ARCHITECTURE - PUBLIC BUILDINGS

For the purpose of this article, the term “public buildings” includes the following: Government and municipal, commercial, educational, institutional, and hospital.

Before the white man came to New Zealand, there was already a form of public building, that is, the tribal meeting house of the Maori, the whare runanga. This was a focal point of tribal activity and, as such, was adorned by their craftsmen both by carving and by painting.

The European naturally brought with him his own familiar expressions of architecture, and it is well to consider the main stem of architectural history from which they sprang. If a tree of architecture could be drawn as a diagram, its roots would be shown running back into dim antiquity nourished by the influences of geographical, geological, climatic, religious, social, and historical surroundings. Its main trunk would branch into the more easily found examples of Egyptian and Babylonian architecture, and the eastern work of China and Japan. Further up the main tree would flourish the Grecian and Roman styles leading on to the central feature of Romanesque, with a side branch of Byzantine. From this would spring both Gothic and Renaissance architecture, branching in turn to later revivals and culminating in contemporary modern architecture.

Early Public Buildings

The early public buildings of New Zealand were of necessity small in scale, for their creators were limited in financial resources and materials. Yet these pioneer achievements should not be overlooked, for the more primitive buildings had a natural simplicity quite akin to our own work today. This was because the form followed the function closely; there was little opportunity for much fuss or ostentation. Later on, at the time of the gold rushes of the sixties, some of the banks and shops of the mushroom townships sheltered self-consciously behind a facade of sorts. This was only a few inches thick and acted as a mask to what was little more than a shed behind. Such facades are reminiscent of western (cowboy) film sets as seen in American films, and the mask implied a grandeur that was not really there. From the front, the building would seem important; from the side, far less so.

Early public buildings which did not come within this category were some of the schools, built in cob and timber, and hotels and hospitals that had the charm and austerity of the pioneer colonial houses. Some hotels, however, were not above erecting a false facade to suggest importance.

After these early public buildings of small size and makeshift character came the larger ones. These followed on surprisingly quickly after the initial settlements, although progress varied greatly according to the locality. In some instances progress was slow, especially in those districts affected by the Maori Wars. But in the provinces where gold was discovered, money was plentiful for development, and architects such as R. A. Lawson came to New Zealand and made the most of the opportunities available. With the passing of time, and more ambitious plans, came the vogue for “applied” architecture, a good thing when well done but poor when it lapsed into the ornate. Such architectural influences as Classic, Gothic, Renaissance, and other features came into play and were clearly visible. At this period, architectural standards throughout the western world were often confused, and New Zealand did not escape.

Nevertheless, the best examples of the period, as we have them in this country, are worthy of respect, and attention should be paid to their preservation. They portray an epoch quite different from our own today and increasingly different from the future. They truly represent part of the social fabric of the past. Whether the stone intricacies of the Gothic of Lawson's First Church Dunedin (1874), or the wooden interpretation of classical detail used in the original Government Buildings in Wellington (1877), they give some clue to the scholarly nature of their time, and of the designers' respect for the antiquities. Earlier examples of the sixties, such as the old Provincial Council buildings of Canterbury, or later ones at the close of the century, scattered all over New Zealand, give faithful examples of the design influences of the tree of architecture.

The New Zealand setting has always been a good one for public buildings. Whether it is the Auckland vista of a spacious harbour, the Wellington hills and their unsophisticated bush, the Christchurch flatness with the Alps beyond, or the Dunedin variation of skyline, our main centres have good backdrops for their building sites. Smaller towns can provide more dramatic ones, as witness New Plymouth and Kaikoura.

Every new country presents the architect with special problems, though the solution of some would seem obvious. It is hard to believe, for instance, that architects were slow to realise that in the southern hemisphere the sun lay to the north. Yet the Normal School in Christchurch, which had been designed in England, was built facing the south, exactly the wrong way round, and it has stayed that way ever since. Gradually, however, designers of buildings began to take new factors into account, such as earthquakes and strong winds. One church in an early settlement was demolished after threatened structural failure–it rocked in the wind, and wisdom regarding earthquakes came with learning the “hard” facts the hard way.

Changing Styles

After the turn of the century, architecture changed but was still conservative. Some of the architects of this period were really gifted, such as F. W. Petre who designed a great number of Roman Catholic works, very classical, in the South Island. Samuel Hurst Seager was another; he developed a “cottage” style for houses and did special research into art gallery lighting. In England at this time there was a strong movement towards art nouveau and neo-classicism, though prior to the First World War only the glimmerings of the modern movement were to be seen. Understandably, there was little impact on New Zealand. Travel facilities were limited and few architects could afford to travel abroad for study before they finally commenced practice in the land of their birth. But, with the return of peace, many students and architects who had been in the forces, stayed on in England for further study, and thus they brought back with them new ideas which slowly influenced contemporary architecture. In the interim period between the two World Wars, many well designed buildings were created. Men like W. H. Gummer, Horace Massey, Cecil Wood, and Gray Young brought work to a new level. Buildings and works such as the Bridge of Remembrance, Christchurch (Gummer), the Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial at the Petone (Massey), the Public Trust Office, Christchurch (Cecil Wood), and the Wellington Railway Station (Gray Young), were examples of the scholarship and skill that could produce such designs. Although the critic of later periods may point the finger of scorn at some of these, we must consider such works as milestones of progress and, further, that they laid a foundation of respect for public architecture. It is upon this foundation that the architects of the contemporary “modern” movement began to build. Some such examples were planned before the Second World War, but it was with the peace that the real opportunity came. One of the major architects of the late forties and fifties was Gordon Wilson, who after being a partner in Gummer and Ford of Auckland, became the architect for State housing and, finally, Government Architect. In this position he had more influence upon the design of public buildings of the period than any other single person. He swept away the cobwebs from the Ministry of Works architectural division, and showed sound judgment in his approach. Under his influence, together with that of a group of the less powerful (because of less opportunity), New Zealand public buildings could be compared favourably with many abroad. Examples of the work of Wilson's office are Government Buildings in Auckland, the School of Engineering, Christchurch, and the Departmental Buildings, Wellington.

In other branches of the Civil Service good work was also going on notably in hydro-electric architecture under F. H. Newman who brought from Europe a welcome addition to the New Zealand tradition. E. A. Plischke, another continental, who with Cedric Firth was responsible for the Massey House offices in Wellington, was another innovator. In later years, the school of architecture at Auckland, under Professor C. R. Knight, developed into a fine teaching centre, and many Auckland graduates, after experience abroad, became powerful designers in the new tradition. Among these may be listed Professor Toy, Ian Reynolds, E. J. McCoy, and Miles Warren, who designed respectively the Ponsonby Church in Auckland, the Victoria University Library in Wellington, Aquinas Hall, Dunedin, and the Dental School at Christchurch. Apart from the accepted requirements of public buildings, that is, those of hospitals, schools, offices, and the like, there are new demands such as those set by the air age for the creation of transport terminal facilities. The Air Terminal at the Christchurch International Airport, and the Momona Airport, Dunedin, come within this classification, and each in its way sets a high standard for overseas and internal air travel.

Modern Trends

At the present time there are many further changes impending. The architecture of public buildings since the last war has been subject sometimes to cliches or to obvious solutions–that is, that of glass wall with side contrasts, or blank wall. This type of building can look sterile, and seems to be at one with the anonymous architecture of New York, London, Tokyo, Wellington, Brasilia, or Copenhagen. Actually it is not as sterile as it looks. Under the skin is a complex tangle of services such as air conditioning and electrical wiring; the interior may carry decorative design work of distinction. It is, however, a swing of the pendulum, giving an austerity that needs some humanising.

The changes impending, therefore, may well be more exciting, a swing towards the flexible, shell, concrete forms or to those revolutionary designs as typified in the Sydney Opera House. In this regard the young New Zealand architect has opportunities that were denied his predecessors. Today there is available a magnificent portrayal of world architecture in the various journals that come from England, Italy, Europe, America, and Japan. For those designers who have not travelled, but who have the ability to see into the spirit of the law of architecture, rather than its letter, there is the chance to analyse the superb designs to be seen in Domus, the Architectural Forum, or L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui.

At the present time, therefore, there are many valid approaches to designs, and very many good solutions of one problem are possible. The New Zealand architects and engineers, however, face two disciplines that restrict their freedom, namely, the need for safe structure to meet earthquake shocks, and the more severe discipline of limited finance. It is to their credit that they have successfully surmounted these difficulties.

by Paul Pascoe, A.R.I.B.A., Architect, Christchurch.