Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki is seismic success with its Maori soul
Cherished landmark takes on 'forest-style' appearance and wins World Building of Year award - despite being in earthquake zone
Logic will get you from A to B: imagination will take you everywhere, said Albert Einstein.
Australian architecture firm Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT) looked upon Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki and saw beyond the walls, upon which artworks had been hung for more than a century, to gaze deeper into New Zealand's soul.
They drew inspiration from the natural landscape - in the organic forms of native pohutukawa trees in the adjacent Albert Park and in the beautiful timbers of ancient kauri trees, both species revered in Maori folklore.
The architects began to imagine how they could honour those values in a NZ$120 million (HK$777 million) extension and restoration of one of New Zealand's most cherished public buildings.
In partnership with Auckland-based architect firm Archimedia, they came up with a design that has just been awarded World Building of the Year.
The title, judged by a jury including Ken Tadashi Oshima of The University of Washington (chairman); Ken Yeang, formerly of Llewelyn Davies Yeang; Patrick Bellew, of Atelier Ten; Jeanne Gang, of Studio Gang Architects; and Dietmar Eberle, of Baumschlager Eberle, was awarded at the World Architect Festival in Singapore on October 4.
