Exhibitions Planned For Auckland Architecture Week

MEDIA RELEASE – For Immediate Release

28 September 2009

Mobile Architecture Convoy, School Workshops And International Exhibitions Planned For Auckland Architecture Week

Three international exhibitions, talks, films, a mobile design convoy, and hands on workshops for schoolchildren are among a vibrant programme of activities planned for Auckland Architecture Week.

The event, which will run from October 11-18, has been designed to appeal both to architects and the general public, promoting awareness of a wide variety of aspects of architecture and the built environment.

Christina van Bohemen, chairman of the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, said: “The purpose of Architecture Week is to provide an opportunity to explore, consider and discuss the role that architecture plays in our lives and in the cities in which we live.”

The best of new design in the city will be showcased in a display from the Auckland Architecture Awards 2009/10, which will be on show at Auckland Central Library following the awards announcement on Tuesday October 13. Activities also include a tour of recently-completed downtown buildings.

Pupils from Auckland primary and intermediate schools have been invited to take part in a series of design charettes – collaborative sessions in which a group of designers draft a solution to a design problem.

The workshops, at the Union Fish building in Quay Street, will run alongside the international Classrooms Exhibition: Architecture for Humanity featuring competition entries from architects who were challenged to partner with the public to address architectural inequalities affecting health, prosperity and the wellbeing of under-served communities.

The Union Fish is also hosting the Holcim Global Awards for Sustainable Construction 2009/10 exhibition while Ecology.Design.Synergy by German architecture practice Behnisch Architekten will be on display at Shed 10 in Wellesley Street.

A student project/competition, TRANS-FORM-ers, being run across the city’s schools of architecture and design (University of Auckland, Unitec and AUT) will culminate in a live presentation and exposition on Friday October 16.

Exhibitors will move ‘mobile architectures through the city in convoy, finishing in Wellesley Street where they will transform en masse to reveal interiors and sculptural forms.

A series of lectures and talks by leading architects will include Discourse and Dialogues, to be held at the Gus Fisher Gallery and the Ellen Melville Hall, on Saturday 17 October. This will include a review of the Auckland awards by Convenor Mario Madayag.

Throughout the week, the Academy Cinema, in conjunction with architecture firm Jasmax, will run a programme of movies with architectural themes. Highlights include Visual Acoustics which featured in this year’s International Film Festival and the New Zealand premiere of the documentary -The Last Wright about Frank Lloyd Wright’s last standing hotel in a Midwest city.

Entry is free to most events. Details about the events and a full schedule are available at www.architectureweek.co.nz.

For further details contact Christina van Bohemen on 021 630 849

ENDS

© Scoop Media