On architectural experience
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My NZ architectural background and training is a lot more diverse than my UK colleagues, meaning I can complete multiple tasks associated with a project’s program and can shadow a project from commencement through to completion. Amanda Hervey, London
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The skills I gained from working mostly on small-scale projects in NZ do seem to translate well to the work I am doing now, although I am yet to get any corrugated iron into the Shard of Glass, much as I have tried. Grant Bannatyne, London
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There’s an element of innovation through budgetary necessity in NZ projects, and I think my work is influenced somewhat by the element of DIY and craft in putting things together that is apparent in a lot of NZ architecture. Fiona Young, Sydney
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My work is influenced by the construction techniques and detailing I learned in NZ to combat the extremely wet conditions.
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Oliver Ingram, Melbourne
I manage to sneak in quite a few little details that betray my NZ heritage. We used the “Canterbury prickle” detail on our Cypress project. And we have used (on several projects) a detail of stainless steel and seratone in showers that I remember from my childhood. Ed Haysom, Brisbane
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Being there
There are possibilities for cultural exchange beyond the dreaded brain drain. Peter Johns reflects on the experience of the expat architect. OE
Homesickness
“OE has gone from being a response to New Zealand’s historical relationship
Four years into my migration, the lack of access to the New Zealand conversation
with Great Britain to being a cultural phenomenon in its own right, a
and the expense of phone calls and flights left me feeling disconnected. These
quintessential Kiwi activity albeit occurring outside New Zealand.”
feelings coincided with a surge in the growth of the internet and, looking
Jude Wilson, Lincoln University
around the web, I realized that this platform might enable me to reacquaint myself a little with the homeland and architectural discourse in general.
Not that one should believe everything one reads on Wikipedia, but it does
In early 2000, butterpaper.com was launched, with hopes of tying
say on its “Overseas Experience” page that, while large numbers of Kiwis live
together architecture news and resources from both sides of the Tasman, to
and work in Australia (355,765 in 2005), this is “generally not considered to
throw some ropes across. Architects in Melbourne knew more about what
be an OE.” Maybe Australia is considered not different enough, or perhaps
was happening in Japan than across the ditch. This had a lot to do with
people are presumed to come here not for an “experience,” but for different,
the media available then – an A+U was easier to get your hands on than
longer-lasting reasons. Our survey of over two hundred New Zealand
an Architecture NZ. A few times I dropped an issue on the work table and
architects and graduates overseas might support this. Only 31% of expats in
the responses were always positive, but with teasing bemusement that New
Australia definitely intend to return, compared to 51% in the UK and 50% in
Zealand even had an architectural culture. Those friendly knockdowns have
the US. Australia is also the most popular destination for architects outgoing.
pretty much vanished in recent years I’m pleased to report.
There is no consistency in reasons given for leaving New Zealand, but
The website certainly led to a reengagement with architecture. But,
some periods were more popular than others for departures. The late nineties
disappointing for me, the interest was from within Australia and far-flung
and 2008 were the most popular years for jetting off. My departure date was
places like the US, Italy and Spain. Despite the New Zealand content, it
27 February 1995, when I shifted to Melbourne. I came for sixteen reasons,
never received many Kiwi visitors, despite the dearth of local architectural
which distill down to the twenty-five-year old me just wanting to work on big
sites back then. Perhaps it was not quite kosher for me to post New Zealand
buildings in a big city. I made some friends and fell into a job at Denton Corker
news from Melbourne – not that that stopped me. The website languishes a
Marshall, working on small corners of large metallic buildings, earning 70%
bit as demand on my time increases elsewhere. I like to get behind the news
more than I had in Auckland the year before. The glue had started to set; I was
rather than just regurgitate it, and that requires hours that I no longer seem
on the road to becoming a permanent resident.
to possess. 2.2011 architecturenz
41
“
The fact that NZ design tends to look toward external influences while establishing a local identity has proven to be a good grounding for planning and urban design and seeing the bigger picture and understanding the need to create local identity. Damian Patience, Tokyo
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It’s about less formality, breaking the rules, ignoring hierarchy where it should be ignored, do it yourself. Brendan MacFarlane, Paris
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On attitude
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It’s my belief that New Zealand’s fringe is built on an overall paradoxical character of doubt and bravado, epitomised in such pieces as, say, Beaven’s Lyttleton Tunnel Authority Building. Michael Spooner, Melbourne
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My practice name (Number 8 Studio) is an obvious kiwi-ism and my approach owes a lot to my background, both in a design and theory sense and also in a practical sense. Steven Phillips, Dublin
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Respect for landscape and topography of any type – even the industrial ex-coalmine craters in East Germany, which went hand-in hand with my interest in urban design. Perhaps my fascination for the metropolis and my love of the European city still has something to do with the lack of this urban density and diversity in New Zealand cities. Nancy Couling, Lausanne
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New directions Building that homesick website and then writing for it opened doors in my
for land. In the inner city, land instead becomes a constraint, a set of geotech,
career that I could not have predicted. My business has broadened to include
termite and contour reports – though maybe that isn’t too different from
web design and writing. Who would have thought. The jolt of a physical and
Auckland nowadays.
cultural shift seems to have bumped a few of our respondents straight out of architecture. Landing in a different city inserts you randomly into a different
Do it yourself
crowd with different interests and needs. Most of our respondents are still
“Weirdly, the light- and open-ness of NZ architecture is also something that is
working in architecture, but about 20% report that they are working in the arts,
always present. Especially in the UK, which has no light and more corridors
construction, digital services and the media.
and doors than a Kafka novel.” Marc Campbell, London
Land “By practising architecture in several continents and within different cultures
One of our questions asked how respondents felt they were influenced by
my architectural solutions are designed to respect the location and culture
their “New Zealand architectural backgrounds.” Most answered this with a
within which they sit, successfully address sustainability and explore the uses
mix of cultural, educational and practice influences, with just a few referring to
of material, textures, light and shade. These are elements that were embedded
land and climate. Most mentioned traits they felt were particular to the Kiwi.
in my architectural training and practising in New Zealand.” Kathryn Roughan, Tanzania
The expat architect is forced, in the early years at least, to compare New Zealand ways with foreign ways on a daily basis, and this inevitably leads us to ponder what it is to be a New Zealander and how that makes us different.
The architect émigré loses a native’s first-hand connection to place, climate,
Many respondents had similar thoughts on how they and their fellow Kiwis
culture – all vital ingredients in the development of the architect’s way. Some
compared. Responses were littered with phrases like “DIY instinct,” “ability
shrug this off; some make an effort to understand their new foreign home.
to jump in the deep end,” and there were many mentions of our “work ethic.”
At Auckland University in the late eighties and early nineties, there was
Some thought that they had a broader grounding in architecture than their
an emphasis on the connection between architecture and the physical and
foreign peers and put this down to the nature of their architectural education.
cultural histories of a site. These narratives informed the design. In Melbourne
It was striking how these responses recalled, often with some
it’s hard to think the same way. The city is a nineteenth-century blanket
embarrassment and perhaps a little nostalgia, the mythical traits of the man
smothering ancient landscape and cultures. It was designed to make expats
alone – self-sufficiency, an ability to “get on with it” no matter how daunting
feel at home. Working upon this blanket, there cannot be the same respect
the task, and a refusal to get rattled. A stoicism.
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architecturenz 2.2011
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A number of my colleagues are from Europe, and you can feel the burden of history they carry; whereas coming from New Zealand we are liberated from this and can only look forward. I think in a strange way being so far removed from the international discourse is actually quite helpful. It means I was forced to form my own opinions, find my own way of doing things, and avoided being trapped in the politics of international design. Daniel Davis, Melbourne
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Seeing possibilities, innovating, while also being practical and able to turn possibilities into reality. Seeing friends, colleagues, doing their own building: hands-on, engaged, which seems less common in other countries. Willingness to ‘give it a go’ is not fostered in countries with a more litigious culture. Jill Shepherd, Massachusetts
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People (especially expat Kiwis) are fond of describing NZ as ‘a small pond filled with a lot of big fish.’ Growing up in such close proximity to your heroes does tend to lead to all kinds of presumptuousness. Maitiú Ward, Melbourne
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I like to think that the simplicity of New Zealand construction and lack of preciousness are traits I have carried with me. Yet I am bored by discussion of a search for an identifiable ‘New Zealand Architecture.’ Jonathan Rennie, Los Angeles
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NZers have the ocean and the mountains and a special blended Maori/Pacific/Asian culture that doesn’t seem to exist in the same way elsewhere. Daniel Lewis, London
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Guilt and alienation “Maybe [they] have been away for too long.”
tax-payer money being educated in New Zealand then working elsewhere. But
Comment in Architecture NZ 6.2010
by being a fairly noisy New Zealander away from home, I hope I’ve helped build interest in the country and its architecture. Articles in the press about the
My Kiwi expat friends wonder sometimes if they are becoming less Kiwi – that
brain drain to Australia don’t account for the “backwash” that these overseas
they are taking on too many Aussie traits, becoming Transtasmanians. Most
connections can generate. This backwash can’t be tangibly measured, so it
don’t like the thought of becoming unmoored from the mothership. “Do we
is easier for the media to see us as a cost rather than a potential benefit to
still know New Zealand? Do we still belong? Can we be a part of the New
New Zealand.
Zealand conversation?” The editing of this special issue of Architecture NZ from Melbourne is a case in point. Its theme is one of few we felt we had any
Internet
rights to.
The earthquake was brought closer to my new home by the web. I could
Other triggers for this distancing include being told that you sound
see and hear every frightening thing that an Aucklander could. This rapid
Australian/English/American, marrying or buying property, or realizing at a
broadening and cheapening of international communications means that we
certain point that you no longer have the right knowledge to work in a New
expats not only have a heightened connection to New Zealand’s pulse, but
Zealand architectural practice. I picked up a light Australian accent to avoid
there is now an opportunity to participate in a borderless New Zealand, to
the endless sheep jokes at work. I didn’t like being seen as a Kiwi first, person
contribute to the pulse.
second. Now I would like that accent back.
In my own practice, email and the cloud have replaced faxes and the post. It is now technologically easier to practise in New Zealand without being there
“Increasingly, there are people like me, who live in several countries, have
all the time. While my last house in Auckland was in construction, the client
complex identities and feel allied to more than one culture. We live in what
would be my eyes on site, walking around with her laptop outstretched and
Edward Said called ‘a general condition of homelessness.’ These new forms
passing me live video via Skype. Since 2002, I have worked on ten or twenty
of nomadism will shape the culture of the new century in unpredictable ways.”
houses around New Zealand, mostly in association with my father, architect
Robyn Davidson, Quarterly Essay 24
Chris Johns. This wouldn’t have been possible without the PDF and email. Google Documents now offers even more tools for international collaboration.
I hope my slow removal from things Kiwi and toward things foreign
So it should be getting easier for me to work in New Zealand from here
hasn’t made me less of a New Zealander, just more of something else. In
but, alas, where technology assists international work, regulations are on a
melancholic moments I wonder if I’ve let the side down by leaving, or wasted
different tack. Not without reason they are becoming more complex, onerous, 2.2011 architecturenz
43
On process
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It’s more in the process than the product: 1. a Kiwi DIY attitude toward the architect as contractor manifest as design-build. This engagement in the build liberates one’s idea as to building materials; 2. An inclination toward drawing-based and analogue modelling to augment digital-based tools such as Photoshop and CAD; 3. tāngata whenua: raises issues of whether site specificity has value, landscape as building material. Anthony Hoete, London
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My process is still really informed by my architectural education. The problem-solving approach, rigour and attitude of ‘learning how to learn’ has been valuable in realising a wide range of projects … I really miss swimming in the sea. Chris Cottrell, Edinburgh
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Vancouver is in many ways part of that ‘new world’ and similarly far less culturally and architecturally established than other East Coast cities and many other cities in the world. I like the idea that I can contribute to the making of a relatively young city. Mark Ritchie, West Vancouver
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My professional work ethic is influenced by my NZ background. My architectural design influences are international. Debra Penn, Dubai
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and localized. My hope of extending my practice back into New Zealand is
Architects working overseas for extended periods gain all manner
becoming less achievable, as my head will soon reach a point when it cannot
of experiences in all sorts of construction. Most of our expat architects
absorb more code.
responded that they are frequently in New Zealand, paying at least an annual visit. I wonder how these visits could be made more useful to the local
Networks
profession? To make any use of the architectural diaspora, it needs to be
“It may be that some way of harnessing the potential of New Zealanders
known and listed. Through our own networks we have tracked down over two
overseas can be found. While many commentators look favourably on the
hundred who have responded, and a lot who didn’t. Should a more official
possibility [...] there seems to be little in the way of concrete suggestions for
list be compiled?
what might be done or how.” New Zealand Treasury working paper “Brain Drain or Brain Exchange,” 2001
Coming back Many of our overseas architects profess a desire to return, but don’t seem too
I have met many New Zealanders here, including architects. We work
sure how to go about it. Of those who left after 2006, 59% are quite sure that
together, get one another jobs, do competitions together. A New Zealand
they will return. Only 31% of those who left before 1992, are determined to
background acts as a sort of glue between expats. “New Zealand” comes to
come back. Ten years away seems to be the switching point when more want
mean more than a physical place; it’s its people too. We cover the globe and
to stay than return. After that, “they have been away too long.” Being away can
are becoming increasingly well connected through social media services like
render an architect too highly specialized in an obscure field, or cause them
Facebook and LinkedIn. This new networking means that the diaspora isn’t
to be lacking the current day-to-day knowledge that would enable them to slot
as disparate as it was – it is increasingly bound. The internet has created
back into a Kiwi career at an appropriate level. Having one’s life and livelihood
a virtual New Zealand encircling Aotearoa, with a population approaching
happily entangled in another country doesn’t help either.
500,000 – larger than Christchurch. These people have connected into their
Even after years away, more people answered that they may return than
new countries, marrying, having children, setting up businesses. Half of them
those who answered that they wouldn’t. Many of these answers sounded
have taken on another citizenship. Once emigrants were like the ghosts
rather wistful, as if they would like to return but can’t see it happening.
of New Zealand, becoming just memories and letters from distant places.
I hope that this special issue of Architecture NZ rekindles memories of
Modern-day communications have changed that. Now they help hook New
people long forgotten and shows that most are alive and kicking and doing
Zealand into the world in realtime.
interesting work. And if any conclusions can be made from our survey, one is that the diaspora knows where its home is.
“We worry too much about their leaving, or whether they’re coming back, and we don’t worry enough about their role in New Zealand now.” Alan Gamlen, NZ Listener, 2006, Vol 204 No 3451 44
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