Book Description

A handsome architecture and interiors book celebrating iconic modern New Zealand houses built from the late 1930s to the mid 1970s. The 24 projects, by architects including Ernst Plischke, Ivan Juriss, Henry Kulka, Jack Manning, Miles Warren, John Scott, Vlad Cacala, Cedric Firth and many more, are the sorts of houses that are increasingly sought-after and admired. As editor Jeremy Hansen writes in his introduction, 'I love these homes for their challenge to Victorian convention, for their optimistic embrace of new ideas, for the warmth of their material palettes, for their rigorous simplicity and dignified modesty. I love the way almost all of them are as liveable today as when they were first completed.' All the homes have their roots in the modernist movement, but the book hasn't attempted to present only the purest expositions of modernist form; it maps how modernism was forced to adapt to local conditions. It also reveals how modernism's revolutionary fervour was felt not only in New Zealand architecture but also in every creative field, resulting in fascinating cultural cross-pollination. The houses are from right across New Zealand - from Auckland, Thames, Hawke's Bay, Whanganui, Wellington, Christchurch, Hokitika, Alexandra and Dunedin - and together they show how the optimistic visions of the mid-century pioneers who created them are as relevant now as when these bold, inspiring homes were created. The text is by leading architecture writers such as Julia Gatley and Douglas Lloyd Jenkins, and the book features brief biographies of all the architects - making it a helpful resource - and photographs by this country's leading architecture photographers including Paul McCredie, Simon Devitt and Patrick Reynolds.