Architecture Week 2016 set to tackle the future of housing in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington

New Zealanders love to talk about housing, but in recent years conversations about housing have become synonymous with the word “crisis”.

Housing affordability, availability and density have become common subjects – perhaps no more so than in Auckland, where the passing of the Unitary Plan is set to change the housing landscape, but also in Wellington, where house prices have risen in the vicinity of 10 per cent in the last year. What will a denser Auckland look like? And how can housing types and styles positively affect a city’s vibrancy?

This year, Architecture Week, an initiative of the New Zealand Institute of Architects working with a number of other organisations, is addressing these questions.

With a theme of ‘Housing the Future’, Architecture Week will take place in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington from 19-25 September.

In each city, the week’s programme consists of free exhibitions, lectures and debates, building tours, competitions and workshops that tackle the subjects surrounding the design and provision of housing. There are competitions to test the mettle of aspiring architects and design professionals and activities for those who would simply like to become better acquainted with the nature of house design. The events are intended to be a catalyst for discussion, debate and knowledge sharing around housing design, quality and provision in the three centres.

This year, Architecture Week’s keynote speaker is Stuart Harrison, an Australian architect and widely published writer on architecture and urbanism. Harrison, the author of two very good books on housing, Forty-six Square Metres Doesn't Normally Become a House, an investigation into compact housing in Australia and New Zealand, and New Suburban, an examination of suburban housing types and ideals in Australia and New Zealand, will present a free lecture in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

In Auckland, Architecture Week is being hosted at three main venues: the Sir Paul Reeves Building at AUT University, Silo Park at Wynyard Quarter, and Britomart. Auckland events include conversations about the design and provision of medium-density housing and the impacts and benefits of intensification, exhibitions at the Silo 6 gallery and at Britomart, student-led and professional competitions, talks on New Zealand’s history of mass housing and discussions led by the architects behind the renovation projects undertaken on The Block NZ and by the hosts of another popular television series, The New Zealand Home.

City Gallery Wellington provides a central venue for a number of housing-related talks in the capital. Programme highlights include an investigation into local examples of community-led medium-density housing, a lunchtime discussion with young designers who are disrupting the way that buildings are designed and delivered, breakfast conversations by architects in coffee shops they have designed that have gone on to become Wellington institutions, open architecture studios that allow people to drop in and see what Wellington’s best architects are working on, and a family-friendly Wellington Waterfront tour of great city landmarks.

In Christchurch, the programme also includes a range of open studios – one a day for the week, as well as a discussion and exhibition on ‘Humble Beginnings’ – the results of architects designing their own homes in the post-earthquake landscape, and a showcase and discussion on some of the city’s most successful medium-density housing projects.

The full range of Architecture Week Events, as well as event booking and registration details, can be viewed atarchitectureweek.co.nz.

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