‘Austere Windows’
Not only are they austere ,”no frills”, windows, these particular gatehouse specimens don’t actually seem to fulfill the purpose of windows – nobody looks in or out of them as far as I can ascertain.
It’s all a bit sad really, but not beyond a post at Ebb Then Flood…
‘Through Arch Green’
‘Unwanted Inscriptions’
Graffiti covers the walls and windows of an abandoned building in central Christchurch.
‘New Regent Street Evening’
‘Across The Rainbow’
‘Diamonds And Flowers’
…it’s a little late for Valentine’s Day, but it’s the thought that counts, right?…
‘Northern Wairoa Hotel’
‘Octagonal’
‘High Rise’
‘Looking Down The Lane’
… a favourite Auckland view…
‘On The Corner Of Shortland & High’
‘Half Buried Memories’
No, it’s not the results of a New Zealand earthquake, but rather a sculptural piece in Auckland commenting (perhaps) on the loss of historical buildings, and that greater emotional loss which accompanies that process.
While I was taking the picture on the weekend, a colourful local approached and told me that he had opposed the sculpture’s installation years ago. A “waste of money” ,”not actually real”. Just attracted people wanting to take photos (“like me?”, I asked smilingly).
That was as may be, but there was no getting around the period in the 1980s when developers, according to the bloke, were hell bent on pulling down old buildings and replacing them with new and shiny edifices, before new “heritage” planning rules prevented them doing so without some preservation measures being undertaken.
It is a burial site of a kind, even if “not real”, and evokes the feelings you associate with those places.
In the background, the newer high rise buildings of downtown can be seen through the trees.
There will come a time when they too will be demolished to make way for something “better” and more progressive.
And only memories will remain.
‘Juxtaposition’
The old is juxtaposed against the new in this shot of two Auckland buildings.
I always enjoy striking contrasts of any kind, especially when they are absolutely cheek by jowl.
Diversity of form and thought are precious, but often the closer you look at very different things ,the more you see the similarities.
In this case, the use of white paint and symmetry, even though the overall stylings are massively different.
At any gathering of people there will be contrasting outlooks and personalities and varied back stories, somehow inhabiting the same place and time, for, at least, similar purposes.
Enjoy your juxtapositions!
‘Boatsheds, Raglan’
(#12, and final, in a series of shots of small town New Zealand. I hope you have enjoyed the images, and the sometimes idiosyncratic diversity of my country ! I have barely touched the surface, really. Best wishes to all who have stopped by and please stay safe, wherever you are, Andy L.)
‘Penguin House’
 “Early Morning Anzac Ave”
…the early morning sun hits the façades of the buildings halfway between the train terminal and the work that awaits me – it cheers me up to see the illumination – I hope for similar inspiration and clarity…
I have posted elsewhere on this blog on my attraction to curving, non-linear forms.
They are truly like life,which as we all can attest, does not run in straight lines.
Antoni Gaudi’s architecture in Barcelona has taken that principle to extremes.
Observing that straight lines are only rarely found in nature, and from his belief that true art must stem from nature, he created many stunning and idiosyncratic designs in this town.
Pictured is the facade of the famous Casa Batllo in the central city.
Jawdropping really!
The appeal to me,and the hordes of visitors to Gaudi’s creations, is that of nature’s truth.
What at first appears as fantasist madness is actually something that speaks to us deeply.
As an aside, Barcelona, apart from the old Rambla area in the centre has a grid street network and I have managed to lose direction several times in its maze of straight line roads!
Cool house turret in Ponsonby, inner Auckland City.
Turrets are alluring to me.
Why?
Gothic charm, for sure.
Any shape, as long as it fits the bill – round, square, hexagonal, octagonal even; flat- topped or pointy like a witch’s hat.
Something left over from ancient times; a throwback.
A detached but special view over the world below.
Exclusive – most of them are not built for a crowd. Party for one, or two, maybe?
They reek of twisted fairy tales. A friend recognised a house from a photo I took of another turreted specimen nearby to this one, and told me it was known to him as the ‘The Tin Man House’.
Lastly,the very fact that they are not essential to the structure of whatever building they are tacked onto, but utterly transform the place when added. A paradox of design!
The Oceanic Building sits across the road from the Tasman Building in downtown Auckland.
Auckland sits on an isthmus between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
My home town ,surrounded by water and with its bricks and mortar bearing watery names…the Queen City, City of Sails…where even the solid becomes liquid…
