2020 in Review: Top 5 discussions
Take a look at the topics that dominated our discourse this year from post-COVID architecture, to the importance of drawing, to diversity in the field and more.
1. Designer’s guide to COVID-19: Physical distancing
There’s no doubt that the lockdowns New Zealand endured due to COVID-19 were tough but the first one brought about this informational and slightly light-hearted look at how architects can support physical distance in spaces. Multidisciplinary designer Raimana Jones of Atelier Jones leads us on a journey of post-pandemic discovery with his guides to COVID-19.
2. State housing: The new generation
Perhaps the popularity of this opinion piece from Peddlethorp’s Manuel Diaz signals a shift in focus to higher-density housing. Certainly, the discussion of the housing crisis in New Zealand has been at the fore of the industry for a few years now and, here, Diaz explores what’s changed in the state housing sector and where we might be headed.
3. Post-pandemic design: Buchan on the future of retail
It’s no surprise that thoughts about what the world might look like after COVID were on everyone’s mind in 2020 and retail was certainly one of the hardest hit industries during the lockdowns. Global firm and designers behind several large-scale retail projects in New Zealand Buchan explores how the retail sector could evolve to meet the changing needs of consumers post pandemic, featuring some helpful GIFs.
4. Drawing on ideas: It’s all about the drawing
Architect Craig Moller reflects on one of the architect’s favourite pastimes. He notes, “My theory of drawing has developed from the engagement with the drawings of architects and artists I have studied and the influence that has had on my output.”
5. Our Aotearoa: Te Tiriti o Waitangi and equity in architecture
This is, in my editorial opinion, one of the most important articles we’ve published this year. The Our Aotearoa column gives dedicated space to minority voices within the architecture and design community. In the first of the series, Ngā Aho member Jade Kake (nō Ngāpuhi ki Whangārei, Te Whakatōhea, Te Arawa) and Ngā Aho Co-Chair Desna Whaanga-Schollum (nō Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu, Pāhauwera) discuss inclusion and anti-racism in the field through the lens of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. They note that these discussions “should be guided by the groundbreaking work that continues to be brought to light by Te Tiriti, our nation’s founding sovereign agreement”.
See more from 2020 in Review here.
