John Walsh - A Style Guide to New Zealand Cities

John Walsh is a writer specialising in architecture. He edited Architecture New Zealand magazine from 2002 to 2011 and was managing editor of several leading design magazines before working as communications manager for Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects. He is the author of a dozen books on New Zealand architects and architecture, including City House, Country House: Contemporary New Zealand Homes (2016), Big House, Small House: New Homes by New Zealand Architects (2012) and Home Work: Leading New Zealand Architects’ Own Houses (2010). He edited the publications accompanying the New Zealand exhibition at the 2014 and 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. Latterly, he has written guides to the architecture of Auckland (2021), Wellington (2022) and Christchurch (2023), published by Massey University Press, and with photographer Jane Ussher published Rooms: Portraits of Remarkable New Zealand Interiors.

John’s talk will draw on his recent series of architectural guides to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. He will discuss the most significant buildings in each city, their architectural heritage and style and also talk about the architects who designed them. John will talk about how growth, changes in economic fortune, seismic evens and civic carelessness have impacted on the architecture of each city.