City Guide: Whakatū Nelson
Whakatū Nelson has always been a place apart. The city was established in 1841 as the New Zealand Company’s second settlement, positioned in large part because of its natural port. The city’s geography has continued to define its evolution. Like most parts of the country, it has its own history of dodgy land deals and bloodshed, notably the ‘Wairau Affray’ of 1843, in which several of Nelson’s colonial leaders were among a party killed by Ngāti Toa while pushing to survey land that had not been legally purchased. In later years, the region’s favourable climate and natural abundance made it an important centre for horticulture, agriculture and fishery. The promise of easy living also attracted communes, pioneers in pottery and other crafts, and wealthy escapees from the north, with the lingering hippy vibe presumably underlying its recent emergence as a hotbed of anti-vax sentiment.
As in other aspects of history, Nelson’s architectural evolution became a branch somewhat separate from the rest of the country. While it is the same as-the-crow-flies distance from Wellington as is Palmerston North, the connection is no simple road trip or train ride. Nelson does have projects by big city architects, from Frederick de Jersey Clere’s 1901 School of Music to Athfield Architects’ 1998 library at NMIT, but the disconnection meant that, unlike many other provincial centres, where all the plum commissions were scooped
