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...