The Auckland Architects Association has rubbished the first re-drafted Queens Wharf design as "a knee-jerk ‘lipstick on the pig' token Polynesian dress up", and suggests a different approach is needed to the wharf's redesign.The government
The Auckland Architects Association has rubbished the first re-drafted Queens Wharf design as "a knee-jerk ‘lipstick on the pig’ token Polynesian dress up", and suggests a different approach is needed to the wharf's redesign.
The government is currently reviewing four redrafted designs for Queen’s Wharf, after it tossed out the entries it received with Auckland Regional Council calling them “lacklustre, underwhelming and mediocre.”
However new feedback is not much more positive, at least from one industry body.
The Auckland Architects Association said the one design which details have been put forward on – a joint effort from Jasmax and Architectus – as a rushed patch up of the previous design.
“[It is] a knee-jerk ‘lipstick on the pig’ token Polynesian dress up, resulting from a flawed competition that sentences our Wharf to be locked up in ongoing commercial use for the foreseeable future,” the Association’s spokesman Adam Mercer of Mercer and Mercer Architects said.
The plan presented by Jasmax and Architectus includes a four level building with cafes, overseas passenger terminal and cruise ship facilities, a slanted roof and public area with grass.
The Auckland Architect's Association called for the iconic red fence to be removed and a comprehensive waterfront revamp proposal put forward instead of knocking something up in time to entertain rugby-enthusiast tourists.
“Rather than another commercial interest barrier between the city and harbor, Auckland deserves a genuine Harbor City connection and this budget would be better spent on opening up the cities actual water frontage for public use along Quay St,” Mr Mecer said.
“Get rid of the red fence.”
Details of the designs and response of authorities will be released in the coming weeks.
