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The design of the Dilworth Building
No full textThe Dilworth Building was architecture firm Gummer and Ford’s first significant building. It was completed in 1927 and sits on one of the most prominent locations in Aotearoa New Zealand, the corner of Queen Street and Customs Street East in downtown Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The Dilworth Building has been referred to as one of this country’s finest examples of classical architecture by critics such as Miles Warren, Bruce Petry, Peter Shaw, John Stacpoole and Peter Beaven, among others. It holds a Category 1 rating from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Paradoxically, this building remains under-researched in current architectural discourse – the most written about it has been in newspaper articles from the 1920s. This paper aims to bring the building’s design and construction methods to light, investigating the brief, the client’s motivations, the limitations of the site, budget and typology, and the application of William Gummer’s design principles to maximise sunlight and air circulation, and with efficient circulation and structure. The building’s materiality, design of the façades, and spatial sequences will also be analysed to discover their contribution to the building’s overall composition and character. It is hoped that today’s architecture students can benefit from formal and practical analysis and use a similar approach in their own architecture and writing
Transformative housing policy for Aotearoa New Zealand: A briefing note on addressing the housing crisis
No full text● We need to understand housing policy in historical context, including in the context of colonisation and in light of the successes and failings of the first Labour Government
● We need a new paradigm for housing policy, focusing on:
○ Decentring home-ownership
○ Decolonising housing policy
○ Democratising housing policy-making
○ Decommodifying housing
● We propose ten policy ideas for greater consideration, arising out of this new paradigm:
1. A Ministry of Public Works
2. A Green Investment Bank
3. A State Lending Agency
4. Transferring regulation of mortgage lending to Parliament
5. Enabling public sector leadership for housing policy
6. Supporting Tino Rangatiratanga in housing policy
7. Fair taxation of housing
8. Expanding state and community housing
9. Enhancing the rights of renters
10. Tackling homelessness
● Securing these policy changes requires not just political will but active campaigning to shift the balance of forces in debates about the future of housing polic
An investigation into the use of discovered objects to inspire artworks in clay
No full textThe project was an investigation into the use of natural and manufactured discovered objects, which exhibit decay, accretions, deterioration and abandonment, to inspire ceramic or ceramic and mixed media artworks. In what way could these objects, or their characteristics of decay, be represented, referenced or included in the process of working with clay? What was the relationship between the discovered and the created objects, such that a conversation might be enabled between them?
I aimed to explore the parallels between the transformation of the objects through the processes wrought by time and external forces, the transformation of clay through manipulation, adulteration and firing, and the transformation of the artist during the creative dialogue with the materials. The aesthetic of the imperfect was highlighted as a metaphor for life’s uncertainties, messiness and tensions, as well as its connectedness, inventiveness and beauty – its imperfect perfection
Digital technologies in construction management education: A digital natives’ perspective
No full textDigital technologies are becoming increasingly widespread across many industries. The big question is how competence development is able to support the adoption and use of digital technologies in a professional context. A lot of hope has been put on a natural change through the younger generations, who are considered to be naturally digitally fluent. This study employed a survey research approach to investigate how digital natives cope with the use of digital construction technologies in a construction management education context. Surprisingly, neither the previous use of other construction-specific software nor the studentsǯ age group had any impact on the perceived difficulty of the technology. In the context of using professional software applications in construction management education, this research indicates: first, general digital fluency does not necessarily translate into fluency in the use of professional software applications, and second, the gap between the different generations of students is marginal or non-existent
Darwinism, creationism, racism: How these contributed to the publication of the Chatham Islands flora
No full textKeynote presentation: Creating capacity and capability for the future of the built environment: The importance of applied research
No full textESRC – team & purpose
The issues: waste & pollution
Finding practical solutions
Environmental Solutions Research Centre
Funding potential
Multidisciplinary partnering
Indoor air quality
IAQ research
Unitec WISP
Waste
Construction & demolition waste
C&D plastic waste research
Research impacts
Hazardous wase
Alternative disposal
Asbestos in NZ
Academic & industrial partnerships
Academic funding pros & cons
Industrial partnership - pros
Research informs teaching
Research team accomplishments
Research team awards & success
Conclusion
Discrimination of pollen of New Zealand mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium agg.) and kānuka (Kunzea spp.) (Myrtaceae)
No full textThe very similar appearance of pollen of the New Zealand Myrtaceous taxa Leptospermum scoparium s.l. (mānuka) and Kunzea spp. (kānuka) has led palynologists to combine them in paleoecological and melissopalynological studies. This is unfortunate, as differentiation of these taxa would improve understanding of past ecological change and has potential to add value to the New Zealand honey industry, where mānuka honey attracts a premium price. Here, we examine in detail the pollen morphology of the 10 Kunzea species and a number of Leptospermum scoparium morphotypes collected from around New Zealand, using light microscopy, SEM, and Classifynder (an automated palynology system). Our results suggest that at a generic level the New Zealand Leptospermum and Kunzea pollen can be readily differentiated, but the differences between pollen from the morphotypes of Leptospermum or between the species of Kunzea are less discernible. While size is a determinant factor– equatorial diameter of Leptospermum scoparium pollen is 19.08 ± 1.28 μm, compared to 16.30 ± 0.95 μm for Kunzea spp.–other criteria such as surface texture and shape charac teristics are also diagnostic. A support vector machine set up to differentiate Leptospermum from Kunzea pollen using images captured by the Classifynder system had a prediction accuracy of ~95%. This study is a step towards future melissopalynological differentiation of mānuka honey using automated pollen image capture and classification approache
Climate change and the multidisciplinary studio
No full textProblem
Response
Studio model (Architecture + Landscape architecture)
Design outcomes
Understand the relationship between the effects of climate change and urban development
Identify appropriate climate adaptation strategies and correlating housing typologies
Explore the correlation between housing density and the provision of green space
Embed Te ArangaPrinciples throughout design process
Conclusio
Research ethics as practice
Get PDFThe ethical principles underpinning the current research ethics system were developed based on a bio-medical ethical model where the assumption is that these principles are valid and applicable in all research situations (Msoroka, & Amundsen, 2018). However, with the growth of social research and particularly practitioner research, increasingly the ethics system is seen as inappropriate for research that sits outside of a bio-medical context (Brown et al. 2020; Guillemin & Gillam, 2004). The tensions created by a process considered ill-fitting for practitioner research appears to have led to a mindset that ethics is an add-on, thus a process to circumvent (Brown et al., 2020). Despite a plethora of literature espousing this, the voices of practitioner researchers and those who support them appear to be missing. Hence, the purpose of my research was to gain understanding of where research ethics practice rests in the thinking of practitioner-researchers, and those who support these practitioners through their practice inquiry process.
There were two phases to my research project. Phase one was an on-line survey and phase two was an interview. Participants were drawn from those who had / were completing a professional practice qualification (learner) and those who supported them through this process (mentor). Following an initial on-line survey, respondents indicated their willingness to be interviewed by the researcher. In total, six learner and three mentor interviews were completed. Grounded Theory methodology was used for the interviews and for the analysis process. Five key themes emerged. These were the scope of ethics, ethical self, researcher responsibility, institutional ethics, and mentor guidance. Following much deliberation with the literature, and re-reading transcripts I developed the research ethics as practice model. This is a model that will help guide practitioners as they come to understand and work through the complexity of ethics related to their work-based learning project.
As a professional practitioner I have gained enormously from completing my Master of Professional Practice. My development has spanned the many roles I hold within Otago Polytechnic, including a learning facilitator, Capable NZ’s ethicist, and a researcher. My new learning was nuanced, bringing subtle changes to my practice. I have added to my kete of knowledge which I will take into my future roles as a tertiary educator
Too good to waste: Unlocking the potential of construction and demolition waste
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION
How can architecture demonstrate the use of waste from construction and demolition sites to help achieve Auckland Council’s vision of zero waste by 2040?
ABSTRACT
The negative impact of waste materials on the environment is increasing globally. In Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, it is causing destruction to wetlands, landscapes, and marine habitats. Auckland Council has responded to the problem by setting a bold goal, a vision of zero waste to landfill by 2040. This research by design project seeks to support that vision.
Too Good to Waste focuses on the problem of waste from construction and demolition, specifically timber waste. The architectural proposition proposes repurposing an underutilised car parking building in Mangere City to accommodate two functions, firstly, to establish a headquarters for the Brown Butterbean Motivational (BBM) Programme which runs free fitness programmes focusing on helping people to achieve healthy weight goals. It is targeted at Pacific Islanders and Maori across Auckland. The second function specifically addresses the research question by establishing a construction and demolition waste hub for sorting and processing timber waste products and to generate functional and useable materials. Space is also provided for free carpentry and woodwork craftsmanship courses.
Auckland Council’s 5R waste management hierarchy, and further research by Hebel et al in Building from Waste, are used to establish a design methodology for Too Good to Waste. Four key architectural precedents, which demonstrate either one or more waste management principles or inform the programme, also inform the design.
The resulting design addresses a social need while demonstrating the potential of what are currently regarded as waste materials from the construction industry. By repurposing an underutilised building, rather than demolishing it, the creation of yet more waste is avoided. Throughout the project, the use of waste materials from either the repurposing process, the processing hub, or the workshops, is celebrated, demonstrating their value and potential. These materials are simply too good to waste