents’ and business access needs into account. The Princes Street cycleway past the Oval, on to Gordon Street and Vogel Street, is planned for completion in October 2015. This will include signs and markings on Princes Street and changing give way priorities to Vogel Street at two intersections. Ongoing Tedder Street construction is due to be finished by the end of 2015, using speed bumps to slow traffic.

Mrs Stokes says the vision for Dunedin’s first urban cycleway is to have high quality, attractive routes which cater for people travelling to work and school by bike, and leisure cyclists, while reducing accident rates for all road users.

Contact General Manager Infrastructure and Networks, Dunedin City Council on 477 4000. DCC Link

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█ ODT: Traffic islands to go soon
The scrapping of some of South Dunedin’s most unpopular cycleway traffic islands could begin as soon as next week as the Dunedin City Council responds to public feedback on the bungled network.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/353295/traffic-islands-go-soon

● WTF Ruthie-babe ???
“There would also be “a new urban design element” to new construction on the network, she said. That could include different types of paving, seating on appropriate corners, and planting in the separation areas.” (via ODT)

Image: Fairfax Media (via Cycling in Christchurch)

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Related Posts and Comments:
● 18.7.15 DCC Cycleways: SEEING RED, apology NOT accepted
● 10.4.15 DCC cycleways propaganda continues #SpendSpendSpend
20.3.15 DCC Shame: First, John Wilson Dr … now Portobello Rd cycleway
11.2.15 Dunedin Cycleways: Pet project staff, ‘entitlement’? #irony
3.12.14 Cycling at Dunedin —boring debate, network spending continues #DUD
22.5.14 DCC Transportation Planning —ANOTHER consultation disaster
6.5.14 Roading network screwed by council staff
● 14.2.14 DCC: Broadband AND bicycles #fraudband speed
14.1.14 DCC: Hospital area parking changes #cyclelanes
5.1.14 Norman Foster: SkyCycling utopia above London railways #ThinkBig
24.12.13 Daaave’s $47 million Christmas present to Jinty. We’re paying.
4.12.13 Dunedin cycleways: Calvin Oaten greeted by DCC silence
17.11.13 Dunedin cycleways: Calvin Oaten’s alternative route
17.11.13 Cull and MacTavish… “Have you fixed the debt crisis?”
14.11.13 Cycle lane explosions and puncture kits (SPOKES grenades launch)
8.11.13 Dunedin Separated Cycle Lane Proposal [how to make a submission]
29.10.13 DCC (EDU) invents new job! [GigatownDunedin]
19.10.13 Cycle lobby games and media tilts
24.9.13 Mediocrity and lack of critical awareness at DCC [council reports]
8.7.13 Bloody $tupid cycleways and Cull’s electioneering . . . [route maps]
28.3.13 DCC DAP 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements
26.2.13 DCC binge spending alert: Proposed South Dunedin cycle network
22.2.13 DCC: Council meeting agenda and reports for 25 February 2013
31.1.13 Who? 2010 electioneering
21.11.12 Safe cycling -Cr Fliss Butcher
5.11.12 DCC, NZTA: Cycle lanes controversy

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr