The Architecture of Unhappiness
By David MacGregor,
Tomorrow is Pecha Kucha at Sky City. Many of the speakers are presenting about architecture.
I've been thinking about architecture. Not from the point of view of decor and taste (the new porn), but from the persopective of form and function.
Corbusier talked about 'machines for living' and he delivered some of the worst buildings in the history of mankind. His influence is possibly at its apogee in the projects of New York - paradoxically the nadir of human habitation. Bleak, soulless landscapes that left character and a sense of place out of consideration.
Walking through Auckland's central city recently I was astonished at what a wasteland it is, virtually devoid of recognisable character or personality. It isn't until you get the the very bottom of Albert Street that you get a sense of what could be possible. The Auckland Harbour on a fine day is a relief from the grimy, run down city.
Unfortunately there is virtually nowhere for city workers or dwellers to enjoy it. Some huddle on the steps and miserly boardwalk between Princess Wharf and the Ferry Building. There isn't a blade of grass to be seen.
It reminded me of the debate over the waterfront stadium for the Rugby World Cup. I am glad that project didn't go ahead, but it is a pity that the conversation about the use of the waterfront didn't continue. Likewise, I haven't heard much about the development of the Tank Farm of late. The Auckland City Council web site continues to carry an invocation from Dick Hubbard from some time ago (though he is still identified as the Mayor of Auckland City). For all the talk of opportunity, I have doubts. It seems that, when opportunities have been presented in the past, they have been shunned in favour of easy-outs. At the end of Customs Street West on the Viaduct, next to where I work, there is a plaza that looks out onto the viaduct harbour. It is cobbled with a kind of crazy paving that seems intent on making the large square uninviting to skateboarders. Unfortunately it also makes it uninhabitable by people who might want to spread out a blanket and have a picnic lunch or lay in the sun and read a book - or watch clouds. It is incomprehensible to me why the area isn't grassed. I suppose the cost of gardening is too great? I am sitting in the centre of the space now, as I write, and my greatest inclination is to get away as fast as possible.
Richard Florida, who featured in our Launch issue talks bout the things that make for creative cities. In a way the things that make for creative cities are also the thngs that civilise us - principally places where people can meet and recreate and be entertained. Barren crazy paved wastelands, lonely looking public sculputers twisting in the wind.
The development in the Britomart precinct might also make a difference to downtown. But like the rest of Auckland it too turns its back on the harbour.
PECHA KUCHA NIGHT AUCKLAND VOL. 08
Tomorrow 23rd May | doors open 19:30h | start 20:20h |Level 5, Sky City Convention Centre, Federal Street, Auckland City | admission $10
Comments
Stephen
That's pretty unfair to New York (or Manhattan, rather). There are plenty of iconic, beautiful big tall buildings there, punctuated by parks and squares on a human scale. And most of the roads are traversable by humans because the traffic is slow, the blocks are short and only main routes have more than two lanes to cross. And there is a far more humane environment than Auckland at street level. And at least there are real reasons for building huge towers (only a small area of stable rock to build on) which don't really apply in Auckland. And there is a working public transport system. "Nadir of human habitation?" Hardly. Have you never been there, looked around at the marvellous structures and the bustling activity, and thought "here I could be really free?"
Or to put it another way, Auckland has the bad bits of large modern cities and none of the good bits. It is important to remember that you can have both, and NYC does.
David MacGregor
Thanks for your comments Stephen.
I think you have misunderstood my remarks. I was referring to the 'projects' developed by the all powerful New York Planning Commisioner Robert Moses:
Before Moses, most housing projects in New York were small scale (like the Queensbridge projects on the Queens side of the Queensboro Bridge). With Moses, projects grew to be the spartan, featureless skyscrapers now widely associated with public housing. By 1959, Moses had built 28,000 apartment units on hundreds of acres. Ironically, in clearing the land for high-rises in accordance with the innovative tower in the park scheme, he sometimes destroyed almost as many housing units as he built.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_moses.
I (heart) New York, especially Manhatten, and completely agree with you on that point.
Mark Graham
I largely agree with you, David.
But Auckland does have some (some!) great bits. Vulcan Lane, High St, Lorne St (reborn), Chancery, potentially the new Britomart area.
The thing these sites have in common is focus on pedestrians, not cars, with a human scale to the built environment and an ambience that mirrors the best of European and East Coast American CBDs…and Wellington!
We are witnessing the result of over 60 years of mismanagement of Auckland's development by Citizens and Ratepayers (Christine Fletcher's and Dick Hubbard's councils have been the only two alternatives in all that time), whose focus has been on minimising rates increases and formulating poor planning codes by which developers can put up assorted shit in windswept canyons.
At least Dick and his council hired a Planning Director (who, I must say, keeps a very low profile). Still, I hold great hope - Auckland has so much development potential with the Tank Farm, the old railway yards, the old ARA workshops in Wellesley St/Cook St, and of course, a bit more commitment to public transport, which looks to be happening at last.
I would very much like to think that Auckland is the best city in the world in which to live…in 20 years time.
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