Rick Joy, New Zealand-bound

The excellent American architect Rick Joy is on his way to New Zealand to give lectures in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch about his work. We're looking forward to what will be a fascinating talk series, so wanted to let you know about it.

 
Here are the details of the Dulux Futuna lectures (supported by Intergrain and Metalcraft Roofing):
 
Wellington, Sunday 18 March, 6.30pm
Futuna Chapel, 67 Friend Street, Karori
 
Christchurch, Monday 19 March, 6.30pm
CPIT Lecture Theatre, Madras Street
 
Auckland, Thursday March 22, 6.30pm
Engineering lecture theatre 439, University of Auckland, 20 Symonds Street
 
Ticket prices range from $15-$25. Tickets can be reserved by filling out the booking form here. 

Christchurch style, 30 years on

From our friends at NZ On Screen, this excerpt from David Mitchell's exemplary 1980s show about architecture, 'The Elegant Shed', examines 'Christchurch style' and is particularly interesting in a post-quake context. Enjoy.

 

Junya Ishigami's Balloon

We're silly about the work of Japanese architect Junya Ishigami, who was in Auckland last week speaking at the NZ Institute of Architects' conference. During his talk, Ishigami showed images of his creation 'Balloon', an aluminium structure that weighed one tonne but floated ethereally in a Tokyo gallery space because it was filled with helium. It looked miraculous, and prompted an eruption of spontaneous applause. We found this YouTube video of it to show you:

And the finalists are...

Brian MacKay-Lyons and his wife Marilyn are on the plane back to Canada, and the Home of the Year judges have made their decisions. So, we're very pleased to annouce the finalists in our Home of the Year award 2012.

The winner will be announced at a cocktail function in Auckland on March 29, and the results published in our April/May issue, which is on sale from April 2.

In the meantime, we're busy getting our five very exciting finalists photographed to feature in our Home of the Year issue. (For those of you who can't wait, you can see amateur pics from our judging trip on our Facebook page or Twitter feed - just click on the Twitter box on the right-hand side of this page).

Anyway, the five finalists in the award (in no particular order) are:

• A home near Wellington by Jasmax
• A home at Pahoia, near Tauranga, by Warren & Mahoney
• A holiday home at Piha by Herbst Architects
• A bach at Onemana on the Coromandel Peninsula by Strachan Group Architects in conjunction with Unitec students
• A bach at Whangapoua on the Coromandel Peninsula by Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects.

We're really looking forward to publishing our Home of the Year issue and showing you how good these five homes are. Thanks to our Home of the Year partner Altherm Window Systems for making this all possible.

He's here! Still time for tickets...

The international member of our Home of the Year jury, Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons, has just arrived in the country to help choose the winner of the Home of the Year award (the award results will be published in our April/May 2012 issue).
Now this you'll have to see: Brian will be giving public talks at the University of Auckland on Wednesday evening this week and at Victoria University of Wellington on Thursday evening. Tickets are still available at the link here. (You can pick your tickets up at the venues).

Brian is a leading proponent of regionalist architecture - many of his projects line Nova Scotia's rocky shores. He's also a sheep farmer and sea kayaker. His talks promise to be fascinating (Architects get 10 CPD points for attending.) You can view more of his terrific work here. Thanks to our Home of the Year partner Altherm Window Systems for making Brian's visit possible. We hope to see you on Wednesday or Thursday.

Home of the Year Twitter updates

We hit the road Tuesday with our Home of the Year judges - myself, Michael O'Sullivan (of Bull O'Sullivan Architects, the architect behind last year's winning home) and Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons. I'll be posting Twitter updates from the road, which you'll be able to access by clicking on our live updates on the right-hand side of this blog page. If you're on Twitter, retweet our updates and spread the word! The winner of the Home of the Year will be announced in our April issue, which drops April 2.

Our new issue

It's time for our new issue - this time, our annual issue dedicated to art, taking you inside the homes of New Zealand artists and collectors all over the world. This issue will reach subscribers tomorrow and be on newsstands from Monday. The cover is a photograph by Emily Andrews of former Auckland art dealer Anna Bibby's amazing house in Martel, France. The photograph on the sideboard is by Australian artist Anne Zahalka.

Other highlights (and there are plenty!):

• We visit artist Martin Basher and TV producer Martha Jeffries in their apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn - as well as Martin's amazing studio in a nearby industrial building with views of Manhattan.
• Auckland art writer and curator Kriselle Baker shows us around her Auckland apartment and her terrific collection of New Zealand photography, including works by Fiona Pardington, Michael Parekowhai, Roberta Thornley, Mark Adams and many more.
• Shane Cotton and Luanne Bond's Manawatu family home, which Luanne designed.
• A mid-century Auckland classic by architect Maurice Patience now houses Andrew and Kate Thomas and their fascinating art collection.
• Artist James Kirkwood's daffy, adorable pagoda in his Titirangi back yard.
• Patrick Reynolds takes fantastic photographs of Auckland's new Fort Lane development.
• Katie Lockhart visits George Nakashima's beautiful studio in Pennsylvania.
• Paul McCredie photographs David Trubridge's new workplace and shop in Hawke's Bay.
• We've also got new architecture by Tennent + Brown Architects (in Northland) and McCoy & Wixon Architects (in Taieri Mouth).

And much more, of course...