tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-388748002024-03-21T05:51:22.976-07:00The Claude Megson blogSet up to record and celebrate the architecture of the late New Zealand architect Claude Megson, as examples of his work appear around the web.Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-16447423372936775492023-10-23T20:08:00.001-07:002023-10-23T20:08:23.574-07:00Megson News + A Masterpiece on the Market!<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>A</b></span>pologies to readers for the long hiatus since my last post. Life and a global pandemic have got in the way! </p><p>Not that life in the Megson world has slowed down: one of the most existing pieces of news has been the renovation of the award-winning Wong House in Remuera, its new owners restoring it immaculately to <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/houses/121772000/claude-megsons-wong-house-in-remuera-is-brought-back-to-life" target="_blank">bring it back to life</a> to become, again, a much-loved family home. </p><p>A great reminder that these homes really are timeless, when well respected.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/houses/121772000/claude-megsons-wong-house-in-remuera-is-brought-back-to-life" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkfmNb0zBVNI2O6eX-YUC_Jz_errMR6s4A02PVMuGkwS97jAI6HcOoGEX9NO-gmfDUXqo_cqgzJtGZ7sj8z-K-q4wWzyVRLTC2bCEGfCdnkoElUecBKIXRa7luaNse6k23lTQZp1xFOigxjYRenDFOrswRrQcqMkunDj2FbjNXVkMc-Sx3AN3Zg/s16000/Screenshot%202023-10-24%20at%202.44.51%20PM.png" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;"><i>Wong house above and below. Pic from Stuff.</i><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizL4BnP4f1S0NAn3S5KFQanoblIcMuxy1cdJGyit0nvue4rxntpJleEyksLxt36fA_bmoAc2N79eZqLCbJ8bvSXTa_6M2ZjHd9VHqPSw0B-93jako6udwYLNubj4Qop00cn0gtlIADBS11HGo8VzeDm5aFq9-OL3WnqcY1COzLn4xNHSQ_G6w0vA/s856/Screenshot%202023-10-24%20at%202.49.34%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="532" height="672" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizL4BnP4f1S0NAn3S5KFQanoblIcMuxy1cdJGyit0nvue4rxntpJleEyksLxt36fA_bmoAc2N79eZqLCbJ8bvSXTa_6M2ZjHd9VHqPSw0B-93jako6udwYLNubj4Qop00cn0gtlIADBS11HGo8VzeDm5aFq9-OL3WnqcY1COzLn4xNHSQ_G6w0vA/w418-h672/Screenshot%202023-10-24%20at%202.49.34%20PM.png" width="418" /></a></div><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I had the good fortune over the weekend to visit three Megson homes myself. Unfortunately, one of them wasn't there.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/125306034/claude-megson-house-in-st-heliers-offered-at-455-million" target="_blank">Jopling house in St Heliers</a> has been <a href="http://megson.blogspot.com/2017/02/jopling-house-by-claude-megson.html" target="_blank">featured here before</a>. Unfortunately, it didn't feature at all in the plans of the new owners, who bought in 2021 and wasted no time in destroying it! Why? Driving past, one can see its replacement in framing stage -- and it's already clear it doesn't even make full use of its site, not even to take full advantage of the views the buyer must have paid so much for. </p><p>It boggles the mind. Why pay for a site to destroy that thing on it which most gives it value? There is no rational answer.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAIrdL8bUPbZYQUEjzhGPC4FfvXpXGVoZCIN7UXYbqFuPKKSd7NKGdzKnpVluR-Cd-XxotCcEQGk6mHJEqTGr8HmdCacgqdBLnRe6GMV5SC6U6R-b5j-WdPOxUuRxwdtndLZr6Y2SitFHzK6c4a3tAwOzgMXoYywgNGZdQlgZ0-VxbFapxS_nwg/s1024/Dining24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAIrdL8bUPbZYQUEjzhGPC4FfvXpXGVoZCIN7UXYbqFuPKKSd7NKGdzKnpVluR-Cd-XxotCcEQGk6mHJEqTGr8HmdCacgqdBLnRe6GMV5SC6U6R-b5j-WdPOxUuRxwdtndLZr6Y2SitFHzK6c4a3tAwOzgMXoYywgNGZdQlgZ0-VxbFapxS_nwg/w640-h320/Dining24.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;">Jopling House: Dining Room</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Fortunately, another Megson house, near destroyed, still lives. The house in Arney Rd, Remuera, aka the Joan Mayes House (pics below), was already something of a <a href="https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/clifftop-70s-remuera-icon-sells-for-more-than-10m-42551" target="_blank">whited sepulchre</a>, previous owners having succumbed to the temptation to smear the house completely in art-gallery white. Worse, it <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-floods-luxury-10-million-cliff-top-mansion-red-stickered-in-remuera/FHDV25OAVRHYPD7SD7NX7QU3NE/" target="_blank">appeared</a> about to about to slide down the cliffside in Auckland's storms earlier this year. Closer inspection however reveals that the main damage to the house is to the extensive north-facing decking and outside living spaces which, it seems from my visit down the driveway (pics below), are the only areas presently off limits.</p><p>So some good news on the house's survival. It awaits its sympathetic owner.</p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixBt3McsoYUxdoBW2ywwvl__wPIUCe6bTGKFg1C4qSdEga2vpZYdmrOSBEReD7tLBN14tj0IUA7TGEx53FKYcPmWwAgyA4xBwg21J8rJ3W__xBKnm-C0LQLim7M4MhzSBCCDqzL66Wx8xn9KX6L_QZ2k1NmBSXF5dCsgDltaeWIy-yVcKeZrjcng/s2596/IMG_2568.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2552" data-original-width="2596" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixBt3McsoYUxdoBW2ywwvl__wPIUCe6bTGKFg1C4qSdEga2vpZYdmrOSBEReD7tLBN14tj0IUA7TGEx53FKYcPmWwAgyA4xBwg21J8rJ3W__xBKnm-C0LQLim7M4MhzSBCCDqzL66Wx8xn9KX6L_QZ2k1NmBSXF5dCsgDltaeWIy-yVcKeZrjcng/w640-h632/IMG_2568.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #666666;">The Joan Mayes House sits above the landslide, pictured from Shore Rd (above).<br />Pics below indicate the current official state of things. </span></i><i><span style="color: #666666;">(Author's photos)</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu17e_nrGMeyfe69r9rAls10rGYYOimxTYFSZeBEdRjgtBeq90b_KH7T0_TCBwcPImDpnsAxB2Lpze8NUd5wrMTllGWZIzU5dkqQBo08xWSC_swHFKYZpLjgkTML_VF1VGG6BKYOAWcqCkS_P4UeMpoA4zVPfGe68Ml_dS-N3VZkyW5LtA98fidg/s4032/ArneyRd%20-%202.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu17e_nrGMeyfe69r9rAls10rGYYOimxTYFSZeBEdRjgtBeq90b_KH7T0_TCBwcPImDpnsAxB2Lpze8NUd5wrMTllGWZIzU5dkqQBo08xWSC_swHFKYZpLjgkTML_VF1VGG6BKYOAWcqCkS_P4UeMpoA4zVPfGe68Ml_dS-N3VZkyW5LtA98fidg/w640-h480/ArneyRd%20-%202.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHooraf9Mzzgrn8Pdt5qCb0L7C9enNj2nXcm9Bl-mjtbAhnps7-9o93JalibHxWQPfOpCc_Rb6CyvLYDvjJkEqMRHoyY67-RHcrJfBIQ3t5Lg5yg4-xE-gdmteoaOZ4QO7wMWyueD83fajKS8b2B1Vx-RhUD1bifZkNsC67QKg1pTj5NhoLh12Rw/s4032/ArneyRd%20-%203.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHooraf9Mzzgrn8Pdt5qCb0L7C9enNj2nXcm9Bl-mjtbAhnps7-9o93JalibHxWQPfOpCc_Rb6CyvLYDvjJkEqMRHoyY67-RHcrJfBIQ3t5Lg5yg4-xE-gdmteoaOZ4QO7wMWyueD83fajKS8b2B1Vx-RhUD1bifZkNsC67QKg1pTj5NhoLh12Rw/w640-h480/ArneyRd%20-%203.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I paid a much more delightful visit to a house in the neighbouring suburb of Meadowbank: the house known to Megson lovers as the Barr House, after the delightful couple who first commissioned it way back in 1972.<div><br /></div><div>The Barr House was featured here a few times back in 2016 (see <a href="http://megson.blogspot.com/2016/02/barr-house-by-claude-megson-1972.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://megson.blogspot.com/2016/05/barr-house-by-claude-megson.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="https://megson.blogspot.com/2016/05/barr-house-by-claude-megson_18.html" target="_blank">here</a>), when I was lucky enough to meet aviation entrepreneur John and artist Pat Barr. <br /><div><br /></div><div>The house, at 7 Keretene Place, Meadowbank, turns its back on the street to spill down down the slope to address the St Johns Bush Reserve. It has been sensitively and colourfully restored by its "new" owners Hayley and Mike (new, as in they and their family have owned and enjoyed it now for seven years), who now need to move away.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which means it is all ready for a new owner to move in and fall in love with it!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo2HgOJXBPdv4IzpUE2ZD61W-_nyNPRzFKj1OoqfsddO1APkxTxDr1KlCScTyiWp-VYDio-qlqllJ5ereZN7WqCoFZ75ke8XYzyRaxlHLCvQ8eSuIuBBywW7qAeI0VXYAXuATl_TYk9FHRP7EpER7lJ3FAKqK4rLLtBkOpKwVNPWU7J4LB-TKnmQ/s1124/1100193.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1124" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo2HgOJXBPdv4IzpUE2ZD61W-_nyNPRzFKj1OoqfsddO1APkxTxDr1KlCScTyiWp-VYDio-qlqllJ5ereZN7WqCoFZ75ke8XYzyRaxlHLCvQ8eSuIuBBywW7qAeI0VXYAXuATl_TYk9FHRP7EpER7lJ3FAKqK4rLLtBkOpKwVNPWU7J4LB-TKnmQ/w640-h428/1100193.webp" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRofyC10DxQLd3xZ1oJI0cMpaf7DswhfHiiRCxkBwkLj7GzDuBU7d0v_bl2H0OPgyiPgDBGKo9iMLbWKEsbT3H_If8vfeNtuMJJC7JAGydQVI9Gdr26q7rQG5i0Ekprwwy7cYVi8tx_h3o-GUvft6j7dTG55nxMC3rxNjj_eKxb3wdqInG1ru8g/s1003/1100303.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1003" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRofyC10DxQLd3xZ1oJI0cMpaf7DswhfHiiRCxkBwkLj7GzDuBU7d0v_bl2H0OPgyiPgDBGKo9iMLbWKEsbT3H_If8vfeNtuMJJC7JAGydQVI9Gdr26q7rQG5i0Ekprwwy7cYVi8tx_h3o-GUvft6j7dTG55nxMC3rxNjj_eKxb3wdqInG1ru8g/w640-h480/1100303.webp" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKhugchrveFQ6X8WFJ20Hzko5IvFd_3P02prq4z5srDGjV4sOmoksrfhf3i8g26swwrvD-48V6meXAOokamlvIzXkSTyaXRkD3TjZRFTDGfO6gNI40Mc5-bPKtu_w8k0iMtx5q5X5O2k8JWjSj-sn2SE_v72jI_QUxa7IU5SG4Nq4W1LG6Z6mIEg/s1124/1101379.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1124" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKhugchrveFQ6X8WFJ20Hzko5IvFd_3P02prq4z5srDGjV4sOmoksrfhf3i8g26swwrvD-48V6meXAOokamlvIzXkSTyaXRkD3TjZRFTDGfO6gNI40Mc5-bPKtu_w8k0iMtx5q5X5O2k8JWjSj-sn2SE_v72jI_QUxa7IU5SG4Nq4W1LG6Z6mIEg/w640-h430/1101379.webp" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJLJvlHTwuqscZ_ATYvixlBrGRBHi6dAOI5FGHPJ8Lye8tCQi6GFtTldGM_IVsHl_uymhpmLcTv4MsgQVMGGIyiXogV41GMScYnoeTaxjH6LhXaGWlGREQYoCSTEjLa9hFP83K-Iv99AA6CZ91RzOfO2pAwA895Q0J1B205Mlmfu1PYuGnLg8lQ/s1124/1101389.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1124" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJLJvlHTwuqscZ_ATYvixlBrGRBHi6dAOI5FGHPJ8Lye8tCQi6GFtTldGM_IVsHl_uymhpmLcTv4MsgQVMGGIyiXogV41GMScYnoeTaxjH6LhXaGWlGREQYoCSTEjLa9hFP83K-Iv99AA6CZ91RzOfO2pAwA895Q0J1B205Mlmfu1PYuGnLg8lQ/w640-h430/1101389.webp" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #666666;">Claude Megson's Barr House as she is today. (Pics by owner)</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Yes, all this could be yours!</div><i><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">“Any buyer for this property has to have an understanding that you don’t own homes like these in the normal sense,” <a href="https://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/claude-megsons-barr-house-on-the-market/" target="_blank">says Mike</a>. “You are a custodian of them for a period.”</span></blockquote></i><div>I'll write more about it soon, but in the meantime there are several websites already doing the job, including these:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.trademe.co.nz/c/property/news/claude-megson-designed-barr-house-seeks-new-custodian" target="_blank"><b>Claude Megson-designed Barr House seeks new custodian</b></a> - <i>Gil South</i>, TRADE ME</li><li><a href="https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/claude-megsons-perfectly-preserved-barr-house-hits-the-market-with-3-45m-cv-44443" target="_blank"><b>One for the fans: Legendary architect’s time capsule house hits the market with $3.45m CV</b></a> - <i>Catherine Smith</i>, ONE ROOF</li><li><a href="https://www.nzsothebysrealty.com/property/listing/AEB10059/7-keretene-place-meadowbank" target="_blank"><b>Architectural Masterpiece</b></a>- SOTHEBY'S NEW ZEALAND</li><li><a href="https://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/claude-megsons-barr-house-on-the-market/#img=16" target="_blank"><b>Claude Megson’s Barr House on the market</b></a> - ARCHITECTURE NOW</li></ul></div><div><p style="text-align: left;">And listen to architect Giles Reid, author of the book on Megson's houses, <a href="https://megson.blogspot.com/2016/10/architect-claude-megson-new-book.html" target="_blank"><i>Counter Constructions</i></a>, talk to RNZ <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/audio/2018901186/claude-megson-house-up-for-sale" target="_blank">here</a>:</p><i><blockquote>One of New Zealand's most distinctive architects Claude Megson designed around 40 homes during his 30-year career. Now for only the second time since it was built in the 1970s, one of his best-known homes the Barr House in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank is up for sale. Architect and author Giles Reid joins Nights to talk about Claude Megson's legacy.</blockquote></i><p style="text-align: center;">* * * * </p><p>* One welcome piece of new technology used by the Wong House's new owners is a rubberised liquid membrane system, then known as Wet Suit, which they painted over the typically complicated Megson roof. The product, by <a href="https://www.neptunepacific.co.nz" target="_blank">Neptune Pacific</a>, is now sold under a different name, One Coat, and should be a boon to Megson owners -- not least because it can be painted over an existing Butynol roof, and has been Codemarked down to zero degrees!</p></div></div>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-43340519781052365352019-02-28T13:52:00.001-08:002019-02-28T13:52:24.469-08:00Obituary<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Moving files recently I uncovered this 1994 obituary from the Herald sitting in my files -- Claude sharing a page with Henry Mancini, which may have amused him ...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Wi7IEHdjTo/XHhW-nKT2qI/AAAAAAAAk5I/zB-9LGwQeFQeiQOle0FZ-F5X7vqNWEhdwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Megson%2B-%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Wi7IEHdjTo/XHhW-nKT2qI/AAAAAAAAk5I/zB-9LGwQeFQeiQOle0FZ-F5X7vqNWEhdwCK4BGAYYCw/s640/Megson%2B-%2B1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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NB: As far as I know, although there is a thesis by Claude in the Auckland School of Architecture library that used to be available (back when there <i>was</i> an Auckland School of Architecture library) there were no <i>books</i> by Claude ever published -- although I'd love to be corrected on this. There were however many articles <i>on</i> him and his work, one of which was called 'Claude Megson -- Utopian Idealist.' It was by architect writer and force of nature <a href="http://www.tony-watkins.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/">Tony Watkins</a>, and it appeared in the Nov/Dec 1988 issue of <i>NZ Architect</i>. </div>
Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-61169355841730640862018-11-03T18:37:00.004-07:002018-11-25T18:45:17.829-08:00Cocker Townhouses - #4/57 Wood St<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N6HO0H35BiA/W95Ja9hleAI/AAAAAAAAknE/tpmzqhWQ89IK-OlksZyNIX9F7kizhmv5QCLcBGAs/s1600/ca2e4293b20955c3cb62e79a11e86a2bc705bbcb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="800" height="428" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N6HO0H35BiA/W95Ja9hleAI/AAAAAAAAknE/tpmzqhWQ89IK-OlksZyNIX9F7kizhmv5QCLcBGAs/s640/ca2e4293b20955c3cb62e79a11e86a2bc705bbcb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Claude's Cocker Townhouses in Freeman's Bay have featured here before (<a href="https://megson.blogspot.com/2007/02/townhouse-457-wood-street.html">here</a> and perhaps most memorably <a href="http://megson.blogspot.com/2007/08/cocker-townhouses-in-wood-st-freemans.html">here</a>, when architect <a href="http://www.ccca.co.nz/">Ken Crosson</a> revealed the they remind him "of the main character in <i>Atlas Shrugged</i>, Dagny Taggart" looking out and being energised by the city's skyline) -- and if you're keen you can still see Ray White's pics of # 3 online <a href="https://nz.raywhite.com/auckland-city/freemans-bay/777009/">here</a>).<br />
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Now for sale is townhouse #4: the townhouse in the southwest quadrant. The one with the tower!<br />
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The recipient of the <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/504930/new-zealand-architecture-awards-2014-winners-announced">2014 NZIA Enduring Architecture Award</a>, what strikes you when you visit (taking advantage of the Open Home), is how much privacy each unit is afforded, and how little you are aware of your neighbours. Who are very, very close. Yet also how much all-day sun each unit enjoys, even in this densely-built little site. It is an ingeniously interwoven set of spaces.<br />
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Claude's planning diagram indicates the basic site layout of the four attached houses, the central driveway <a href="https://rwponsonby.co.nz/auckland/freemans-bay/457-wood-street-pon26217/#lg=1&slide=1">looking down the vertiginous Gunston St towards the city's towers</a>, with a ring of protective enclosure to each unit opening up to private open space beyond. An exercise in enclosure and openness -- and as always, Claude's entrances invite you through from darkness towards the light.<br />
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There is a little more enclosure in this particular house than there was in 1973 when it was born. And a few more mirrors and "etched glass" than Claude would countenance (his denunciations of architects desecrating the spaces he'd designed with their mirrors could, and did, consume whole lectures). The online <a href="http://www.architecture-archive.auckland.ac.nz/docs/block-digital/2006-07BlockDigital-MegsonGuide.pdf">Megson Guide</a> describes the struggle that gave these beauties birth:<br />
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<i>Originally built as an investment property for Bill Cocker (a lawyer turned painter) and his sister Finola - who now occupy two of the four units - the building took four years to complete and involved enormous wrangling with neighbours and the council. Riffing on the forms of nearby villas and hinting at Mediterranean hilltowns, this building is a complex composition of prismatic forms in white weatherboards with shingle roofs, overlaid with filigreed timber balconies. The living spaces of each unit open onto a private courtyard garden. Bedrooms are located on a floor above, and the roof-level turrets - accessed via trap doors - house small studies with panoramic views over the city and harbour. [See </i>New Zealand Architect<i> no.6, 1977, and </i>Home & Entertaining<i> Aug/Sept, 2002.]</i></blockquote>
Giles Reid's masterful Megson monograph features these townhouses as one of Megson's early masterpieces, writing that (as with every Megson home, "each of Megson’s rooms and every ritual contained in them was designed around precisely dimensioned furniture settings":<br />
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<i>The building is the product of clients wanting both a degree of retreat from the city and to give back to the area. It freely converses with the language of its neighbouring villas and yet also asserts its own modernity.<br /> The townhouses’ construction is extraordinarily intricate: white painted weatherboards, timber doors and projecting balconies, slate roofs and metal gargoyles. There is even a watch tower, accessed through a smuggler’s hatch after a vertical climb. It gives one of the best views of the city’s skyline...</i></blockquote>
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(Photography by <a href="https://kallanmacleod.com/">Kallan Macleod</a>, courtesy of Ray White)</div>
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Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-84686972876378748552018-10-23T18:41:00.002-07:002018-10-23T18:41:50.966-07:00Wong House Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Great news everyone!<br />
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<a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/latest/107033722/Claude-Megson-house-in-Remuera-has-been-saved-from-demolition">Stuff reports</a> that Claude Megson's award-winning 1967 Wong House, poorly-marketed as a demolition proposition, "has been saved from demolition" by the new buyers:<br />
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<i>The award-winning Remuera cube house designed by renowned architect Claude Megson has been sold and will not be demolished.<br />Listing agent Holly Cassidy of Ray White Epsom says the house posed no concerns for the buyers when they went through the property. "They knew what to expect – what they would be walking into, so it wasn't a surprise for them.<br />"They have children and live locally, and they have been looking for a family home while renting. They are planning to renovate the house, but they say they won't be pulling down any walls or moving anything. But they will be reroofing and recladding with modern aluminium battens, not cedar (in a similar profile)."</i></blockquote>
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Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-6938083822087354922018-07-04T18:44:00.002-07:002018-10-23T18:42:16.974-07:00The Wong House, 1965-67<br />
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Considered by a turn-of-the-century roundup in <i>Home and <strike>Building</strike></i> <i>Entertaining </i>magazine to be among "<a href="http://www.christchurchmodern.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Top50.pdf">The 50 Hottest [NZ] Homes of the Century</a>" -- Megson would have been incensed to have featured down at 37 rather than straight in at number 1! -- the Wong House gave Claude his first NZIA Bronze Medal in 1969. That jury cited the creative weaving and interplay of space, which still remains.<br />
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What doesn't remain is some of the actual spaces, nor the original sculpture and stained glass, or timber weatherboards and timber joinery-- all long removed, or replaced with less sensorially delightful alternatives. Like smearing blancmange over beauty.<br />
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But that makes it no less desirable internally, nor in how it still so casually opens up the interior to its surroundings.<br />
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As the handy <a href="http://www.architecture-archive.auckland.ac.nz/docs/block-digital/2006-07BlockDigital-MegsonGuide.pdf">Megson guide</a> describes it:<br />
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<i>Cascading down a steeply sloping site, every room is expressed as an independent volume clad in dark-stained cedar weatherboards, the resulting composition a masterly interplay of material, line and volume.</i></blockquote>
Some of the interplay is still there, and the mastery can still at least be detected -- and in the right hands <i>could</i> be resurrected ...<br />
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There are open homes at the house on Saturdays and Sundays until sold (by 27 July, says the hopeful agent).<br />
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This is a fearfully difficult house to even see from the street, let alone explore. And since it is being <a href="https://www.trademe.co.nz/property/residential-property-for-sale/auction-1687750917.htm">marketed</a> as a "create your individual home on (or over) its bones" basis, if you ever did want to see why it won for Megson an early-career Gold Medal, then these pictures and those few open homes may be your only chance.<br />
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Get along!<br />
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[Pictures from <a href="https://www.trademe.co.nz/property/residential-property-for-sale/auction-1687750917.htm">TradeMe</a>, <a href="http://rwepsom.co.nz/properties/residential-for-sale/auckland-city/remuera-1050/house/1919105">Ray White,</a> <a href="http://www.christchurchmodern.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Top50.pdf">Homes To Love,</a> and the <a href="http://www.architecture-archive.auckland.ac.nz/docs/block-digital/2006-07BlockDigital-MegsonGuide.pdf">Digital Megson Guide</a>]<br />
<span style="color: white;">.</span>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-19376570860052025892018-05-09T19:32:00.000-07:002018-10-23T18:42:41.022-07:00Enduring Architecture Award<br />
Very happy to say that last night Claude Megson's Green House, in Glenfield, won an Enduring Architecture Award at the NZIA awards dinner. The judges said "to walk into the sculptural house is like stepping into a Mondrian painting."<br />
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<br />Nice to see Megson's work being recognised, and his memory being kept alive.<br />
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NB: I posted about the Green house <a href="http://megson.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-green-house-by-claude-megson-1978.html">a couple of years ago</a>, when it went on the market. By all accounts, the new owners' remodelling is a great success, and I'd love to hear more!<br />
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<span style="color: white;">.</span>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-70020035579111849032017-11-13T13:35:00.001-08:002017-11-13T13:45:16.601-08:00And just in time for Christmas ...The November 2nd issue of <i>Paperboy</i> magazine gives eight whole pages to <i><b>Claude Megson Counter Constructions</b>,</i> the first ever book on the work of this important but neglected New Zealand architect.
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The shorter online version of the article is <a href="http://www.noted.co.nz/life/urbanism/how-the-brilliant-architecture-of-claude-megson-disappeared-from-view/">here</a>, and asks: How did the brilliant, intricate work of architect Claude Megson disappear from view? Conclusion:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>His reassessment is long overdue. </i></blockquote>
The beautifully-photographed book is self-published by UK-based architect Giles Reid, with generous backing from the Warren Trust.
So here's your reminder that the last recommended posting date from the UK for Christmas delivery is Saturday 9th December.<br />
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Your price of <b>NZ$69.95</b> includes postage and packaging. To purchase, go to:<br />
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<a href="http://www.counterconstructions.com/">http://www.counterconstructions.com/</a> </blockquote>
I hope you will take a look.<br />
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Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-42924961404707149952017-02-14T11:43:00.001-08:002023-10-23T20:09:01.281-07:00Jopling House, by Claude Megson<p> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_rP2Nelf0Fw/WKNdqffbRCI/AAAAAAAAiqo/2ra8zpDmYwA/s1600-h/TErrace14.jpg"><img title="TErrace1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="TErrace1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PaGeZZEb9fc/WKNdrdSCmGI/AAAAAAAAiqs/hPqcIDPjhCc/TErrace1_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="320"></a></p> <p>Way back in 1965 when a young Claude Megson was still finding his architectural feet, he was commissioned by the Joplings to design a small family home in St Heliers.<a href="http://www.architecture-archive.auckland.ac.nz/docs/block-digital/2006-07BlockDigital-MegsonGuide.pdf" target="_blank">The NZIA’s Megson Guide</a> takes up the story:</p> <blockquote> <p><em>Standing on a sheltered back site on Achilles Point, this house won a NZIA Branch Award in 1965. The building is composed of “units” of timber-framed walls of various lengths with a return at each end. Separated from each other by full-height windows or doors, these repeated elements are deployed to create spaces with different orientations and varying qualities of enclosure and interconnection. The original landscaping included pebble gardens and fishpond which allowed the volumes of the house to “float” above the site.</em> </p></blockquote> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_FreollrEQo/WKNdtYqa9ZI/AAAAAAAAiqw/3FotEOBFG7o/s1600-h/KitchenDining015.jpg"><img title="KitchenDining01" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="KitchenDining01" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gYZGI-ZyHPw/WKNdukYqhkI/AAAAAAAAiq0/ldBDGPtq33Q/KitchenDining01_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="480"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-daNw8SANakA/WKNdvqMyy6I/AAAAAAAAiq4/FJS9eWISHYQ/s1600-h/Jopling0024.jpg"><img title="Jopling002" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Jopling002" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XnyfgQqp_1Q/WKNdwg6wSQI/AAAAAAAAiq8/uQPsZgpggoE/Jopling002_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="619" height="413"></a></p> <p>With several large additions at the front (large garage and a closed-in carport) that small home is now a large home, and the oiled cedar cladding has been painted over, but the small jewel Megson created is still to be found there behind it all, and in almost original form thanks to the current owners, Ruth and Duncan Ormond, who [ <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=11763664" target="_blank">as the <em>Herald</em> explains</a>] have done much to bring it back from the state in which they found it.</p> <blockquote> <p><em>When Ruth was in her teens, she had the chance to look through a new cedar-clad home designed by Claude Megson and built in 1965.<br> This is that house. Built for the Jopling family on a sheltered back section, it was Megson's second residential commission.. <br> From time to time Ruth always thought it'd be great to live in that house and some 30 years on from that first viewing, Ruth and Duncan learned the house was for sale….<br> The Ormonds have [now] lived here almost half the life-time of this house and they have decided to hand its place in architectural history over to another family.</em></p></blockquote> <p><a title="RAY WHITE" href="http://rwremuera.co.nz/auckland/st-heliers/59a-cliff-road-10751707/" target="_blank">It goes to auction today</a> – when hopefully another family will be able to enjoy what remains of Megson’s creation, which is a great deal, with many of the features already there in this house that were to become so much a part of his work.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-akMzxz7NoJU/WKNdxdMmp1I/AAAAAAAAirA/q1ALQ3KDDN0/s1600-h/Jopling-AbstractPlan6.jpg"><img title="Jopling-AbstractPlan" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Jopling-AbstractPlan" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pgztZz-OCOc/WKNdyFNgBII/AAAAAAAAirE/zc4Y16eiknE/Jopling-AbstractPlan_thumb4.jpg?imgmax=800" width="196" height="240"></a></p> <blockquote> <p><em>"It's like a Lego home but you can look right through the house from one end to the other wherever you are standing," says Ruth.<br> Original features include exposed timber beams, built-in furniture and shelving and the circular moulded door handles.</em></p></blockquote> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qMmofQp41ss/WKNdzauF-PI/AAAAAAAAirI/Nj5zXVZL74Y/s1600-h/Lounge14.jpg"><img title="Lounge1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Lounge1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rrfMbc2Z-A0/WKNd0R3ClrI/AAAAAAAAirM/e88-2R5Ija0/Lounge1_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="320"></a></p> <p>Those built-in modules allowing a more direct relationship with the garden; the artful yet effortless-feeling negative detailing; the shafts of space through the interlocking parts of the house – open space contrasting dramatically with sheltering -- were to become a Megson trademark, making even the smallest of homes feel large-souled.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D0pb-iJ5ix4/WKNd1Q-leWI/AAAAAAAAirQ/bxhvx0nXC84/s1600-h/Jopling0104.jpg"><img title="Jopling010" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Jopling010" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3dw_0V-r4NE/WKNd2XTk0KI/AAAAAAAAirU/DrCmsT6H1yY/Jopling010_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="619" height="413"></a></p> <p>That’s how we felt when we visited over the weekend: the house, like our visits to all Megson’s houses, <a title="MEGSON BLOG: Architecture: Making ‘a home for man.’ Part 3: The essence of the home" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2016/02/architecture-making-home-for-man-part-3_3.html" target="_blank">with their simple ingredients so carefuly arranged to create a home for the human soul</a>, never failing to lift our spirits.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--gWTFmtKB8M/WKNd3eGhNII/AAAAAAAAirY/j8MfexT2-gc/s1600-h/16026-JoplingHousePlan4.jpg"><img title="16026-JoplingHousePlan" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16026-JoplingHousePlan" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GA3-umQlEbo/WKNd4AXnbuI/AAAAAAAAirc/2H8dAhYYKCo/16026-JoplingHousePlan_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="603" height="480"></a></p> <p>Almost impossible to describe in a photograph, the most successful of the spaces in this early home is his double-height dining room with built-in servery and direct garden access, a space whose essence Megson says is <em><a title="MEGSON BLOG: Architecture: Making ‘a home for man.’ Part 3: The essence of the home" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2016/02/architecture-making-home-for-man-part-3_3.html" target="_blank">celebration</a>,</em> containing in this very early example the seed germ of everything that was to come in his later work. It is a delightful space to be in.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yiP5MLYNAi4/WKNd5dx5D2I/AAAAAAAAirg/ylTy-cV56vY/s1600-h/Dining15.jpg"><img title="Dining1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Dining1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RjYFjhpTM8M/WKNd6TYqY6I/AAAAAAAAirk/GGFI0EfI5SY/Dining1_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="320"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iCvjakgFdLM/WKNd7l5zmGI/AAAAAAAAiro/S9H1c3gBAMM/s1600-h/Dining24.jpg"><img title="Dining2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Dining2" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ApIPG93lwfo/WKNd8r8bjzI/AAAAAAAAirs/zbRAF31XyLA/Dining2_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="320"></a></p> <p>[Pics from PC, <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=11763664" target="_blank"><em>Herald</em></a>, and <a href="http://rwremuera.co.nz/auckland/st-heliers/59a-cliff-road-10751707/" target="_blank">Ray White Real Estate</a>]</p>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-49288079945265512142016-10-11T13:43:00.001-07:002023-10-23T20:09:29.870-07:00Architect Claude Megson: A new book!<p> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ry3ZskUqZNI/V_1O931B-vI/AAAAAAAAhXo/kBsqYbFWOqQ/s1600-h/CockerTownhouses-exterior%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="CockerTownhouses-exterior" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="CockerTownhouses-exterior" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RUvlZ6B6ulQ/V_1O-72c-1I/AAAAAAAAhXs/NSZ47MRPeWw/CockerTownhouses-exterior_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="784" height="589"></a><br><font color="#a5a5a5">Page from new book <em><a href="http://www.counterconstructions.com/" target="_blank"><font color="#a5a5a5">Counter Constructions | Claude Megson</font></a></em>. Photo by Jackie Meiring.</font></p> <p>I’m excited to reveal here for the first time that there’s a new book about architect Claude Megson that has been lovingly put together by folk as excited about Claude’s architecture as I am—and if I’ve now used the word “excited” three times in this sentence (there you go), that’s because that’s exactly how this news makes me.</p> <p>It’s a new book,<em> Claude Megson|Counter Constructions,</em> authored by Giles Reid and—as you can see by the pics here—brilliantly photographed by Jackie Meiring. (<a title="COUNTER CONSTRUCTIONS" href="http://www.counterconstructions.com/" target="_blank">Order your copy here</a>. I already have!)</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AY0Kcssuov4/V_1O_uf2DzI/AAAAAAAAhXw/ZWLTsj-lN3Q/s1600-h/BarrHouse-panels%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="BarrHouse-panels" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="BarrHouse-panels" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Nu9rDSR_LNo/V_1PAU0QNWI/AAAAAAAAhX0/O2-6XLRNodY/BarrHouse-panels_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="784" height="589"></a><br><font color="#a5a5a5">Barr House entrance hall, in pages from new book <em><a href="http://www.counterconstructions.com/" target="_blank"><font color="#a5a5a5">Counter Constructions | Claude Megson</font></a></em>. <br>Photo by Jackie Meiring.</font></p> <p>It’s not yet the full appraisal of Claude and his career that his ouevre demands. That will come. What it is does feature wonderfully however, <a title="COUNTER CONSTRUCTIONS" href="http://www.counterconstructions.com/" target="_blank">as the blurb says</a>, is “five of his most significant houses, designed in the 1970’s, when his architecture was at its most daring and experimental.” And they are beauties!</p> <blockquote> <p>1972 <a title="The Claude Megson blog" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2016/02/barr-house-by-claude-megson-1972.html" target="_blank">Barr</a> <a title="The Claude Megson blog: Barr House from 3d model" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/barr-house-by-claude-megson_18.html" target="_blank">House</a><br>1973 <a title="The Claude Megson blog" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2007/02/20-walton-street-remuera-1974.html" target="_blank">Norris House</a><br>1973 <a title="The Claude Megson blog" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2007/08/cocker-townhouses-in-wood-st-freemans.html" target="_blank">Cocker Townhouses</a> [which won an Enduring Architecture Award <a title="Scroll down" href="http://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/best-houses-of-the-year-1/" target="_blank">just last year</a>]<br>1974 <a title="The Claude Megson blog" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2007/02/54-hapua-st-remuera.html" target="_blank">Rees Townhouses</a> [respectfully upgraded <a title="GLAMUZINA ARCHITECTS" href="http://gp-a.co.nz/?p=239" target="_blank">recently</a>]<br>1977 <a title="152 Cemetary Rd, Maunu, Whangarei" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2009/02/152-cemetary-rd-maunu-whangarei.html" target="_blank">Bowker</a> <a title="A 'pavilion within a clearing' -- House in Whangarei" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2007/02/pavilion-within-clearing-house-in.html" target="_blank">House</a></p><em>The book reproduces a number of Megson’s richly detailed drawings, from his sketches through to construction documents.<br> The heart of the book is a photo essay by Jackie Meiring, bringing Megson’s best works to life and showing how they are lived in today.<br> The [title essay by architect Giles Reid] provides an introduction to Megson’s career, considers his current reputation and analyses the five houses. It explores how Megson:</em> <ol> <li><em>Organised space through diagonal views and movement</em> <li><em>Tied the building to a cultivated landscape</em> <li><em>Articulated their external appearance with the ‘house image’</em> <li><em>How he invoked ritual as the means to challenge social conventions</em></li></ol></blockquote> <p>Books are on sale from 18 October. On sale only from the book’s website, <a title="COUNTER CONSTRUCTIONS" href="http://www.counterconstructions.com/" target="_blank">order your copy now</a> (it would make an ideal Christmas present, wouldn’t it).</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UZgInUhhyDA/V_1PBbDlYTI/AAAAAAAAhX4/dEvoAibWuts/s1600-h/BowkerHouse-sketch%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="BowkerHouse-sketch" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="BowkerHouse-sketch" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8hWD44SOquQ/V_1PCOMn51I/AAAAAAAAhX8/m86LcAFQs7w/BowkerHouse-sketch_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="784" height="589"></a><br><font color="#a5a5a5">Page from new book <em><a href="http://www.counterconstructions.com/" target="_blank"><font color="#a5a5a5">Counter Constructions | Claude Megson</font></a></em>. Photo by Jackie Meiring.</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#ffffff">.</font></p>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-16504442862785808272016-05-25T05:37:00.000-07:002016-05-25T14:43:51.962-07:002/64 Hapua St, by Claude Megson<p> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VVAIpPBKjkk/V0YcMV6fK4I/AAAAAAAAfl8/RGcWLdjJsQo/s1600-h/4%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="4" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UeJkUE3wSHE/V0YcNbYIoXI/AAAAAAAAfmA/i4qtAbTeYpw/4_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="780" height="521"></a></p> <p>I’ve posted some of its beautiful Megson neighbours before (<a title="3/64 Hapua St, Remuera – Claude Megson" href="http://pc.blogspot.co.nz/2009/01/364-hapua-st-remuera-claude-megson.html" target="_blank">3/64</a>, <a title="54 Hapua St, Remuera" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2007/02/54-hapua-st-remuera.html" target="_blank">54</a>), and now that <a title="RAY WHITE" href="http://www.realestate.co.nz/2819892" target="_blank">it’s on the market</a> you can explore the inside of this smaller one-bedroom Megson townhouse/apartment that can still boast a mostly-original interior.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nSH-qyGqsiY/V0YcOPIKxaI/AAAAAAAAfmE/6nhyKF6rfhY/s1600-h/5%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="5" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WmRrgI-VfaI/V0YcPLEFTlI/AAAAAAAAfmI/tIjA2jYWDiQ/5_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="780" height="517"></a></p> <p align="left">This is one of those very small places that genius makes appear large (even though the furniture arrangement shown has confused lounge and dining spaces): simple things like viewshafts front to back, borrowed scenery, full-height French doors, exposed rafters, subtle changes in level and height, cunningly-placed storage, all-day sun through the lantern over the central dining space, overlapping and nested spaces etc. All very thoughtfuly done, and very efffective indeed at turning a small jewel into what feels like a large-souled space.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S1i1g2go8Qc/V0YcPxEmfVI/AAAAAAAAfmM/ox_dhbPObek/s1600-h/8%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="8" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FnDyYpZbhwo/V0YcREpWYFI/AAAAAAAAfmQ/wo8SUD_1y2s/8_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="458" height="687"></a></p> <p align="left">Megson used to talk about a house being something you would sometimes want to wrap around yourself like a cloak, and other times just disappear. This small place fits the bill.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2a1Iz3EQZkQ/V0YcR70LUYI/AAAAAAAAfmU/ZUJS5ud308w/s1600-h/9%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="9" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="9" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gp66ZQ6oUpM/V0YcS8h7b-I/AAAAAAAAfmY/vpxwkn1P2vM/9_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="780" height="520"></a></p> <p>NB: If you’re keen to experience it properly, in the flesh,, there are <a title="04 Jun 2016 3.00pm - 3.30pm; 05 Jun 2016 3.00pm - 3.30pm" href="http://rwremuera.co.nz/auckland-city/remuera/1470827/" target="_blank">Open Homes this Saturday and Sunday avo</a>.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SMUNYi1DBOQ/V0YcTq5TAOI/AAAAAAAAfmc/D3IH7dZcbs4/s1600-h/13%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="13" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="13" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P_y22T_Qxuk/V0YcUuYGrLI/AAAAAAAAfmg/vFWGCRPpnCQ/13_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="455" height="684"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_S0uz61j8K8/V0YcVum8p3I/AAAAAAAAfmk/tX7oloOZ-mA/s1600-h/15%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="15" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="15" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LKFlFIGjZ38/V0YcWhsFHBI/AAAAAAAAfmo/8u_jbFeS3zU/15_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="780" height="520"></a></p> <p align="left"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WLSBLabsFic/V0YcX9-GO6I/AAAAAAAAfms/2TR_79PVu7o/s1600-h/1%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="1" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HPJThBv5NSg/V0YcZBLWp4I/AAAAAAAAfmw/gQCPC0MiRKc/1_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="165"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p6-Xs0G_8FE/V0YcZ4Kfs7I/AAAAAAAAfm0/i3m6OS5aZzc/s1600-h/2%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="2" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="2" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8Z-_HOKQDz8/V0YcahLDtfI/AAAAAAAAfm4/y7Gkga8A_2Q/2_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="164"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kD65mjU1LSs/V0YcbpYNAYI/AAAAAAAAfm8/Y20_-NFHLu4/s1600-h/3%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="3" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S8AlL-PVUzE/V0YccV-mNII/AAAAAAAAfnA/bVWIC9hLRlc/3_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="163"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e_mX7Ms7gUQ/V0YcdZE35nI/AAAAAAAAfnE/bD134Khi4pg/s1600-h/6%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="6" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0aHIZEMV2R4/V0YceFsjqBI/AAAAAAAAfnI/9rSC4uuNvsg/6_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="163"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i9oNmGpMug8/V0YcewodwFI/AAAAAAAAfnM/NJ6Ntr2DUVk/s1600-h/7%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="7" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="7" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-57VvNudQzWI/V0YcfjvInPI/AAAAAAAAfnQ/yMLnB99a46M/7_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="163"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ppiQ_goQHdk/V0Ycgb4XQ8I/AAAAAAAAfnU/HX9loAR2ruQ/s1600-h/10%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="10" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="10" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8awNZyvE9bI/V0YchDgvycI/AAAAAAAAfnY/JD1eC-c4JZI/10_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="164"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ckWC3wLWie0/V0Ych4K7T3I/AAAAAAAAfnc/L3NNmIOszkA/s1600-h/11%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="11" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="11" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YQhggakEX8U/V0YcigYkSpI/AAAAAAAAfng/5kAYZnQQq9U/11_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="163"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BZ4mCLuhWDQ/V0YcjYZbPjI/AAAAAAAAfnk/yVfh92f5O7s/s1600-h/12%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="12" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="12" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Mvfj4FeYBP8/V0Ycj7ZiiJI/AAAAAAAAfno/hpV8GgMmSj0/12_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="164"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q24dI6Z37a8/V0Yck06k-QI/AAAAAAAAfns/K9XKPvy6w40/s1600-h/14%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="14" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="14" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RCDtiN584YU/V0YclpFH_7I/AAAAAAAAfnw/vCI_97v-wMY/14_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="164"></a></p> <p align="left">[Pics by <a title="RAY WHITE" href="http://www.realestate.co.nz/2819892" target="_blank">Ray White Real Estate</a>. Cross-posted at the <a title="Claude Megson blog" href="http://megson.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Claude Megson Blog</a>]</p> <p><font color="#ffffff">.</font></p>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-2514133971067825032016-05-18T20:59:00.001-07:002023-10-23T20:09:29.870-07:00Barr House, by Claude Megson<p> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pKpP542MIRg/Vz06Cprm9nI/AAAAAAAAfgg/okO8J8JXWp4/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EMorning%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Morning" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Morning" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UbVhhhdb1Ak/Vz06DozatbI/AAAAAAAAfgk/V-FfAjV2sSw/16012-BarrHouse%25257EMorning_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="411"></a><br><em><font color="#666666">Megson’s Barr House, from 3d model</font></em></p> <p>I posted a plan and a few pics <a title="MEGSON BLOG" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2016/02/barr-house-by-claude-megson-1972.html" target="_blank">a few months back</a> of Claude Megson’s wonderful Barr House, saying at the time that it is so far undeservedly unpublished (soon to change, watch this space). <img style="margin: 20px 0px" alt="FloorPlans" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsg-_jP22Bhqu1dR_OOHVmbjnu4ma8jYeJzh21Hfn-aa2BRoC6kbSELhKlObXcKA1lgn4X7YXSjgRv39cSy4yEP6J7JawN-rMurMXpE5hN-SADSUmY7S9aApwnzGwqcQjHrgqz1Q/?imgmax=800">With his growing sophistication in manipulating space came a floor plan (above) that very few can follow. Until now!</p> <p>A little 3d modelling of the house, and we have these model views and cutaway floor plans that make the house and its changes in level a little easier to fathom for those who haven’t been lucky enough to visit.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kctAwqgcB_g/Vz06Ehp6h2I/AAAAAAAAfgo/xl6AVTDS9Gg/s1600-h/GroundLevel-FloorLayout%25255B11%25255D.jpg"><img title="GroundLevel-FloorLayout" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="GroundLevel-FloorLayout" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q60ZJLRga3U/Vz06FgfrYBI/AAAAAAAAfgs/bv2cvw11zg8/GroundLevel-FloorLayout_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="784" height="504"></a><br><em><font color="#666666">Ground-level floor layout</font></em></p> <p align="center"><em><font color="#666666"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YVfnIM8lQFQ/Vz06GkSmHBI/AAAAAAAAfgw/sgTq0JZthjM/s1600-h/UpperStorey-FloorLayout%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="UpperStorey-FloorLayout" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="UpperStorey-FloorLayout" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vll9JKiD0RQ/Vz06HuoSyOI/AAAAAAAAfg0/JS3dyOKUhnI/UpperStorey-FloorLayout_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="784" height="504"></a>Upper-story floor layout</font></em></p> <p>You can hopefully see much more clearly the beginning of the two-zoned house concept that bore fruit majestically in mature work like the <a title="20 Walton Street, Remuera, 1974" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2007/02/20-walton-street-remuera-1974.html" target="_blank">Norris House</a>, but used here at the Barr House much more geometrically.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L_wp191IifU/Vz02YIPT7sI/AAAAAAAAffM/5_biohL9snA/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EEntrance%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Entrance" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Entrance" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qU7KD10Gtjc/Vz02ZL99VwI/AAAAAAAAffQ/2ZYuUAMwkSs/16012-BarrHouse%25257EEntrance_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em><font color="#666666">Street Entrance: Motor Court</font></em></p> <p align="center"><br><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0g8hC7F781A/Vz02Z8HmyOI/AAAAAAAAffU/C9vYlrYMngQ/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257ELounge%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Lounge" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Lounge" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q8U2PpR47Mw/Vz02atJHToI/AAAAAAAAffY/hg0uvC79vEE/16012-BarrHouse%25257ELounge_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em>Lounge</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DxqVX2WjW90/Vz02bgIgToI/AAAAAAAAffc/vhTo89Zsidk/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EDining%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Dining" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Dining" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vPoWwJGosLA/Vz02cYlOWQI/AAAAAAAAffg/n8tvsmuCmFo/16012-BarrHouse%25257EDining_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em><font color="#666666">Dining</font></em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iWVOZT8SQEU/Vz02dWF-sdI/AAAAAAAAffk/sCtykcTnhe8/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257ELoungeCourtyard%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~LoungeCourtyard" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~LoungeCourtyard" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t6CIK_kGAn8/Vz02eBt5fvI/AAAAAAAAffo/nDtIfLpAbWU/16012-BarrHouse%25257ELoungeCourtyard_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em><font color="#666666">Lounge Courtyard</font></em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xb-hlEvLSsQ/Vz02fKevTxI/AAAAAAAAffs/cezSJXqUFwM/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EBreakfast%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Breakfast" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Breakfast" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3kHeilScxxI/Vz02f5saiQI/AAAAAAAAffw/F4IL3Ml6tFY/16012-BarrHouse%25257EBreakfast_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em>Breakfast</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BICJFF7-lJo/Vz02g2N9orI/AAAAAAAAff0/xc9CKgRgTSc/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EAfternoon%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Afternoon" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Afternoon" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DeymgDIbPYk/Vz02h08xoUI/AAAAAAAAff4/PkwL9j4ZYlc/16012-BarrHouse%25257EAfternoon_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em>Afternoon</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5p2vr8D_Qfg/Vz02ipf-O5I/AAAAAAAAff8/jKeRnepfALM/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EMezzanine%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Mezzanine" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Mezzanine" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1gELHSUCcEk/Vz02knmLHrI/AAAAAAAAfgA/iG4LhIRtvWU/16012-BarrHouse%25257EMezzanine_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em>Mezzanine</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6qlK1l7C-qM/Vz02lnLDXHI/AAAAAAAAfgE/uRtdmMCgq7Q/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EBed%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Bed" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Bed" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IBF5fSCuyP0/Vz02mR2J15I/AAAAAAAAfgI/rxTHJdVYfig/16012-BarrHouse%25257EBed_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em>Master Bed</em></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NDj9doYLlTY/Vz02nlkwEeI/AAAAAAAAfgM/cDhP7_w7LkM/s1600-h/BarrHouse-Model-BuildingProgress-Sept1972-%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="BarrHouse-Model-BuildingProgress-Sept1972-" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="BarrHouse-Model-BuildingProgress-Sept1972-" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xXKqRFII2cM/Vz02osJ24vI/AAAAAAAAfgQ/SnQCWP-M8O8/BarrHouse-Model-BuildingProgress-Sept1972-_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="438"></a></p> <p align="center"><font color="#ffffff">.<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OFzoxdKFWYY/Vz06IQZi-OI/AAAAAAAAfg4/7oU3aQs8OS4/s1600-h/BarrHouse-ModelView%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="BarrHouse-ModelView" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="BarrHouse-ModelView" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HgCfeaukdIo/Vz06LiiE6SI/AAAAAAAAfg8/YWf-bqcoSxU/BarrHouse-ModelView_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="415"></a></font></p>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-55625995839072748882016-05-18T20:44:00.001-07:002023-10-23T20:09:29.870-07:00Barr House, by Claude Megson<p> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UBPFEYQ65T0/Vz02RDkvhxI/AAAAAAAAfe0/QqdZcwiHe-s/s1600-h/BarrHouse-ModelView%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="BarrHouse-ModelView" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="BarrHouse-ModelView" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uXdyJSDa0iE/Vz02Rx3VJII/AAAAAAAAfe4/BJc7eocIYxc/BarrHouse-ModelView_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="407"></a><br><em><font color="#666666">Megson’s Barr House, from 3d model</font></em></p> <p>I posted a plan and a few pics <a title="MEGSON BLOG" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2016/02/barr-house-by-claude-megson-1972.html" target="_blank">a few months back</a> of Claude Megson’s wonderful Barr House, saying at the time that it is so far undeservedly unpublished (soon to change, watch this space). <img style="margin: 20px 0px" alt="FloorPlans" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsg-_jP22Bhqu1dR_OOHVmbjnu4ma8jYeJzh21Hfn-aa2BRoC6kbSELhKlObXcKA1lgn4X7YXSjgRv39cSy4yEP6J7JawN-rMurMXpE5hN-SADSUmY7S9aApwnzGwqcQjHrgqz1Q/?imgmax=800">With his growing sophistication in manipulating space came a floor plan (above) that very few can follow. Until now!</p> <p>A little 3d modelling of the house, and we have these model views and cutaway floor plans that make the house and its changes in level a little easier to fathom for those who haven’t been lucky enough to visit.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PN4vO2DQv60/Vz02TAhWHMI/AAAAAAAAfe8/FBZpHpX7m7g/s1600-h/GroundLevel-FloorLayout%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="GroundLevel-FloorLayout" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="GroundLevel-FloorLayout" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BIEJ0pjm5v8/Vz02TynhzjI/AAAAAAAAffA/L4ZhBm3uOO0/GroundLevel-FloorLayout_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="760" height="489"></a><br><em><font color="#666666">Ground-level floor layout</font></em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FKmjX2a8Br0/Vz02WILDryI/AAAAAAAAffE/4wwYYJrhcFo/s1600-h/UpperStorey-FloorLayout%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="UpperStorey-FloorLayout" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="UpperStorey-FloorLayout" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g_adZPFU5k4/Vz02XT4WN5I/AAAAAAAAffI/NTDxhC9xldI/UpperStorey-FloorLayout_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="760" height="488"></a><em><font color="#666666">Upper-story floor layout</font></em></p> <p>You can hopefully see much more clearly the beginning of the two-zoned house concept that bore fruit majestically in mature work like the <a title="20 Walton Street, Remuera, 1974" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2007/02/20-walton-street-remuera-1974.html" target="_blank">Norris House</a>, but used here at the Barr House much more geometrically.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L_wp191IifU/Vz02YIPT7sI/AAAAAAAAffM/5_biohL9snA/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EEntrance%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Entrance" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Entrance" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qU7KD10Gtjc/Vz02ZL99VwI/AAAAAAAAffQ/2ZYuUAMwkSs/16012-BarrHouse%25257EEntrance_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em><font color="#666666">Street Entrance: Motor Court</font></em></p> <p align="center"><br><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0g8hC7F781A/Vz02Z8HmyOI/AAAAAAAAffU/C9vYlrYMngQ/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257ELounge%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Lounge" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Lounge" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q8U2PpR47Mw/Vz02atJHToI/AAAAAAAAffY/hg0uvC79vEE/16012-BarrHouse%25257ELounge_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em>Lounge</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DxqVX2WjW90/Vz02bgIgToI/AAAAAAAAffc/vhTo89Zsidk/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EDining%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Dining" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Dining" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vPoWwJGosLA/Vz02cYlOWQI/AAAAAAAAffg/n8tvsmuCmFo/16012-BarrHouse%25257EDining_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em><font color="#666666">Dining</font></em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iWVOZT8SQEU/Vz02dWF-sdI/AAAAAAAAffk/sCtykcTnhe8/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257ELoungeCourtyard%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~LoungeCourtyard" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~LoungeCourtyard" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t6CIK_kGAn8/Vz02eBt5fvI/AAAAAAAAffo/nDtIfLpAbWU/16012-BarrHouse%25257ELoungeCourtyard_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em><font color="#666666">Lounge Courtyard</font></em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xb-hlEvLSsQ/Vz02fKevTxI/AAAAAAAAffs/cezSJXqUFwM/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EBreakfast%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Breakfast" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Breakfast" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3kHeilScxxI/Vz02f5saiQI/AAAAAAAAffw/F4IL3Ml6tFY/16012-BarrHouse%25257EBreakfast_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em>Breakfast</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BICJFF7-lJo/Vz02g2N9orI/AAAAAAAAff0/xc9CKgRgTSc/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EAfternoon%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Afternoon" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Afternoon" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DeymgDIbPYk/Vz02h08xoUI/AAAAAAAAff4/PkwL9j4ZYlc/16012-BarrHouse%25257EAfternoon_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em>Afternoon</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5p2vr8D_Qfg/Vz02ipf-O5I/AAAAAAAAff8/jKeRnepfALM/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EMezzanine%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Mezzanine" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Mezzanine" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1gELHSUCcEk/Vz02knmLHrI/AAAAAAAAfgA/iG4LhIRtvWU/16012-BarrHouse%25257EMezzanine_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em>Mezzanine</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6qlK1l7C-qM/Vz02lnLDXHI/AAAAAAAAfgE/uRtdmMCgq7Q/s1600-h/16012-BarrHouse%25257EBed%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="16012-BarrHouse~Bed" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16012-BarrHouse~Bed" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IBF5fSCuyP0/Vz02mR2J15I/AAAAAAAAfgI/rxTHJdVYfig/16012-BarrHouse%25257EBed_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="411"></a><br><em>Master Bed</em></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NDj9doYLlTY/Vz02nlkwEeI/AAAAAAAAfgM/cDhP7_w7LkM/s1600-h/BarrHouse-Model-BuildingProgress-Sept1972-%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="BarrHouse-Model-BuildingProgress-Sept1972-" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="BarrHouse-Model-BuildingProgress-Sept1972-" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xXKqRFII2cM/Vz02osJ24vI/AAAAAAAAfgQ/SnQCWP-M8O8/BarrHouse-Model-BuildingProgress-Sept1972-_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="438"></a></p> <p><font color="#ffffff">.</font></p>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-68729238344213486502016-05-15T17:23:00.000-07:002016-05-15T17:23:00.613-07:00‘Hill House’ by Claude Megson<p> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zP_bwASFktc/VzQjHUUlrmI/AAAAAAAAfYE/xrOrIuWW-jI/s1600-h/8%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="8" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iOk87A1lfg4/VzQjIKkzTnI/AAAAAAAAfYI/s_fPXw1dV48/8_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="780" height="517"></a></p> <p>Not exactly a Claude Megson house any more – though it does retain something of the floor plan, some of the character, and nearly all of the glorious setting…</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FwoZLIQ3Gpk/VzQjJBFJAGI/AAAAAAAAfYM/CmFCwdyL42A/s1600-h/3%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h9d4Udu9Ktk/VzQjKdA5l_I/AAAAAAAAfYQ/qFxBg-tEc2k/3_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="780" height="582"></a></p> <p>The original house was commissioned from Megson by Michael Hill, a Whangarei jeweller – but the fire that destroyed the house helped make him Michael Hil Jeweller. “It made me realise I'd been playing life too safe,” <a title="HERALD: Twelve Questions: Sir Michael Hill" href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11421841" target="_blank">says Hill now</a>.</p> <blockquote> <p><a title="UNLIMITED" href="https://unfiltered.co.nz/gcs/sir-michael-hill/" target="_blank"><em>So what actually happened</em></a><em> was of course we built a beautiful home in Whangarei… we got Claude Megson, who is now the guru of architecture probably of New Zealand, looking back on some of those old drawings, and he had the most magnificent plan, the hexagonal house. And it was supposed to take nine months to build, and Claude is artistic and had no idea about costs and it just blew completely out. So it took two and a half years to build and it was very, very tough but it was quite a masterpiece actually, and in fact there was lots of similarity with [my current home]</em><em>except it was in a hexagonal pattern. It was well beyond our means, but we completed it, and it was really for a gold medal for New Zealand. Claude was going to get a gold medal …<br> And we went to the pictures one night, and of course came out and Christine answered the telephone and Mr Strongman from along the road, was the one that called and saying, “Mrs Hill, I don’t know how to tell you this, but your house is on fire.” And I’ll never forget that night. We got into Christine’s Mini and roared along the road …and we’d turned round the corner and there right across, about a mile across the bay, in the bush you could see all the windows were orange and there were big flames. They were licking about 60 foot above. The house was just an explosion of flames and I realised it was all over. <br> And that night as I drove towards that fire, it was the night I made the decision that I had to buy my uncle out, which I did</em>.</p></blockquote> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X1abufX9tZM/VzQjLkfbdxI/AAAAAAAAfYU/zhtk8ikDM9k/s1600-h/17%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="17" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="17" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JHvrhylMOHk/VzQjNH18vVI/AAAAAAAAfYY/ys8LrEZtCvg/17_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="780" height="507"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dLTihR6fXQE/VzQjONLe6kI/AAAAAAAAfYc/ZwaMLZB5W-w/s1600-h/20%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="20" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KANvjijAqmg/VzQjPEHycUI/AAAAAAAAfYg/jJZ8J0wG_Nk/20_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="780" height="510"></a></p> <p>The house seen here is the house resurrected years later from that fire – <strong>and is now for sale!</strong> <a title="BAYLEYS: Jude Copland" href="http://www.realestate.co.nz/2730570" target="_blank">The estate agent’s site</a> (from whom these photographs have been gratefully taken) says</p> <blockquote> <p><em>Over time and between 2008 and 2011, the house has gone through major rebuild and modernisation, keeping the integrity of the designer and staying true to the original design concept of the modular hexagonal rooms. This masterpiece is a combination of intimate inter-related spaces, planned with family use in mind.</em></p></blockquote> <p>That certainly describes what Megson had in mind.<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hQZKoX6Y4xg/VzQjQS_O_pI/AAAAAAAAfYk/wrA8AsieV8E/s1600-h/1%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Zpv6XUTzM7k/VzQjRfDK2uI/AAAAAAAAfYo/5Gi6dlALQlg/1_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="780" height="517"></a></p> <p>The original three-zoned house was designed to sit, not in the <em>middle</em> of the site as would have been so common, but around the edges of the site to best capture the views, embrace the site, and keep the larger expanse open for play. ( I seem to recall plans showing the pool and house at different corners of the site, with the walk between them along the site boundary, looking out across the harbour.) <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JHfvceYPFrU/VzQjSiifPZI/AAAAAAAAfYs/NnhWq3aGGtA/s1600-h/18%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="18" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="18" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sADVABUXEvY/VzQjTi5jJAI/AAAAAAAAfYw/H07UH8BCglM/18_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="780" height="500"></a></p> <p>The hexagonal geometry of the house was an organic development from site and programme – the grid itself “systematising the structure,” the hexagonal coming from the isosceles formed from “lining up centres.”</p> <p><a title="BAYLEYS" href="https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=W6sJ555wQYy" target="_blank">Click here to take Bayleys's 3D tour through the house</a>.</p> <p>This is a site diagram based on notes I made in a lecture on the house Claude delivered in 1988:</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ED9qhRjvaPk/Vza1b8KAA-I/AAAAAAAAfcU/vRprAwWCPuA/s1600-h/DiagramPlanClaude%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="DiagramPlanClaude" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="DiagramPlanClaude" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K2vCt7WxSNQ/Vza1c8mrWLI/AAAAAAAAfcY/izfZNf8fBMU/DiagramPlanClaude_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="800" height="1249"></a></p> <p>[All photos by <a title="BAYLEYS" href="http://www.realestate.co.nz/2730570" target="_blank">Bayleys</a>. Site diagram by PC.]</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ygg2WNmDvi8/VzQjUi1K77I/AAAAAAAAfY0/lLSN2chrOoA/s1600-h/20%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="20" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y_MN79zlG-Y/VzQjVavJo2I/AAAAAAAAfY4/Z0ZNH5LKzRY/20_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="161"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PKAIUrejiWg/VzQjWVaS0rI/AAAAAAAAfY8/f0zrk7_muOo/s1600-h/1%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Va9DzngyUFI/VzQjXMqj3mI/AAAAAAAAfZA/wKh-vgjAIrs/1_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="163"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D08FG9rZ9MM/VzQjX14O7dI/AAAAAAAAfZE/MXIGXH0eMDI/s1600-h/4%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="4" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2qDWCE0vYd0/VzQjYgWOxhI/AAAAAAAAfZI/6VKAlmFPlJk/4_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="159"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XhU3xxQQ2lo/VzQjZfkKurI/AAAAAAAAfZM/OUXgwKdjkw0/s1600-h/5%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="5" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--YJRpRww0WI/VzQjaBK4CGI/AAAAAAAAfZQ/O9MWerUV7Zk/5_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="161"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1-UOqlyy178/VzQjazsgZBI/AAAAAAAAfZU/9vINL8fHk3o/s1600-h/6%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="6" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CJJOhan-Z-c/VzQjbyJMCsI/AAAAAAAAfZY/-yAt1Z6Of2w/6_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="158"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0Jcd-rEz3Ts/VzQjc7i6WhI/AAAAAAAAfZc/vvT-hFpvftM/s1600-h/7%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="7" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="7" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HXjGuMfkgm4/VzQjdaxuoGI/AAAAAAAAfZg/Wql65XPOTMM/7_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="161"></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oQmcnO8Oo0g/VzQjeRGh67I/AAAAAAAAfZk/6CJO6FQgqlQ/s1600-h/8%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img title="8" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xEbTU6I2dd0/VzQje7jpPdI/AAAAAAAAfZo/ddJfn2BpwH0/8_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="163"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BXU6oELd4qk/VzQjfkz5ZpI/AAAAAAAAfZs/Yjp7Ob1MSzA/s1600-h/9%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="9" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="9" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h5J7Qv69KR8/VzQjgd3h7vI/AAAAAAAAfZw/1S7lSwT2o-s/9_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="163"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_bmPSrLEBzk/VzQjhVm_LHI/AAAAAAAAfZ0/XfZ-ARxGzl4/s1600-h/10%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="10" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="10" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2YDa0oKUe0c/VzQjh2O-LhI/AAAAAAAAfZ4/kYAbgMF4Cy0/10_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="162"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kLo9Yzq613U/VzQji6XvOHI/AAAAAAAAfZ8/gVBgziW0jcQ/s1600-h/11%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="11" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="11" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aqINem4JCJc/VzQjjXpebsI/AAAAAAAAfaA/37ktaduB28c/11_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="161"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dfI8jRzxPVs/VzQjkRxE9SI/AAAAAAAAfaE/un_z9v1wzkg/s1600-h/12%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="12" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="12" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KEidKcGTACI/VzQjk7UPiAI/AAAAAAAAfaI/I9CYqT6dzz8/12_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="163"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PAaqNMOuz64/VzQjl8I8loI/AAAAAAAAfaM/ZzVhkOahZOs/s1600-h/13%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="13" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="13" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lx_vUM_cIjk/VzQjmrzQGMI/AAAAAAAAfaQ/WfdJnBfKkv8/13_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="161"></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wk_nDrh8QsI/VzQjnbEhJXI/AAAAAAAAfaU/0BOPsBfcPr0/s1600-h/14%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="14" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="14" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8Jd0zxpFXfc/VzQjoN1VGBI/AAAAAAAAfaY/RkGd954JSjQ/14_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="159"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bZ939HRZ7p0/VzQjpaRGEeI/AAAAAAAAfac/AIyd6cq5BOE/s1600-h/15%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="15" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="15" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZHWcwHB52Xg/VzQjqBKCMrI/AAAAAAAAfag/1VQwQBhl6GM/15_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="166"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GqWdmzIRUoE/VzQjrGoSkdI/AAAAAAAAfak/9qReZlksPU8/s1600-h/16%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="16" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="16" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QKmsdnrugMs/VzQjsDtJAHI/AAAAAAAAfao/XJ5HPI6vOd8/16_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="160"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5AUA89rKK58/VzQjtE9M0xI/AAAAAAAAfas/YFe7CqE7iSY/s1600-h/17%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="17" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="17" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OBoPOp4N_hA/VzQjt4r8otI/AAAAAAAAfa0/MXoHExAzURI/17_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="160"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q6x2QLqwhEI/VzQju399eGI/AAAAAAAAfa4/ecF7J6kdhvQ/s1600-h/19%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="19" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="19" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FtA3miLOoZg/VzQjvmvX5OI/AAAAAAAAfa8/sGl941cbtR8/19_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="164"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iRm454A846M/VzQjwoD9wgI/AAAAAAAAfbA/CYMNUpKamtQ/s1600-h/18%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="18" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="18" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7_YMkdGDxPs/VzQjxf_Ls9I/AAAAAAAAfbE/flXhgTkY27I/18_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="158"></a></p>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-48070416437516471102016-05-11T22:48:00.001-07:002018-10-23T18:42:16.916-07:00‘Wong House’ by Claude Megson, 1968<p> </p> <p>Architect Claude Megson would have been incensed to feature so far down <em>Home & Buiding </em>magazines presentation of the “<a title="HOME: Top 50 Homes" href="http://www.christchurchmodern.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Top50.pdf" target="_blank">50 best New Zealand house designed [last] century</a>.” (Particularly as David Mitchell’s Gibb House, a commission Claude coveted – and about which he would tell many stories -- features at number 2!)</p> <p><a title="TE ARA" href="http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/domestic-architecture/page-4" target="_blank">Considered a New Romantic rather than a modernist</a>, the house chosen by the magazine to represent Claude is his gold-medal winning Wong House, of which a small taste can be seen here.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OPsn7otKGk4/VzQZEBx1NYI/AAAAAAAAfWY/t08UkXPkHFg/s1600-h/HomeEntertaining-Top50-2000%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="HomeEntertaining-Top50-2000" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="HomeEntertaining-Top50-2000" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q8zqbu6nHqM/VzQZFEIK8pI/AAAAAAAAfWc/iIbY_7jqdQM/HomeEntertaining-Top50-2000_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="370" height="931"></a></p> <p>The Auckland Architecture Archive’s handy <a title="PDF" href="http://www.architecture-archive.auckland.ac.nz/docs/block-digital/2006-07BlockDigital-MegsonGuide.pdf" target="_blank">Megson Guide</a> has (very) slightly more:</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-B4hdS8B74iM/VzQZGGVFmNI/AAAAAAAAfWg/SgtQFkFgb1M/s1600-h/ArchArchive%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="ArchArchive" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 20px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="ArchArchive" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hC7GC59hcKI/VzQZHKTRz5I/AAAAAAAAfWk/RBhZDDvGdVs/ArchArchive_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="269" height="682"></a> </p> <p><font color="#ffffff">.</font></p>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-84669258269145988632016-02-03T18:16:00.001-08:002016-02-03T18:27:09.563-08:00Architecture: Making ‘a home for man.’ Part 3: The essence of the homeNOTE: This is the conclusion of a three-part piece by Peter Cresswell of Organon Architecture, leaning heavily on Claude Megson’s approach to architecture. In this last piece, Peter outlines Claude’s notion that we shouls essentialise our understanding of the house’s most important spaces.<br><br> <hr> <div align="center"><em><span style="font-size: large">“Whatever space and time mean, place and occasion mean more. <br>For space in the image of man is place, and time in the image of <br>man is occasion. ... We are not building buildings, we are building<br> ritual, building occasion, building life itself.”<br></span></em>~ Claude Megson (after Aldo Van Eyck)</div><em><br></em><em>Over the last two days we talked <a title="Architecture: Making ‘a home for man.’ Part 2: What is a man?" href="http://organonarchitecture.blogspot.com/2016/02/architecture-making-home-for-man-part-2.html" target="_blank">about man</a> and how to begin <a title="Architecture: ‘Making a home for man’–Part 1" href="http://organonarchitecture.blogspot.com/2016/02/architecture-making-home-for-manpart-1.html" target="_blank">making a home for him on this earth</a>: It’s not just about marking a spot; it’s about making places: human places, for human occasions.</em><br><i>But isn’t it the case that </i><i>much of our built environment, and hence much of what architects do, is normally beyond our immediate awareness? Most people just don’t notice too much about the buildings they’re in, do they (at least not consciously) – they quickly become ‘second nature’ to us, unless of course something goes wrong! </i><br><i></i><br><i>We might ‘feel’ a space or a building as being good or bad or uplifting or stultifying or bland or glorious … but we don’t always consciously know why. So let’s start looking at what architecture is trying to say to you, and how you can begin to ‘listen.’</i><i></i> <em>And let’s literally start in the home . . .</em> <br> <div align="left"><b><span style="font-size: small"><br></span></b></div> <div align="left"><b><span style="font-size: small"><font size="3">Part 3: The essence of the home</font></span></b> </div> <div align="center"><i><span style="font-size: small"><br></span></i></div> <div align="center"><i><span style="font-size: large">“A house is not an object but a universe we construct <br>for ourselves – not a garage where we park ourselves.” </span><br>~ </i>Claude Megson </div><br>SINCE WE TEND TO take for granted the architectural experiences we are offered, so Jay Farbstein and Min Kantrowitz in their book <i>People in Places</i> suggest a starting point for learning to understand what architecture can say to you if you let it (assuming of course that the architecture has something to say!): <br> <blockquote><font size="2"><em>Architecture [they say] begins with the five senses, plus other (sub-senses) like those to do with temperature, humidity, air movement across the skin, and especially the kinaesthetic or haptic; the senses must come first! </em><br></font> <h3><span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal"><em><font size="2">Next, These sensations must be integrated into patterns i) of day-to day life – entering the house, engaging in conversation, cooking, eating, watching television, bathing, lying in bed – and ii)of integration with the wider world with the perceiver at the centre – detailed and complex recognition of siting, eye lines into the distant ( and close) landscape. </font></em></span></h3> <h3><span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal"><em><font size="2">Of harbour, valley and hilltop (each with their own resonance for us) and even the gradual exclusion of the public realm (“this is our space”) down to individual realms (“this is my space”).</font></em></span></h3> <h3><span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal"><em><font size="2">Architecture recognises and builds in all these patterns or rituals – try and identify them in the place you’re in now, and think too about that special place from childhood and see how its patterns go together, and if they played some part in making it special for you.</font></em></span></h3></blockquote>The point here is that all architecture begins with <i>you</i> – it doesn’t begin with some gods-eye view from above, or from some arid analysis of string-courses and pendentives. It starts from the point of view of the observer, of the person experiencing the whole ensemble---it starts there, and it radiates out<sup>1</sup>. <br><br>From this starting point then, architecture needs to integrate the material sensed (nothing should be accidental in art), and integrate it conceptually into a pattern that gives to the person experiencing it a meaning to life on this earth. It should be life-enhancing, on a distinctively human scale, because, as we’ve said, architecture is about making <i>a home for man ­</i> - literally MAKING a home for man – and at the same time EXPRESSING the facts about our world and our place in it, and then underscoring whatever emotional evaluation follows from that. <br> <div align="center"> </div> <div align="center">* * * </div> <div align="center"><i><br></i></div> <div align="center"><i>Sometimes the house grows and spreads so that, in order to live in it, <br>greater elasticity of daydreaming, a daydream that is less clearly <br>outlined, are needed. "My house," writes Georges Spyridaki, "is <br>diaphanous, but it is not of glass. It is more the nature of vapour. <br>Its walls contract and expand as I desire. At times, I draw them close <br>about me like protective armour .. But at others, I let the walls of my <br>house blossom out in their own space, which is infinitely extensible.” <br>Spyridaki's house breathes. First it is a coat of armour, then it extends ad <br>infinitum, which amounts to saying that we live in it in alternate security <br>and adventure. It is both cell and world. Here geometry is transcended.</i><br>~ Gaston Bachelard, <i>The Poetics of Space</i> </div><br>AS WE’VE SEEN in <a title="Architecture: ‘Making a home for man’–Part 1" href="http://organonarchitecture.blogspot.co.nz/2016/02/architecture-making-home-for-man-part-2.html" target="_blank">Part Two</a> of our story, the essential meaning -- the very essence of the dining occasion-- is <em>celebration</em>. Giving to a home this essential <i>human</i> meaning of celebration is what we’re doing when we build a space for dining (or, if we’re not very good, we build something that might give almost the opposite impression). <br><br>Thus, the essential human meaning given to the <em>dining</em> space of a home is not eating, but <em>celebration</em>. <br><br>In the same way, architect Claude Megson suggested that <i>every space in a home has its own essential human meaning</i> that must be given its essential place and expressed appropriately in the architecture (and in the following outline I use Megson’s schema). When we build a house, in the words of Megson “we build a whole universe for ourselves to inhabit” – that place must reflect our whole universe of needs and emotions. The universe of our own soul. So let’s take a tour round our ‘soul,’ and the essence of all that it contains. <br><br>If our Dining area isn’t just a place in which to gnaw on a raw bone, then the <strong>Bathroom</strong> isn’t just a place to hose ourselves down. It is, or should be, a place wherein we experience our physical selves (visually via our mirrors) and receive our full physical <em>sensation</em> of being; a place in which to cleanse and refresh ourselves both physically and spiritually (it’s no accident that religionists adopted bathing as a symbol of baptism.) It should express, if we can manage it, a feeling of cleansing and rejuvenation -- almost of rebirth.<sup>2</sup> The term used by Megson was “Regeneration.” That, oddly enough, is the feeling a good bathroom should give. <br><br>Just to clarify here: A good bathroom, or indeed any space designed and built properly, <i>should both support the function intended for that space, and at the same time express the human meaning -- the essence – of the space</i>. Both feeling <i>and</i> function are equally important – indeed, the feeling is an integral <i>part</i> of the function that needs to be built into the form I f form and function are realy going to be made one. (And as Frank Lloyd Wright said on a somewhat related subject, if done properly “form and feeling become one.”) <br><br>So <strong>Dining</strong> = <em>Celebration</em>; <strong>Bathroom</strong> = <em>Regeneration</em>. What else needs to be expressed in Megson’s schema? <br><br>Our <strong>Living Room</strong> is the place where life reveals itself; wherein a stage is set for our lives, for all our entrances and exits; a place of both continuity and permanence; both adventure and security; a place for books, for relaxation, for discourse, for the good news and the disappointments of our lives; for the gatherings and the adventures and occasional withdrawing from the world we all do and need to do .. the place wherein the nature of our selves is worked out and revealed, with all the <i>other</i> spaces in the house acting as support. <br><br>And like a stage (and like our own private souls) the Living Room both exposes and hides us: as Gaston Bachelard explains the house should sometimes be around us like an armour, like a cloak, and at others it should hardly be there at all. <br><br>Most of all, a living room should express the adventure of life. All these things described in the living space reveal the nature of a full life, so the living room as a who;e shows us the whole cosmos of life. If dining is <em>a mark in time</em>, then our living rooms should reveal <em>a sense of the infinite</em>. So a Living Room worth its name must both support the <i>function</i> of lounging, and at the same time it should, Megson argues, express the concept of <i>Revelation</i>. That concept, he argues, best describes the human need fulfilled in our best Living Rooms. In this place, more than in any other part of the house, this concept should be most evident. <br><br>The <strong>Entrance</strong>: Here is our hinge, our place of welcome and farewell, the place in which we are midway between coming and going, where we are poised “cat-like” between entrance and exit, between rejection and welcome … a dynamic equilibrium representing the occasion of greeting; the concept best expressed here is <i>Poise</i>. <br><br>The <strong>Bedroom</strong> is our ultimate place of withdrawal; our place for solace and sexual excitement, for peace and repose, and for reflecting, planning and dreaming. Bedroom = <em>Reflection</em>. <br><br>The <strong>Kitchen</strong> is the place in which life is sustained and nurtured; in which the first lessons are learned of chemistry and physics; of safety and danger. The essence of the Kitchen is <em>Sustenance</em>, or <em>Nurture</em>. <br><br>All these functions and feelings and meanings take place under one roof, in one house. In the same sense that all artwork is making a statement about the world in which we live – whether the artist likes it or not -- every piece of art is a microcosm of what the artist considers to be fundamentally important within this universe – so too the house should <i>contain</i> a whole universe in microcosm. <br> <div align="center"> </div> <div align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EaaY4zhiRiY/VrKvdcC53GI/AAAAAAAAevo/MH0fdNJk6Gk/s1600-h/HouseEssence%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="HouseEssence" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="HouseEssence" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WWJMwAhADks/VrKvePTRr5I/AAAAAAAAevs/6-u-0_rDhzY/HouseEssence_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="484" height="246"></a> </div><br>In Megson’s words, the house is not just a garage where we park ourselves; nor is it merely an object: it is instead a whole universe we construct for ourselves -- “it should embody the complete human spirit.” <br><em><br></em><em>This</em> is how we go about our task, of literally making a home for for man . . . <br><br> <hr> NOTES 1. A point to anyone who can see the similarity to Austrian economics, or to Montessori education.<br>2. We cleanse ourselves of ‘the outside’ while symbolically cleaning ourselves within; we emerge physically revitalised and metaphorically reborn. (It is no accident that bathing is the essential religious symbol of baptism.) <br> Water represents purity; as does its complement, light; which together produce an essential sparkling, uplifting effect.<br><br>[Cross-posted to the <a href="http://organonarchitecture.blogspot.co.nz/">Organon Architecture Blog</a>]Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-79967955133492459302016-02-03T00:20:00.001-08:002023-10-23T20:09:29.870-07:00Barr House, by Claude Megson (1972)<p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Qw_vc9HKinM/VrG31DgEmkI/AAAAAAAAetA/YPEW6z5KEwo/s1600-h/Pool-East%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Pool-East" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Pool-East" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--YNNWeGUc2A/VrG32MPZmII/AAAAAAAAetE/yVUu390efIE/Pool-East_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="542" height="817"></a></p> <p>Built in Auckland’s Meadowbank back in 1972, the Barr House – on a small suburban site embracing a bush reserve – is described by Megson biographer Giles Reid as one of the finest spaces he has ever been in. Yet, astonishingly, up until now it has been all but unpublished.</p> <blockquote> <p><em>If there is a reason for this omission [says Reid], it is not due to the building’s lack of importance. The Barr House represents a huge advance in [Megson’s] ability to conceive and manipulate space. Of all [Megson’s houses discussed in Reid’s monograph], its spaces and forms are by far the most memorable.</em></p></blockquote> <p>The design of the house, as Megson virtually described it to an interviewer in the year of its birth, “takes its shape from the relation to the bush and the fan-shaped section.” </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MSsn-k0Hj3g/VrG33WmBjLI/AAAAAAAAetI/U-TLo1Y9fl8/s1600-h/Lounge%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Lounge" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Lounge" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JqSZwZQw91I/VrG34r2k_JI/AAAAAAAAetM/jGppIOA3DOM/Lounge_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="680" height="450"></a></p> <p>The clients approached the School of Architecture in 1971 asking for the best architect they knew. The name they kept hearing was Claude Megson.</p> <blockquote> <p><em>The client wanted a house that would be, as it were, a work of art [recounts Megson’s 1971 interviewer Winifred Wilson]. He wanted something good, yet out of the ordinary, and it was to be a reasonably quiet house in which to live. The site, at the end of a cul-de-sac, overlooks the bush basin . . .<br> Colours, too, relate to the bush background. Basically, the house … built along the edge of this bush, forms a crescent around a large walled entry court.<br> From here one goes up to the bedrooms or down to the living quarters. It [is clad] in cedar boards … [originally] oiled a yellow brown, with solid piers in reinforced brickwork of a rich warm brown. The motor court and garden walls are also done in this warm brick work. </em></p><em></em></blockquote> <blockquote> <p align="center"><em><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DBfukxs9Hy8/VrG36cROsEI/AAAAAAAAetQ/8wyIi7rNks0/s1600-h/Dining%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Dining" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Dining" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SxUxquTSO_k/VrG37THLHxI/AAAAAAAAetU/AtcgNKELGgs/Dining_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="684" height="457"></a></em></p><em> <p> Inside, the brick walls are left exposed and the timber walls are lined with the same cedar boards … The high ceilings on the first floor are white plaster plainted white. The timber floors are covered in shag pile buff carpet and the whole house has a warm mellow glow of honey gold.</em></p></blockquote> <p>Having just spent a few days there, I can attest to the ingenious treatment of space Reid describes, powerfully assisted by the rhombic geometry suggested by the site. </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-grlUSe4V1Jo/VrG38mFfGuI/AAAAAAAAetY/nLOauFFG1Hg/s1600-h/Hall%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Hall" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Hall" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NNbG039941U/VrG39mI9mxI/AAAAAAAAetc/HnTMkHEH-yo/Hall_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="680" height="453"></a></p> <p>As with the hexagonal design module used so deftly by Frank Lloyd Wright in his Hannah House, for example, the rhombic geometry opens up the house and gives a much greater feeling of freedom—movement systems and vision for example being on different paths, a feeling enhanced by the shafts of space shooting “laser like” from one side of the house to another.</p> <blockquote> <p><em>Standing in the living room [for example, writes Reid,] one can see past the entry, across the stairs, just missing the back of the kitchen, through the family space and then breakfast area and out to the terraces beyond. Every plane seems to fold away from this invisible line with only moments to spare.</em></p></blockquote> <p>It is a wonderful house to visit—and still owned by the owners who originally commissioned it back in 1971; now reluctantly ready to sell after enjoying half a lifetime inhabiting the house.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4Et28JbVIsU/VrG3_EuEUvI/AAAAAAAAetg/uCeNf-ExaJQ/s1600-h/Bush-Terrace%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Bush-Terrace" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Bush-Terrace" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4lgJDyE56DI/VrG4AU15rNI/AAAAAAAAetk/oqnGeNRhSpo/Bush-Terrace_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="680" height="470"></a></p> <p>They have nothing but praise for the house and the man who designed it for them. They would change nothing they say, and from the time the house came in under budget (costing less per square foot than state houses did at the time, reports the owner) to now when old age means they finally have to leave, they say they have loved every moment of living there.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BUHrv9H6DzE/VrG4BmEd3SI/AAAAAAAAeto/feJLURVaYtM/s1600-h/FloorPlans%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="FloorPlans" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="FloorPlans" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsg-_jP22Bhqu1dR_OOHVmbjnu4ma8jYeJzh21Hfn-aa2BRoC6kbSELhKlObXcKA1lgn4X7YXSjgRv39cSy4yEP6J7JawN-rMurMXpE5hN-SADSUmY7S9aApwnzGwqcQjHrgqz1Q/?imgmax=800" width="724" height="649"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pWEvmTdH4Q4/VrG4FQhRVQI/AAAAAAAAetw/YklqVLJ4pN0/s1600-h/Model%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Model" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Model" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Duq1sSwA8Uc/VrG4GgmuJJI/AAAAAAAAet0/asykDyx5GIc/Model_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="720" height="489"></a><br><em><font color="#a5a5a5">Claude’s original model of the house, prepared for the clients at design stage. <br>The clients found it invaluable in decifering a tricky set of plans to read.</font></em></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yK9vThKU7Iw/VrG4IPR9NgI/AAAAAAAAet4/8FbwC1A-M-A/s1600-h/Kitchen%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Kitchen" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Kitchen" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4XZohqyE1eI/VrG4JsXSc1I/AAAAAAAAet8/lZX-O7gdkq0/Kitchen_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="724" height="634"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zkrmKYUm-kw/VrG4MWIjFQI/AAAAAAAAeuA/iBl_tsr9tZA/s1600-h/Image%252520%252528258%252529%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Image (258)" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Image (258)" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NwJRmpJ3ejA/VrG4Np-9YZI/AAAAAAAAeuE/mdpLzszAOaI/Image%252520%252528258%252529_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="720" height="507"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h2nWB2oSh5Q/VrG4QVml1CI/AAAAAAAAeuI/JcXgzryH7rQ/s1600-h/Dining%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="Dining" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Dining" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vwRqNtFSi5c/VrG4RtxK5_I/AAAAAAAAeuM/haHLRMeLBNE/Dining_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="724" height="445"></a></p> <p>[Photos by Barfoots, courtesy <a title="BARFOOT" href="https://www.barfoot.co.nz/p.oldham" target="_blank">Philip Oldham</a>. Plans and original architect’s sketches from <em>Building Progress </em>magazine, 1972. Cross-posted at the <a title="Claude Megson blog" href="http://megson.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Claude Megson blog</a>]</p>Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-3216030812553689772015-12-06T20:05:00.000-08:002018-10-23T18:42:41.080-07:00The Green House, by Claude Megson, 1978<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://megson.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-green-house-by-claude-megson-1978.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y8OjrwsdYyQ/VmUFokq3a0I/AAAAAAAAeTo/xLZv69ulHpQ/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T-iUhiRe1aI/VmUFpVLJ_aI/AAAAAAAAeTw/LngiquRbdxY/image_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="202" height="208" /></a></p> <p>Any architect can make a fair fist of impressing with a rich and expensive palate. What architect Claude Megson was very good at was using fairly standard inexpensive materials to create spaces of almost inexpressible delight—the sort that’s sometimes hard to capture through a lens, but that you can feel as soon an you enter his spaces, and delight in even more as you live in them over many years and discover all their many intricacies: the way spaces flow into each other; the links created to the grounds and wider landscape; the vistas through, within (and without) the house …</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C0X_G-UYdkA/VmUFquFy7PI/AAAAAAAAeT4/YTPLiTs40nI/s1600-h/Green16%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green16" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green16" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D2P4ImTsTS4/VmUFrcPJpmI/AAAAAAAAeUE/sFyAvQkWUbc/Green16_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="426" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.realestate.co.nz/2703033" target="_blank">On the market now</a>, after many years, is the spatial wonderland he crafted forty years ago for the Phillips family of Glenfield: the ‘green house,’ as it was dubbed, for its colour (which now appears the very least of the colours used!).</p> <blockquote> <p><a title="Decription from THE BLOCK Architectural Guide: MEGSON IN AUCKLAND" href="http://www.architecture-archive.auckland.ac.nz/docs/block-digital/2006-07BlockDigital-MegsonGuide.pdf" target="_blank"><em>Inserted into lush bush at the end of a cul-de-sac</em></a><em>, this project employs a number of characteristic Megson elements. The base of the house is formed from concrete blocks,with interiors on six-half levels cascading down under an inclined glass roof. Enclosing this is a highly complex composition of “periscope” forms – arranged both vertically and horizontally - that recall the Rees Townhouses, but which are painted a lush green – hence the project being referred to as the “Green House”. Projecting out into the bush on the downhill side of the house is balcony composed as a cantilevered cage of steel pipe, a motif that would reappear in <a title="Megson House, 40 Fern Glen Rd North, St Heliers – Claude Megson" href="http://organonarchitecture.blogspot.co.nz/2010/06/megson-house-40-fern-glen-rd-north-st.html" target="_blank">Megson’s own house</a>.</em> </p> </blockquote> <p align="center"><iframe height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_wMc8i7ileM" frameborder="0" width="640" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>The real estate site says:</p> <blockquote> <p><em>Architecturally fabulous and with all the elements of a truly special home, this unique property was designed by the renowned architect Claude Megson and built to admire the nature of the magical Scenic Reserve setting. <br />    </em><em>Our current owners bought this jewel in April 2000 recognising the beauty of the design, the exquisite location among native trees and the convenience of being at just 10 min drive [ahem – Ed.] to Auckland CBD. <br />    </em><em>This fabulous property is set on a 1113m² (approx) section and features 3 bedrooms and 3 living areas on six-half levels cascading down under an inclined glass roof that spills light into and throughout the home. <br />    </em><em>The attention to detail creates a home with a blend of quiet intimate rooms to dramatic areas under the vaulted ceiling, very different from what we are all used to see in the Market. <br />    </em><em>To absorb the resulting arrangement of spaces, with a gentle division of activities suggested for each of these areas, the first time spectator must spend time roaming the home, revisiting rooms, to understand the feeling and the flavour of each area. <br />    </em><em>The home is centred around the outdoor and indoor living areas, that inspires to entertain, to invite people to lounge on the open space; long lazy Sunday lunches or formal occasions would all be enhanced by this serene and very private environment. <br />    </em><em>There are areas for reading, to retreat to, to reflect, to gather with friends and discuss matters of great importance, or to simply absorb the peace of the view of the beautiful Kelmar Scenic Reserve. <br />    </em><em>Walking down the driveway and looking back to the home, you cannot help feeling inspired with Claude's creation; the current owners have lovingly looked after this home over the years but it is time to hand the mantle onto another owner who will thrive in this exceptional home.</em></p> </blockquote> <p><strong>The house has <a title="BARFOOT" href="https://www.barfoot.co.nz/560715" target="_blank">Open Homes this Saturday and Sunday</a>.</strong></p> <p align="center"><img style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" src="http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Cresswell/Img/Thumb_Megson2.jpg" /><em>Architect Claude Megson in his “green house” soon after completion.</em></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FTLWDdviY2M/VmUFsmaAZVI/AAAAAAAAeUM/a9-rhfchS9Y/s1600-h/Green1%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green1" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z2uC_3ZYeaQ/VmUFtuRuj8I/AAAAAAAAeUQ/-pMR4Lpbud4/Green1_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="431" /></a></p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D8l5C_w0adg/VmUFu-n-5JI/AAAAAAAAeUY/k1PHm9tBzcs/s1600-h/Green2%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green2" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green2" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OxaJjEFOij8/VmUFv0QSrII/AAAAAAAAeUg/XwBaUT3S7HY/Green2_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="432" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Et2EkuzRDnI/VmUFxOIIyGI/AAAAAAAAeUo/mhWasJc9cUI/s1600-h/Green3%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green3" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j5wLpCeVBdE/VmUFx0ktIVI/AAAAAAAAeUw/P8oXAirGOpE/Green3_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="430" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R-B5UUvEZE0/VmUFzHGtbDI/AAAAAAAAeU4/E4lJYtCFRMk/s1600-h/Green4%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green4" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green4" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZCGgOc1ZJpM/VmUFz2UUjUI/AAAAAAAAeVA/guh7cu16NHg/Green4_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="430" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MQTP0qxk_wI/VmUF1F7J5tI/AAAAAAAAeVI/sXt6btgslDI/s1600-h/Green5%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green5" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SDusP0Q8XwI/VmUF1yCHQWI/AAAAAAAAeVQ/LU-GWz3EUBU/Green5_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="429" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-spgnj5BhHFM/VmUF3Jx9gOI/AAAAAAAAeVY/kcJdWCkKOH8/s1600-h/Green10%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green10" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green10" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-J33MmQZxBcE/VmUF4JK91UI/AAAAAAAAeVg/Skb3mn9IAIQ/Green10_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="429" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Zo7lUAAY1TE/VmUF5RkVm7I/AAAAAAAAeVo/x48G7-XCEwE/s1600-h/Green13%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green13" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green13" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tFZmrwwuM2k/VmUF6YuTRXI/AAAAAAAAeVw/Nwru1lw2gSY/Green13_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="430" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UYIdYgg7ghk/VmUF7Qq5Q-I/AAAAAAAAeV4/hXYtBNPZDxU/s1600-h/Green14%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green14" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green14" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uiuWk7nkHxw/VmUF8Q-vsvI/AAAAAAAAeWA/J9R_5OFZaqM/Green14_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="431" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qk5HvJKc6g4/VmUF9rizv0I/AAAAAAAAeWI/yTwGS3_g8sM/s1600-h/Green15%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green15" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Green15" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t0ZV9r2hwNU/VmUF-YOs31I/AAAAAAAAeWQ/107XzivjCuk/Green15_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="430" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DM8SDhgfWxg/VmUF_la35UI/AAAAAAAAeWY/X7bBO7cHApA/s1600-h/Green16%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green16" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Green16" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MVJO-y9hFW0/VmUGAkCn8mI/AAAAAAAAeWg/g8mDH7_DfuM/Green16_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="430" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9cgQF0Sm0Lk/VmUGCBhpm9I/AAAAAAAAeWo/8KhusEOJNPk/s1600-h/Green17%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green17" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green17" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-anEZEBQsqqI/VmUGDA1ZZwI/AAAAAAAAeWw/Ihcy-siBS-I/Green17_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="432" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y8jcZ-LFYvs/VmUGEZE1KZI/AAAAAAAAeW8/ZFUEbaEV9Lw/s1600-h/Green18%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green18" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green18" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZAUU3Ggy2_M/VmUGFoq2YdI/AAAAAAAAeXE/8p8UcjlwIXI/Green18_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="429" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H7XdCbeUGm8/VmUGHLEA1QI/AAAAAAAAeXM/GJrsuFvIMjM/s1600-h/Green19%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Green19" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Green19" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IqigqXBQaNM/VmUGIIFJmGI/AAAAAAAAeXU/8lzV063c2Vg/Green19_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="431" /></a></p> Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-65147125090056568602015-02-18T18:26:00.001-08:002015-02-18T18:45:20.825-08:00Quote of the day: But isn’t this how every house should feel?<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://megson.blogspot.com/2015/02/quote-of-day-but-isnt-this-how-every.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p><a href="http://gp-a.co.nz/?p=239" target="_blank"><img src="http://gp-a.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/MG_7738_39_40-Edit.jpg" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-d2xqteTkpSU/VOVN_C-AVXI/AAAAAAAAcT4/jHYTujo0KkM/s1600-h/image%25255B11%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 20px 20px; display: inline" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-oBYx8Tu7WT0/VOVOAPO7_FI/AAAAAAAAcUA/jOBNuydPRug/image_thumb%25255B6%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="172" align="right" height="493" /></a><font size="3">“Architect Dominic Glamuzina says [Megson’s original 1970’s house]<strong> invokes the feeling that one should have a cocktail in one’s hand at all times while wandering through it</strong>.”</font> <br />- from <a title="Remuera bathroom" href="http://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/remuera-bathroom/#img=2">an article</a> reporting on an extension to Claude Megson’s Rees House  (<a title="MEGSON BLOG: 54 Hapua St, Remuera" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2007/02/54-hapua-st-remuera.html" target="_blank">part of this complex of townhouses</a>)</p> <p>More on the story and extension <a title="HAPUA" href="http://gp-a.co.nz/?p=239" target="_blank">from the GlamuzinaPaterson website</a>.</p> <p>The <em>Design, Build & Renovate</em> trade publication <a href="http://specialpubs.realviewdigital.com/default.aspx?iid=90295&startpage=page0000010#folio=10" target="_blank">featured it in April 2014</a>, offering an interior pic showing the characteristic Megsonian diagonal relationship between kitchen and dining space:</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-lEMzQCYO7cI/VOVOCIt_BBI/AAAAAAAAcUI/c2DeR6s5VtE/s1600-h/image%25255B22%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VY5Ld90d338/VOVODWTe6AI/AAAAAAAAcUQ/Jiazad5J9yc/image_thumb%25255B13%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="364" height="553" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-B2oUJxxiw7A/VOVOEzGrASI/AAAAAAAAcUY/WHdfbB99fR8/s1600-h/image%25255B21%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Wq_oDyhyYIE/VOVOFz0HtiI/AAAAAAAAcUg/LSWYbK4Ajq8/image_thumb%25255B12%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="364" height="543" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-E0vXug7UhMc/VOVOHqic6vI/AAAAAAAAcUo/jZgBZ7cGPPQ/s1600-h/image%25255B27%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-teHcogALSII/VOVOJY2a-1I/AAAAAAAAcUw/eMMsaClcLTU/image_thumb%25255B16%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="364" height="808" /></a></p> <p>[Top pic from the <a href="http://gp-a.co.nz/?p=239" target="_blank">GlamuzinaPaterson website</a>]</p> Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-80042995161405738682015-02-18T18:25:00.001-08:002015-02-18T18:25:51.582-08:00“I’m twice the architect you are!”<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://megson.blogspot.com/2015/02/im-twice-architect-you-are.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>From a 2014 interview with Patrick Clifford, of Architectus:</p> <blockquote> <p><em><strong>Q: And what about the ideas around at the time and which teachers influenced your own thinking? <br /></strong></em><em><strong>PC:</strong></em> There are particular memories that I certainly have of people from that time. We learnt drawing from Pat Hanley, who was a very helpful and incredibly encouraging teacher, and people like Fred Beckett, Dave Mitchell and Mike Austin, who were practising and working in a completely different way, and Claude Megson, who I did quite a lot of studio work with. There were visiting architects, like Marshall Cook, coming into the School and offering studio programmes.</p> <p><em><strong>ANZ:</strong> <strong>Are there any entertaining moments that stick in your mind? <br /></strong></em><em><strong>PC:</strong></em> I can still vividly remember Claude Megson in the studio one day yelling out at Peter Bartlett, “I’m twice the architect you are!” Peter Bartlett was the distinguished teacher, academic and practitioner who designed the performing arts building at Auckland Grammar, amongst other things…. <br />    The School of Architecture was an environment that had a lot more complexity than ‘you’re coming here to just be taught something about architecture’. There were complex personal relationships and views about what architecture should be and how it should be taught and so on. As a student, you have to navigate your way through that and, at some point, hopefully form a view yourself about what you think is important. My recollection of that time is that a lot of the teaching was fairly laissez faire; it didn’t offer a strong view. The strong view was that students should figure out, based on their own experience and understanding, how to make architecture. There were exceptions to that: people like Claude Megson, who said, “This is how I do it and, if you’re going to be in my studio, you need to do it this way”…</p> <p><em><strong>ANZ: Do you think that the laissez-faire attitude was possibly a good thing for your generation, in the sense that New Zealand had traditionally followed overseas styles, so perhaps a laissez-faire attitude was a way for new generations of architects to evolve with some different ideas based more in the New Zealand context? <br /></strong></em><em><strong>PC:</strong></em> Maybe, but in the ’50s and ’60s some New Zealand architects had formed a view that modern architecture in New Zealand should be its own version: people like the [Architectural] Group and so on, who we tend to celebrate now but it wasn’t being taught about at Architecture School back then. It wasn’t like we were being educated in an environment that said, “Look, here’s what’s happened before”. It was rather more “you figure out your own path”.</p> <p><em><strong>ANZ: A little bit directionless, you mean? <br />P</strong></em><em><strong>C:</strong></em> Well, it was a challenge for students to figure out how to approach this. But there was a balance with the Claude Megson approach of “do it this way”. So, as a student, there’s quite a lot of decisions to be made in terms of the ‘how’ – some of which, you probably don’t figure out what effect it had until a few years later</p> </blockquote> <p>Full interview here: <a title="http://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/nzia-gold-medal-winner-patrick-clifford/" href="http://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/nzia-gold-medal-winner-patrick-clifford/" target="_blank">NZIA Gold Medal winner, Patrick Clifford</a></p> Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-30737062551924050512015-02-18T18:19:00.001-08:002015-02-18T18:19:31.263-08:00The New Romantics<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://megson.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-new-romantics.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>From a 2012 interview with the now=late Peter Beaven, “taking us back in time to 1972 when new ideas about architecture were taking shape and exhibited at The Dowse Gallery in Lower Hutt.”</p> <blockquote> <p>…This interest in new shapes and styles first took visible form at The Dowse Art Gallery in Lower Hutt in 1972. An architectural exhibition which the Dowse labelled The New Romantics, included the work of Ian Athfield, Roger Walker, Claude Megson, John Scott and myself. There were, by then, already salient differences among us. For a small country, the architects featured in the exhibition were a pretty excellent assembly, developing as a group several clear, broad paths, which could have taken New Zealand architecture beyond modernism into rich new fields of our own…. <br />    Inevitably, the ‘new romantic’ movement never really flowered. Neither John Scott nor Claude Megson lived long enough to extend their great formal skills. Ian Athfield and Roger Walker each developed large practices. In the running of their practices, their early enthusiasm and originality necessarily drained away to some extent. Each now inhabits a different world from the world that the Dowse exhibition seemed to be ushering in. <br />    It is far harder today for a young architect to make such an individual impression. The fashion for following the favoured styles of the day has become uniform throughout the world, driven of course by the insatiable flood of images everywhere, which can only overwhelm local romanticism…. <br />Claude Megson, another of the ‘new romantics’, was an Auckland architect who had a remarkable talent for astonishing manipulation of small spaces into great spatial experiences. Auckland, ever urgently wanting new experiences, gave him plenty of opportunities…. <br />    The strands of originality in the work of the five architects identified by the Dowse began to wither away after 1984. <br />    You can see this in a vivid, visual manner if you place any copy of Houses magazine beside the book NZ Architects’ Houses, 1970. In the 1970 publication, page follows page of rich spatial delight: architecture of the greatest originality, all stemming from the use of our limited building materials and our trust in each other – builder and architect – which was typical of old New Zealand. <br />    The 1970s’ book shows that a great number of New Zealand architects at that time were all doing really beautiful, original work, very much our country. Houses magazine, of course, does its best but it can only show that the 1970s’ New Zealand originality, in most cases, has faded into varying streams of international modernism.</p> </blockquote> <p>Full article here: <a title="http://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/the-new-romantics/" href="http://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/the-new-romantics/" target="_blank">The new romantics</a></p> Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-31916195177749795762015-02-18T17:27:00.001-08:002015-02-18T17:27:16.920-08:00“…fantastic really because he was so passionate…”<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://megson.blogspot.com/2015/02/fantastic-really-because-he-was-so.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p>Carolyn Smith from Architecture Smith + Scully talked to Claire Ellery, editor <em>Houses</em>, “about running a practice and her life in architecture,” including …</p> <blockquote> <p><em><strong>Q:</strong></em> <em><strong>Do you think the way you approach architecture, then or now, was influenced by your peers and teachers at university? <br /></strong></em>I think for me I was possibly more influenced by some architects who were in practice at the time. At university it was the studio tutors who I think had the most influence. I had David Mitchell and Claude Megson, who was fantastic really because he was so passionate. You didn’t always agree with him. He was a very stubborn man but he did some amazing designs and they were kind of unique and he pushed you to follow an idea….</p> </blockquote> <p>Full article <a title="Up close with Architect Carolyn Smith" href="http://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/carolyn-smith-interview/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-86326376309355820642015-02-18T17:21:00.001-08:002015-02-18T17:21:54.396-08:00Enduring Architecture Award for Claude Megson’s Cocker Tonhouses<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://megson.blogspot.com/2015/02/enduring-architecture-award-for-claude.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p align="center"><a title="ARCH DAILY.COM" href="http://www.archdaily.com/504930/new-zealand-architecture-awards-2014-winners-announced/536cc120c07a80e43f00009f_new-zealand-architecture-awards-2014-winners-announced_enduring_architecture_award-cocker_townhouses-claude_megson-1-jpg/" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/536cc120c07a80e43f00009f_new-zealand-architecture-awards-2014-winners-announced_enduring_architecture_award-cocker_townhouses-claude_megson-1-530x353.jpg" /></a> <br /><em><font color="#666666">Cocker Townhouses / Claude Megson Architect. Image © Patrick Reynolds</font></em></p> <p>Claude Megson’s <a href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=cocker" target="_blank">Cocker Townhouses</a> were awarded an Enduring Architecture Award at the <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/504930/new-zealand-architecture-awards-2014-winners-announced/" target="_blank">2014 NZIA Architecture Awards</a>.</p> Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-75886125815790216472015-02-18T17:17:00.001-08:002015-02-18T17:17:26.490-08:00Remuera’s Iconic Architects And The Significant Homes They Designed . . .<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://megson.blogspot.com/2015/02/remueras-iconic-architects-and.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p><em>From a post at the Kellands Real Estate site…</em></p> <blockquote> <p>Being an inspirational architect and teacher himself, Claude Megson has had arguably the biggest influence on several generations of Auckland architects, while his many clients have been able to enjoy living in his enormously life-affirming houses.  <a title="20 Walton Street, Remuera, 1974" href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/2007/02/20-walton-street-remuera-1974.html" target="_blank">Norris House</a> in Walton Street won the 2005 Enduring Architecture Award and his iconic style is obvious in townhouses he designed in <a href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=hapua" target="_blank">Hapua Street</a> and <a href="http://megson.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=warrington" target="_blank">Warrington Road</a>.  Some of New Zealand’s currently acclaimed architects were students of Claude Megson.</p> </blockquote> <p><a title="https://kellands.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/remuera%E2%80%99s-iconic-architects-and-the-significant-homes-they-designed/" href="https://kellands.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/remuera%E2%80%99s-iconic-architects-and-the-significant-homes-they-designed/" target="_blank">Full article here</a>, including mentions of Vernan Brown, Megson employers  Gummer & Ford, Roy Binney and Horace Massey.</p> Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-67042201006790469852013-05-14T13:08:00.000-07:002013-05-14T15:54:12.045-07:00Yes, you can buy Claude Megson’s house…<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://megson.blogspot.com/2013/05/yes-you-can-buy-claude-megsons-house.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-2Jfg9tLPAKc/UZK9V_bwNOI/AAAAAAAAX6A/0K1_M9Ap5kU/s1600-h/40FernGlennreshoot%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="40FernGlennreshoot" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="40FernGlennreshoot" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-RTzVICBo-IU/UZK9XCXLviI/AAAAAAAAX6I/Dbdae1MWggU/40FernGlennreshoot_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="427" /></a></p> <p>Now for sale by new owners, here's late architect Claude Megson's own house, perched above tree-clad Dingle Dell in Auckland's St Heliers, with <a title="Take a look" href="http://photolib.barfoot.co.nz/ListingPhotos/thumbs/495700T.jpg" target="_blank">views in the other direction</a> out to Rangitoto and the harbour. A simple looking exterior concealing an awful lot of living within.</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-s2CjdC6WXZ8/UZK9YyoUPSI/AAAAAAAAX6Q/bTWZdTdxE5M/s1600-h/image%25255B29%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EgY27tg64bU/UZK9bZ3OFCI/AAAAAAAAX6Y/YEZ97yzmWNo/image_thumb%25255B13%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="618" height="412" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/4986/984/1600/494273/Megson_House.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 20px 20px; display: inline" border="0" alt="" align="right" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/4986/984/200/1511/Megson_House.jpg" /></a>Megson took the small, boxy, brick house (right) designed by the architect of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Richard Toy, and transformed it into something magical, something giving the feel of having discovered a particularly poignant tree-filled glade somehow touched by the gods.</p> <p>Writing about the transformation a few years ago, architectural critic John Dickson said of it, "It is impossible without the process of Megson's imagination to connect the cluster of small, confined rooms of the house as it was to the expansive, multi-levelled, vertical-fissured, spatial-phantasm that it has become."</p> <blockquote> <p><font face="Arial"><a title="NZ HERALD" href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10878304" target="_blank">A new structure was built over the original brick base</a>, with balconies - described by [former Megson student] Andrew [Barrie] as "cages of mesh and steel tube" - projecting from the house out into the treetops… Andrew Barrie says Claude was a world-class architect. "His houses brought a sculptural quality but they were also incredibly tied to the way people live. Usually, it's one or the other and to do both was unusual ... there were few like him."</font></p> </blockquote> <p><img style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" src="http://photolib.barfoot.co.nz/ListingPhotos/web800/495700J.jpg" width="618" height="414" /></p> <p>For Megson a house was a lot more than just a machine for living—the family house for example house should support and enhance family life, celebrating and artistically expressing all its many aspects.  </p> <p align="center"><img style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" src="http://photolib.barfoot.co.nz/ListingPhotos/web800/495700W.jpg" width="618" height="414" /></p> <p>And English architectural critic Professor Geoffrey Broadbent, writing after a 1992 tour of Claude's Auckland houses had this to say:</p> <blockquote><font face="Arial">"This," I said to myself, "is work of a very high international standard indeed." ...One is constantly struck by the surprise around the corner, the bright shaft of light penetrating from above into the softer glow of the main living spaces -- especially in Megson' own house -- that give his work such very special qualities... <br />There is an essential "rightness" about Megson's spaces, for pleasant occupation by ordinary, normal human beings. Such things, says Dickson, have gone out of fashion with today's students. Well, so much the worse for the students [and their clients!]. Perhaps it hasn't occurred to them that if they design real spaces for human comfort and pleasure, then even those anguished souls overwhelmed by post-Heideggerian "problematics" about the nature of their existence might, given spaces like Megson's to contemplate that nature of their "Being," come to more positive conclusions! Because that's the point about Megson's spaces; they are life-enhancing.</font></blockquote> Broadbent, for once, is exactly right. <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-a0UWORW3fPw/UZK9cl6CjtI/AAAAAAAAX6g/VS3vTWyENIE/s1600-h/495700%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="495700" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="495700" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_w_UtEYoqCY/UZK9dqubYBI/AAAAAAAAX6o/rfjwrcllvCI/495700_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="618" height="412" /></a></p> <p>Claude built the house for his own family as a classic three-zoned family house: with parents’ realm and childrens’ realm’ linked together through the house’s public realm.  Agent’s photographs suggest the current owners (and vendors) have retained this spatial planning (well expressed in the exterior, as you can see below), but have restored the house and kitchen elements so they are “largely as they were.”</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-YM_izkRWoKk/UZK9egQFcJI/AAAAAAAAX6w/c0hX6eQGjLw/s1600-h/132468352_full%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468352_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468352_full" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-BGnpEA4Fko4/UZK9fkI6nOI/AAAAAAAAX64/x_pgJmWtY54/132468352_full_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="618" height="412" /></a></p> <p><a title="Megson House - Barfoot & Thompson" href="http://barfoot.co.nz/495700" target="_blank">You may buy it through Barfoot & Thompson</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tIyerTF-zoU/UZK9gfcq_YI/AAAAAAAAX7A/IzuTMcFqOVk/s1600-h/132468362_full%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468362_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="132468362_full" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-uwTSJxvR0qE/UZK9hYihL4I/AAAAAAAAX7I/BYrLaNpzsVo/132468362_full_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="427" /></a></p> <p>[Photos by Ted Baghurst and Barfoot & Thompson. More pictures <a title="NZ HERALD" href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/image.cfm?c_id=8&gal_objectid=10878304&gallery_id=132285#11064674" target="_blank">here</a> and <a title="BARFOOT & THOMPSON" href="http://barfoot.co.nz/495700" target="_blank">here</a>.]</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-3mankXyxdNg/UZK9kGBGm-I/AAAAAAAAX7Q/6IJIkZTWa4o/s1600-h/image%25255B25%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-P7CHHU9rFfY/UZK9o3nZqeI/AAAAAAAAX7Y/M8ETJmlp4Hg/image_thumb%25255B9%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="618" height="414" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1JO3VnoJ1MM/UZK9pypiW8I/AAAAAAAAX7g/e4HA2yHCH6M/s1600-h/495700G%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="495700G" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="495700G" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-pz3hvFzY86k/UZK9q8lTZMI/AAAAAAAAX7o/Xf1LNILoR8A/495700G_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="618" height="412" /></a></p> <p align="center"><em><font color="#a5a5a5">Click to enlarge…</font></em></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qAadfWwvdME/UZK9r3TGgaI/AAAAAAAAX7w/B8OXjv1pM54/s1600-h/495700C%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="495700C" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="495700C" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-hiQJNBMhGn0/UZK9sk1QLZI/AAAAAAAAX74/WXa3G8SiZ7M/495700C_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1OyB8i4Ocaw/UZK9tZdsSJI/AAAAAAAAX8A/njJKCX3Kq8g/s1600-h/495700D%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="495700D" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="495700D" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6whi9Ac2N2o/UZK9ucsSzEI/AAAAAAAAX8I/sL9iHxGwAIY/495700D_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-NlJEx7gg--o/UZK9vWRn9zI/AAAAAAAAX8Q/lzdKXZeBGGE/s1600-h/495700F%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="495700F" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="495700F" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-QuJ3QfQZbGk/UZK9wehLBFI/AAAAAAAAX8Y/5C5LV2xKqfc/495700F_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-oD22eMj0U9U/UZK9xDzBRkI/AAAAAAAAX8g/TujsZgCN31o/s1600-h/495700O%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="495700O" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="495700O" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7Adrk87AIc4/UZK9x0StQcI/AAAAAAAAX8o/mV5p0TkuFvU/495700O_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-iqrm7AsJSPU/UZK9ysllYII/AAAAAAAAX8w/-1b1y0-FIhU/s1600-h/495700R%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="495700R" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="495700R" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-SngnqBfP-e8/UZK9zfds4EI/AAAAAAAAX84/Kdcrdl1WcP4/495700R_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-jo_aQalxu7c/UZK90OFBkKI/AAAAAAAAX9A/7U8Q4fjFYRM/s1600-h/495700T%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="495700T" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="495700T" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-D-ufuf37uQw/UZK91HfzikI/AAAAAAAAX9I/afNtVDpiLWQ/495700T_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-WBltvIjbb8w/UZK915V4JHI/AAAAAAAAX9Q/467bVEurYwI/s1600-h/495700U%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="495700U" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="495700U" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-6z0qWcoAuOs/UZK92syeTEI/AAAAAAAAX9Y/Tttvgmbpl2M/495700U_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="160" height="240" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-KEKWWJtihcA/UZK93nfbUhI/AAAAAAAAX9g/FEfzoNR0Now/s1600-h/495700X%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="495700X" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="495700X" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/--ppAa1GEyTQ/UZK94NjtICI/AAAAAAAAX9o/bEFWgApMngI/495700X_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-qOQFSrMMloE/UZK95LPcSiI/AAAAAAAAX9w/NC_eqNeIP5k/s1600-h/132468334_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468334_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468334_full" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YWWUFgaURxM/UZK95xLnxpI/AAAAAAAAX94/pNGmwX7TZGc/132468334_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-xfl8VImX3BU/UZK96j0793I/AAAAAAAAX-A/HQushsonmM8/s1600-h/132468356_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468356_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468356_full" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-uL7zjCiYht0/UZK97ZVadSI/AAAAAAAAX-I/eEpSPXeRWFM/132468356_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--Z8f2JzUh9k/UZK98KjOoDI/AAAAAAAAX-Q/AFK9QI3vFVE/s1600-h/132468371_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468371_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468371_full" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rHQtaL98AwU/UZK9897k2BI/AAAAAAAAX-Y/T1FH-LTnS4Q/132468371_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-uq_cjZMNCXU/UZK99nf7s8I/AAAAAAAAX-g/gGw3Ez9I5iY/s1600-h/132468374_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468374_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468374_full" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-65op5xTop9k/UZK9-cOWItI/AAAAAAAAX-o/namT3O7y3c0/132468374_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-pPITInWkVy8/UZK9_HLhCEI/AAAAAAAAX-w/SzZmkb-w02Q/s1600-h/132468382_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468382_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468382_full" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-rsCIQC9MGQo/UZK9_50SQZI/AAAAAAAAX-4/fT7Lzo682jE/132468382_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-UTxL5qBot3k/UZK-Ac4qEcI/AAAAAAAAX_A/oSn4G3S2qC8/s1600-h/132468386_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468386_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468386_full" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-LTw6NI7ieSI/UZK-BLEEQXI/AAAAAAAAX_I/nH_Q5wwMMrY/132468386_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-D3HoGCY5ngE/UZK-CO2NVII/AAAAAAAAX_Q/YfuK9YTnfBM/s1600-h/132468391_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468391_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468391_full" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Pn6NfysSJWQ/UZK-C1aA-QI/AAAAAAAAX_Y/bMac8k_jp5w/132468391_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-iSPWWfiFogM/UZK-DsuL26I/AAAAAAAAX_g/B4UA1ln3KbM/s1600-h/132468398_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468398_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468398_full" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-zkODpEDWIRM/UZK-FIRHXOI/AAAAAAAAX_o/LJMbHD06kfg/132468398_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TdaLfi1fPa4/UZK-F1yj8JI/AAAAAAAAX_w/9YC_odiYhEI/s1600-h/132468401_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468401_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468401_full" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-DrIK41swQAI/UZK-HecTPEI/AAAAAAAAX_4/exVigIWphys/132468401_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-eqpMgDfpOJ0/UZK-IFwcz_I/AAAAAAAAYAA/OWCt3BDPfNQ/s1600-h/132468404_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468404_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468404_full" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-sIgXYvE_oqo/UZK-I2FnM3I/AAAAAAAAYAI/2m5fkbHvjFU/132468404_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-wM5_DIsxsq8/UZK-Jl0rpXI/AAAAAAAAYAQ/-fqkA2WWDbw/s1600-h/132468429_full%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="132468429_full" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="132468429_full" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-NmO46E-38jM/UZK-KahUJBI/AAAAAAAAYAY/W4ncgz_x5wY/132468429_full_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="160" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-D25bbN99m3k/UZK-LFHmoLI/AAAAAAAAYAg/Ce3Pn6On24A/s1600-h/Childrens%252520Realm%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Childrens Realm" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Childrens Realm" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tgH7MRLknZY/UZK-L1joptI/AAAAAAAAYAo/MQrqpOPE1QQ/Childrens%252520Realm_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="160" height="240" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-EeHLjGKdYEw/UZK-MtNg6hI/AAAAAAAAYAw/jxjczXWDd3g/s1600-h/Deck%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Deck" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Deck" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FJyGBNRHEOM/UZK-Nn530oI/AAAAAAAAYA4/g5xVrXYuuJ0/Deck_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="159" /></a></p> Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38874800.post-5910819107539970602013-05-06T13:25:00.000-07:002013-05-06T14:32:27.324-07:00Claude Megson: McMurray Rd townhouse<div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;"><iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://megson.blogspot.com/2013/05/claude-megson-mcmurray-rd-townhouse.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; width:450px; height:80px"></iframe></div><p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://images.trademe.co.nz/photoserver/full/264738429.jpg" width="480" height="322" /></p> <p>At present you have three opportunities to buy a home designed by the late Claude Megson, whose homes sometimes didn’t look much from the outside, but at their best created a world for those within that almost seemed to encompass the whole universe.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-zS3FYqtH1Xs/UYghPhMwTdI/AAAAAAAAXzU/amPJHRp9Tno/s1600-h/264738548%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="264738548" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="264738548" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--CqByyMsjos/UYghQReH3fI/AAAAAAAAXzc/ydzocYOa40o/264738548_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="360" height="240" /></a></p> <p>As British architectural critic Geoffrey Broadbent said of Claude’s work some years ago, </p> <blockquote> <p><font face="Arial">This is work of a very high international standard indeed. ...One is constantly struck by the surprise around the corner, the bright shaft of light penetrating from above into the softer glow of the main living spaces -- especially in Megson' own house – that give his work such very special qualities... <br />There is an essential "rightness" about Megson's spaces, for pleasant occupation by ordinary, normal human beings.</font></p> </blockquote> <p>Consistent with this, and something about which Claude was very proud, once settled in his clients very rarely moved out—as is the case with this home here, where the original owner has lived there for over thirty years!</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-F4A0u8aixjo/UYghRIqcitI/AAAAAAAAXzk/H22f_O3mvJE/s1600-h/264738571%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="264738571" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="264738571" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-kiAnZACzWv0/UYghSRuTO7I/AAAAAAAAXzs/cBCTVb2qojE/264738571_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="360" height="240" /></a></p> <p>This  house is a small and almost original 1970s Remuera townhouse, with a later conservatory addition, currently showing at Open Homes. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-L-GGkgJRjpk/UYghTc0okBI/AAAAAAAAXzw/zf7o0fhlJPY/s1600-h/264738638%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="264738638" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="264738638" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-sdKt4j75VLE/UYghULTdoFI/AAAAAAAAXz8/WsJO825LcEU/264738638_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="360" height="240" /></a></p> <p><a title="A RARE OPPORTUNITY BY CLAUDE MEGSON" href="http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/residential-property-for-sale/auction-586250038.htm" target="_blank">More photos at Trade Me</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ppUssa5wOS8/UYghU93lwjI/AAAAAAAAX0E/QRfvtxBgeIk/s1600-h/264738604%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="264738604" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="264738604" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-IdUHBUD9FBI/UYghVr7HeVI/AAAAAAAAX0M/QH8A2F9rZ-w/264738604_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="360" height="240" /></a></p> <p>PS: Here’s another one in the same block that was recently renovated:</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6OaOeGm2GbY/UYghWcQ06ZI/AAAAAAAAX0U/skpgQ1bU7ro/s1600-h/1%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="1" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-5ubmSdjMPC0/UYghXkinOaI/AAAAAAAAX0c/3Y151DH_0uE/1_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="284" height="200" /></a>   <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-KWeFn5Odvpg/UYghY0NW5YI/AAAAAAAAX0k/k2NCZqxjFDU/s1600-h/3%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="3" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-eYOUbJwE3v0/UYghZ6kqDyI/AAAAAAAAX0s/e45h2_FD590/3_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="393" height="200" /></a></p> Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com0