Story: City planning

Auckland civic square (1st of 2)

Auckland civic square

‘City-beautiful’ planning sought to create grand civic and ceremonial spaces. In 1924 the Auckland architectural practice Gummer and Ford won a competition for a new civic centre in the city. Their design comprised two imposing edifices – an administration building and art gallery – fronting a large civic square, parallel to Queen Street. The ambitious plan lacked public support and was voted down. This image appears to be a modified and reduced version of the scheme. It consists of a new administration building facing a smaller civic square. The scheme was never built.

Using this item

Architecture Archive, The University of Auckland, Gummer & Ford Collection
Reference: GF55
Plans by W. H. Gummer and C. R. Ford

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How to cite this page:

Ben Schrader, 'City planning - Planning between the world wars', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/25734/auckland-civic-square (accessed 28 April 2024)

Story by Ben Schrader, published 11 Mar 2010, updated 26 Mar 2015