Then and now (2)

The interviewer moves on from history to design, views and extensions.

Interviewer: Was this a deliberate get-back-nature approach to holidays?

GKN: I thought it good for the family to experience a simple life, a taste of pioneering that early settlers must have faced, if you will. And the lack of any services like electricity drove the project in this direction and didn’t offer any temptations. There was no other choice.

Interviewer: (still shot #2, 3 of GKN cabin) The design has a simple clear profile. It seems to be well-sited, overlooking the water.

GKN: (shot of back timber wall) The back wall, facing south, the cold side is a timber wall, no windows. (shot of glass front and side doors) The west and north sides were sliding glass doors to catch the sun. The morning sun was late to strike (zoom shot of view past jetty down lake towards Mourea) but the view down the lake of the sunsets has been great. Sitting four to five feet up, perched on concrete piles, gave a view of the hot water beach on the peninsula and also allowed boat storage under the house.

Interviewer: (Shot of interviewer) The views are impressive. Can you tell us something about them?

GKN: (insert footage including narration shot 071228 on lake shore panning from Hot Beach to Ohau Channel, past islands, to kayaker entering Hot Stream).

Interviewer: (Shot of interviewer indicating extension) But this one room cabin didn’t stay this way. It has grown.

GKN: (Shot of GKN explaining the first extension.) Needs changed. As the family grew, more rooms were required, so in 1976 the 1^st extension was added. (brief still shot of first extension) This involved the verandah being closed in to become a bedroom, the extension included a bathroom and boatshed being put on the end.

Interviewer: (shot of interviewer) I imagine many people have visited over the years.

GKN: (Shot of GKN in front of cabin) That was the main reason for building it. I saw it as a social place where people could drop by and talk, stay and relax. A whole swag of families stopped by over Christmas and New Year. (still shot of N’s, F’s, & S-Ss) For example, one year, the Fenwicks moored at the jetty and slept on board their launch, the Daph-Ann, and the Somerset-Smiths camped in tents on the lawn. So that was three couples and ten children having a communal holiday. You might say that was a common pattern in New Zealand holidays in the 1960s.

Interviewer: (Shot of interviewer) But it has been extended even more?

GKN: (Shot of GKN in gallery/conservatory) Too right it has. There was the addition in 19— of the main bedroom, the closing in of the deck to make a gallery/sunroom/conservatory, effectively creating sleeping areas for around a dozen people.

Interviewer: (shot looking down lake across jetty) And what have been the most recent developments?

GKN: About 2001, we extended the jetty, it’s a jetty shared with the neighbor, (Shot of GKN standing next door in boat launching area) there haven been easements added to the title so that a sharing of facilities with the property next door, particularly for boat launching, are preserved. (Shot of GKN showing handrail) And most recently there have been small additions like the installation of handrails up steps to assist entry and exit for more elderly guests.

Phantoms of the opera

Opening scene from a Danish adaptation of Phantom of the Opera. Eric and Raoul, Danish engineers, stand looking at the new Copenhagen Opera House across the harbor.

Erik: Do you think it looks like a toaster?

Raoul: Depends on your perspective. Can’t see the slots from here so you can get a sense of what the architect was trying to do.

Erik: No wonder Henning Larsen got annoyed with Moller. Patrons that rich and pushy can crush an architect’s vision.

Raoul: And make them so angry they fall out with the patron and won’t even come to the opening.

Erik: At least Larsen finished the job despite Moller putting bars over the windows. Sydney Opera House had problems too. Another Danish architect Jorn Utzon. But that was more the architect being dogmatic and not communicating well with the New South Wales Public Works over solving the design problems. He wouldn’t compromise and finally up and left.

Raoul: Intriguing symmetry there. One project distorted by a prima donna patron putting his oar in and the other by a prima donna architect demanding too much control and not explaining what he was doing.

Erik: Both them go a bit against the Danish grain of listening to the other fellow, wouldn’t you say?

Raoul: As Hamlet walks Elsinore, so too, will Danish phantoms inhabit opera houses.

...

Designs for a lesser footprint

Attendant: Entry is free but would you fill out the questionnaire?

Curious George: Interesting questions. "Can design change your life?"

Attendant: Can it? Has it?

Curious George: Maybe. Although machines bother me. I keep my TV in a closet and my computer in a desk drawer. Rather than making a statement I think machines should sometimes disappear.

Attendant: Do you think you could live without lights, your laptop, cell phone, your bicycle?

Curious George: Hard. I've evolved into a user of such things.

Attendant: Let me show you a Croatian machine. A portable windmill. Called Wing. A portable generator to run lights, charge cell phone or laptop.

Curious George: Not exactly a design for a fashion statement, but I could live with it if it stayed outside. I like the responsibility of its design concept.

Attendant: This is an exhibition about designs for the spaceship earth. Every time you buy a good you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want to live in.
...