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Added on 24 Sep 2013. Last read 5 minutes ago.

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    • Hundreds killed by Boko Haram - how many column inches does this generate?
      • It has been a horror filled week with over a dozen people murdered in France and now news of the Boko Haram massacre. Every life that has been lost by evil terrorists should be mourned. The respective treatment of these two bits of news is interesting. Whilst the terrible events in France have been given wall to wall coverage, the latest events in Nigeria only merit a relatively small article in the back section of the World section of today's Sunday Star Times right next to a large photograph of Benedict Cumberbatch. Why do the mainstream media continue to give greater weight to lives lost in Europe than in Africa? This criticism has been made many times and yet the media continue to tell the stories of those who they deem to be "like us". At a time of declining sales and attacks from citizen journalists, some in the media need to do a better job of telling the news. There is a place for the professional journalist, definitely, but this kind of treatment does not do anyone credit.

    • Good infill
      • Infill housing deservedly gets a bad rap, but here's a great example on The Terrace in Wellington. If more could be built like that, we would make faster progress to a truly medium density city.

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    • My favourite Wellington buildings - Spinks Cottage
      • This lovely cottage on Dixon Street, Te Aro, is located close to the house that I was brought up in. An attractive companion to the historic church, I'm pleased that a proposal a few years ago to lift it up and include a modern addition failed.

    • New home for Xero - a good heritage solution?
      • Generally a positive news story here. The old Manthel Motors building on the corner of Taranaki and Wakefield Streets is to become the new home of Wellington superstar Xero. The project will cost $30m so a significant amount of money is being pumped into the Wellington economy. The new building will be five green stars and the developer is to use an innovative outer skin fabric called Stamisol which will attempt to hide the new part of the building during the day to allow viewers to focus on the older part of the building. It will be interesting to see how this outer skin is received by the public and professionals and the heritage community given the plan is to demolish the two story building and build a five story building behind the historic facade. We need to guard against facadism, the fabric of a heritage building behind the facade may not be as attractive but it is part of the story of the building. I have a degree of ambivalence about combining a bigger building with a smaller one, the proportions need to work and I'm not entirely sure they do. However, it will breathe life into an old building and provide accommodation for a growing business so something to be celebrated. Photo courtesy of dompost.co.nz (supplied by the developer)

    • The tide is turning and Green is becoming mainstream
      • Today, I felt optimistic as I sat in a room of property developers and other related professionals to talk about the future of the Northern end of the CBD including a small part of Thorndon, there was no talk of flyovers, denial of climate change and the inequality that exists througout the world. Instead the vision was for a city that is mixed culturally, socially and economically and where sustainability is built into every aspect of life. Here is an example below: Malmo in Sweden. The collective vision was for a new kind of city - not based on motorways and sprawling homes and to be created within 10 years as the pace of change accelerates. These ideas once the preserve of Greenies are now very mainstream. Now we just need to wait for some politicians to catch up. Photo courtesy of fanpop.com

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