Mike Austin

Grand design down under

Review | Mike Austin considers the long-running TV series franchise and its missing component — the architect — while Amanda Harkness goes to see Kevin McCloud on tour.

Untroubled by theory

People | Mike Austin observes a recurring trend among thesis students where an emphasis on presentation and reference to exalted precedents has set a course for accepted design standards.

Review: Architectural Principles in the Age of Fraud

Review | Mike Austin reviews Architectural Principles in the Age of Fraud: Why so many architects pretend to be philosophers and don’t care how buildings look by Branko Mitrović.

Whare meets verandah

Projects | In the Hihiaua Cultural Centre by Moller Architects, Mike Austin finds an example of modest, bicultural architecture, which is well-grounded in the local.

Architecture of an ocean

Practice | Mike Austin reflects on his decades of research and teaching on the building forms he has encountered in the vast territory of the Pacific.

Review: In Context: RTA Studio

Review | Mike Austin discusses the recent exhibition at Objectspace that explored one Auckland firm’s approach to work, space and context.

Book review: John Scott Works

Review | Mike Austin reviews a new book that explores the work of an iconic New Zealand architect.