ARCHITECTURE DOESN’T ARRIVE ALL AT once. There’s a lot to unpack and hang, ribbons to cut, names to gift. Such welcoming celebrations are important for community, yet it is worth reflecting that we rarely wear the same wardrobe from one event to another while increasingly asking buildings to dress for a multitude of functions. As sustainable programming catalogues a whole new look, we can’t forget what we are packaging.
In our bigger cities, public buildings regularly standalone in their individuality; library can dress as library, gallery as gallery. But such finery isn’t so readily available in provincial centres where the freeflowing often mix and match with other straighter attires. All sorts of outfits seem to be racked together. Libraries with council receptions seem the fashion, no doubt thanks to the social servicing skills they provide. Somehow, art galleries avoid the messier overtones that come with sorting out why the rubbish hasn’t been collected – presumably through not yet lending out artworks like books and other bedside reading essentials, like power tools.
Take the question architecturally to the boxing and it’s clear It is amongst these discussions of what goes with what that Warren and Mahoney collates Blenheim’s library and art gallery together within the new shared building: Te Kahu o Waipuna.
