Open Journal Systems at the Victoria University of Wellington Library
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I Claudius: A nostalgically-charged evaluation of Claude Megson's heyday in the 1970s
Get PDFAlong with Ian Athfield and Roger Walker, Claude Megson emerged in the early 1970s as an idiosyncratic architectural iconoclast utterly committed to the New Zealand house. However, Megson's legacy has taken a different course to his compatriots. Unlike Athfield and Walker, Megson had no literary champion to promote his significance (it might be said he had his own voice for that). Moreover, his relatively early death in 1994 curtailed his architectural activity but there was little indication in his work by then that he would either continue to reinvent his approach to housing in the manner of Walker, or grow his scope and scale of his work like Athfield. By the mid 1970s Megson had formed a rigid approach to domestic work that underpinned – and probably limited – his activities as an architect and architectural educator. His certainty on this matter also polarised opinion on his personality. You were obliged to be either with or against Claude, and this dialectical distinction has not endeared him to researchers. In this paper I wish then to evaluate the historical significance of Megson in three interlocking parts. The first concerns his personal mythology as an architect hero in the manner of Frank Lloyd Wright (a narrative that real estate agents are quick to promote his work). The second part is found in an analysis of his actual houses from this period with particular attention given to his masters' dissertation. The final aspect I wish to weave through is his presence as a dominant personality, but a rather marginal teacher, at the Auckland School of Architecture into the 1980s. This will not be a particularly scholarly or academic appraisal. In keeping with the complexities and paradoxes that underpinned Megson's character, what I hope to do here is to provide a sketch for further scholarship on one of New Zealand's most intriguing architects
What lies Beneath? Dunedin's Public Conveniences and their Subterranean Origins
Get PDFTurn-of-the-century public conveniences in New Zealand are becoming a rare and endangered part of our wider cultural and built heritage. These often overlooked structures are more than just reminders of a common public service, but provide direct evidence for changing social attitudes to the provision of public conveniences and evidence for changing architectural and aesthetic approaches to their design, construction and visibility. This paper provides examples taken from Dunedin's rich history and heritage of public conveniences to examine these social changes
An examination of photographic records pertaining to the architecture of Rua Kēnana and the community of Maungapōhatu, 1911-16
Get PDFNew Zealand's architectural history, while in no way a culturally comprehensive documentary, has found a special place for Kēnana's isolated Te Urewera community. Credit for this can be attached to Hiona, the remarkable circular temple Kēnana constructed that has, in no small way, become an icon of Māori architecture. However, it is not well appreciated that, by the time of Kēnana's detention, the ritual functioning of Hiona had been largely abandoned. Indeed, the community of Maungapōhatu needs to be understood as having an architecture of two phases. Hiona was constructed in 1907 during a period of optimism for Kēnana and his followers. However, by 1911, Maungapōhatu was in significant decline and in 1914 Kēnana began to systematically reconstruct the architecture of his community. Hiona was abandoned and a more conformist meeting house, Tānenui-a-rangi, was built. At the same time Kēnana reclassified the physical boundaries of the village, clearing areas of dwellings and establishing new spatial hierarchies concerning tapu (sacred) and noa (common) values. In this paper I will be examining in detail the extraordinary photographs available of Maungapōhatu from this timeframe to extract characteristics of the architecture. While some attention will be given to Hiona and the establishment of the village, the emphasis of the research is placed on the second reconstruction period with attention being given to the discernible architectural significance of the changes. In particular this will address Hiruharama Hou, Kēnana's twin gable house which remained a constant above the village and whose architectural role has not yet been sufficiently explored
Facial Recognition Technology and Ethical Issues
Get PDFFacial recognition technology (FRT) is being adopted across the world with little thought given to the ethical and sustainability issues it faces. FRT must address these challenges as soon as possible to avoid repercussions. The issues of data privacy, security controls, and accuracy are discussed in this paper. To address the issues, a code of ethics is created and applied to Apple’s Face ID. It is found that Apple has made much progress, but still needs further improvement in its transparency of AI training
Component Standardization: A Code of Sustainability
Get PDFTo make mass manufacturing industries more sustainable, there is a need to unify regulations and embrace shared principles to ensure that the products we produce are more sustainable. With attention to reducing the impact on the natural environment. In this paper, we argue that a code of sustainability regarding component standardization would help in this regard. It would contribute to extending the life of what we produced by facilitating the reuse of components as well as improving their recycling once they deteriorate. We then apply our proposed principles to the automotive sector to demonstrate their practical benefits
Ethical Considerations for Renewable Energy Systems on Māori Land
Get PDFSustainable engineering projects often involve renewable energy systems. Attempts to develop renewable energy systems on Māori land can cause ethical conflicts. This report examines Māori values and perspectives relevant to the development of renewable energy systems on Māori land. A code of ethics is developed taking these values into account to assist in the design process of such projects. This code of ethics is applied in a case study of installing a renewable energy system for a marae. This code of ethics promotes a greater awareness of the impacts the system will have on environment and community, and promotes a respect for the individual values of the impacted iwi
Characteristics of professional development research in Aotearoa New Zealand's early childhood education sector: A systematic literature review
Get PDFTeachers’ professional learning and development (PLD) is an essential component in the provision of quality education. Through objective 3.6 in the Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 (Ministry of Education, 2019a) the Ministry of Education has signalled a need for a managed, coherent system of PLD to support the professional learning needs of early childhood teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand. Over time, research has sought to enhance understanding of PLD in ways that can contribute to more effective PLD programmes. Yet, gaps remain between PLD research, policy and practice. Synthesising extant research is important to identify existing and cumulative knowledge, and reveal research-to-practice gaps. This article reports the results of a systematic literature review, conducted to identify characteristics of PLD research within Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood education sector. Fifty-six research articles and reports were systematically reviewed. Findings identify that the predominantly descriptive body of research is characterised by a convergence of researchers’ and teachers’ roles, largely positive outcomes, and a broad content focus with less attention paid to PLD processes
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