I haven't followed the contributions to this forum about the arguments for
and against the new music school concept at the Arts Centre.
I read the first article by Rod Carr arguing "for" the building. I thought
he was very thick on Rhetoric and he oozed comments like how "nice" it was
for Chris Doig to express his initial dismay at the concept and how "it is
wonderful to have such talented and professional people express themselves
so willingly" or words to that effect... then sort of implying that "despite
his initial opposition, Doig would of course be welcome to offer his
undoubted talents...." and other such oleaginous remarks.
While this forum should not be a vehicle for criticising individuals, and my
only meeting with our current mayor impressed me, I have to comment that I
feel Parker's relationship with his wife is somewhat difficult to define. I
feel that she (sorry, can't remember her name), is a keen artist and their
marriage - and Parker's role as Mayor - depends to some degree on mixing
with and supporting the arts. Somehow Rod Carr has been able to link into
this interest to pursue his own grand scheme.
The building concept is wrong. For Rod Carr to obtain an "OK" from the
Historic places trust an amazing bit of luck, for the Historic Places Trust
to support Rod's scheme by agreeing firstly, that an "historic precinct"
should not remain inviolate - because history is a continuous process is at
best an argument to admit that any effort to preserve a precinct is a total
waste of time. That for example, it is perfectly alright to mix periods of
design into a mish-mash so students of history - such as school parties etc,
can never obtain an image of a set period. It is OK to mix mammals and
dinosaurs in nature study displays...It is therefore, perfectly OK to mix
Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian styles together and call the whole bloody
lot "Victorian"..... Further, the Historic Places Trust added (quite
correctly) that the old university buildings were in fact a sort of ersatz
Gothic style. And yes, they are....
So, Rod Carr arranges an architect to make up a model of an modern rendition
of an ersatz Gothic revivalist style to "blend" in with the Gothic
architecture of the original buildings. Well, it does not work. To blend a
building into a style - without adopting all the features of that particular
style - lends a falsity to the concept that overpowers the original
buildings and further confuses those who visit the place. By way of example,
Napier, the Art Deco precinct of NZ has somehow arranged that all new
building construction along the waterfront and close to the original Art
Deco town centre must be built in the Art Deco style. So, now we have
out-of-scale building in Napier that exude elements of Art Deco tacked here
and there to "blend in" with the original and now historic Art Deco precinct
buildings. Of course, not only are the buildings out of scale, but the Art
Deco trimmings are often incorrectly adopted, mixed and blended. For
example, one building had round window ledges with more-or-less correct Art
Deco trim. Only trouble is, that half-round ledges were not Art Deco - they
should have been straight, parallel to the wall, but with stream-lined or
rounded corners.... Ah, but you cannot tell a bloody conceited architect
that... And as a perfect example of the acceptability of screwing history,
Napier wants to add an Art-bloody-deco tramline to the town. Well, Napier
did have a tram, once.... until the earthquake that brought about the
historic Art Deco architecture that made the town famous obliterated the
tramways... but hey, don't worry about historic accuracy!
So, apart form getting the details wrong, the next problem with the "its OK
to stick a carbuncle into an historic precinct" view espoused by the
Historic Places Trust is that the proposed new building is totally and
utterly out of scale! The old college or university site was positively
Lilliputian. That is its historic truth. For the largest university in New
Zealand, and one that was still in active use up until the late 1960's, the
place is tiny. This is the truth of the entire precinct - it's Lilliputian
scale.
Rod Carr's dream will stuff up the tiny scale of the entire precinct. (But
the CCC will get another 40 carparks close by its new HQ in the old Postal
Centre!!!)
Another issue is place. Shortly before Rod Carr announced his new plans for
his own ego, his memorial to the arts, I happened to be visiting a few sites
around the Antigua-Rolleston, Moorhouse and St Asaph Street blocks and
observed that many of the aged buildings are tenanted by businesses that
will inevitably move out to more suburban business parks. To me, there
seemed to be potential for an entire university college or three to make
use of the space - and I actually remarked about this to my partner.
Included in the area is the Ward's brewery..... that place is barely
operating as a brewery now, and would offer all sorts of opportunities to be
cast as the role of a music centre - it even has built-in kettle drums! So,
Rod' Carr's claim that the Arts Centre is the only suitable place is utter
garbage!
Another point raised by Rod Carr or one of his flunky acolytes is that "we
all objected to the Chalice in the Square...and now look how lovely it is"
Well, firstly, we did not all object to it, secondly, it is a moot point
whether we all agree it is "lovely", thirdly, if the thing had never been
put there, none would care one way or the other. So that Chalice - and the
inappropriate "wheat sheaf" stuck on the intersection of Colombo, Hereford
and High Streets - have no real bearing on the argument in support of the
proposed arts centre carbuncle. The wheat sheaf looks pathetic - silver -
when everyone knows wheat is golden, and sheaves or stooks are more
appropriate to oats than wheat.... but I digress....
Sadly, the Mayor and his acolytes, the councillors, are going to give Rod
Carr his memorial.... We all pay for it, we loose the historic precinct of
the Gothic-style, stone-clad Lilliputian university site to a vast carbuncle
that will intrude on my rare, but enjoyable ales at the Dux de Lux.... And
ironically, Rod Carr, who has very poor visual acuity, will never be see the
monster created in is name.
Ah shit!
Tim Kerr
Rest of post
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Tuffley" <<email obscured>>
To: <canterburyissues@forums.e-democracy.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Canterbury Issues] Arts centre lets keep Marryat and Parker ut
>
> On 12/11/2009, at 4:20 PM, Brian Sandle wrote:
>
>>
>> Sometimes I want to get the cello out of the way and concentrate on
>> other issues. Thanks for your article Peter Tuffley But when all the
>> problems are solved we still need to have kept some fun pathways.
>>
>> Brian
>>
>>
>
> Nothing against fun in appropriate places. But the Arts Centre, and
> the people who
> currently frequent it, do not need the monstrous architectural
> excretion that the
> University proposes to dump there.
>
> Peter
>
>
>
> Peter Tuffley
> Beckenham, Christchurch
> Info about Peter Tuffley: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/petertuffley
>
> View all messages on this topic at:
> http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/OkssWAGgnyGdVFvf9Ma2E
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