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| 7.A Southward View of Marine Parade, T&G Building and Masonic Hotel to the Right and Municipal Bandshell and Pergola to the Left |
What can I say about Art Deco a la Napier now that we're back, this time for a three-month stay? I'll confine myself to a few remarks. There are several books and guides available to Art Deco aficionados, as a viewing of Amazon.com or Fishpond.co.nz would suggest. Whatever the guides say, I'll say this: There is no one Napier building in Art Deco style that would compel a visit, perhaps not even by an aficionado.
About a half year ago we were in Spain, which (as it happens) is on the opposite side of the globe from New Zealand. While in Spain we visited Barcelona, which has adopted the still-under-construction La Sagrada Familia Basilica as the city's icon (A Kiwi serves as the basilica project's 'Executive Architect'!). To visit Barcelona without seeing the basilica (at least on the first visit) would be almost crazy or criminal. But while I have my Art Deco favorites in Napier, I've yet to encounter a building here that it would be criminally crazy not to see. No one building, Art Deco or otherwise, in Napier is extraordinary.
About a half year ago we were in Spain, which (as it happens) is on the opposite side of the globe from New Zealand. While in Spain we visited Barcelona, which has adopted the still-under-construction La Sagrada Familia Basilica as the city's icon (A Kiwi serves as the basilica project's 'Executive Architect'!). To visit Barcelona without seeing the basilica (at least on the first visit) would be almost crazy or criminal. But while I have my Art Deco favorites in Napier, I've yet to encounter a building here that it would be criminally crazy not to see. No one building, Art Deco or otherwise, in Napier is extraordinary.
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| 7.B Intersection of Emerson and Dalton Streets in Napier's CBD |
The second thing to be said about Napier a la Art Deco is this: Napier's assemblage of buildings and Napier's built environment in toto constitute Napier's architectural attraction. That assemblage and that environment are extraordinarily pleasing. In essential ways, contra La Sagrada (for example), the Art Deco buildings in Napier are quite ordinary. But--and I mean this as a high compliment--the ordinary in Napier has been done extraordinarily well.
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| 7.C Napier Municipal Theatre Tennyson Street Facade |
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| 7.D Pergola in the Beach Domain with T&G Building on Left across Marine Parade |
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| 7.F Art Deco Centre Fenestration |
Thirdly, Art Deco is hardly the only modern (post-1900) style that's attractive. It's one of several modern styles which recognize that buildings can't be reduced to mere function anymore than men and women can be considered mere machines. Buildings, like people, aren't machines. Yet Art Deco embraces modern technology. It does so, I would argue, while also supporting human longings for beauty, meaning, and remembrance. Hence, within Art Deco there is an allowance for tradition. Art Deco comes in stylized variations like Spanish Mission and Stripped Classical, or even (I suppose) a subdued Italian Renaissance style. Moreover, within Art Deco there is a fondness for ornamentation and bold colours, which vivify Napier's urban palette (despite some contemporary clutter).
Fourthly, the assemblage of Art Deco buildings in Napier has survived because the community has worked to preserve its treasury of buildings and to enhance the environment of Napier. A community-based Art Deco Trust was formed in 1985 to preserve Napier's Art Deco heritage. Of the Art Deco buildings still standing in Napier over 110 are found in the CBD ('Central Business District'), according to an inventory published by the municipality and the Art Deco Trust. Two Art Deco buildings are found in Napier's Taradale district and six in the Ahuriri district. Twenty-four Art Deco buildings were destroyed before Napier's preservation efforts took hold.
Fifthly, it's perhaps understandable that locals might overstate the significance of Napier's Art Deco inheritance. At times Napier has billed itself as the 'Art Deco Capital of the World'. In 2006 interested parties formally launched an effort to have Napier designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its Art Deco treasure. That effort failed in 2011. In merely worldly terms, Napier may not be at the top of the heap. Anyway, what would 'capital of the world' mean in the context of any architectural style?
Sixthly, it's remarkable that a New Zealand town, far from Paris, where Art Deco originated, should in fact be one of the very few places that has an assemblage of Art Deco buildings that rewards a visit. Napier may not be 'The Art Deco Capital of the World' but it is an Art Deco capital. It might be argued that if the earthquake of 1931 hadn't happened, Napier would never have acquired its treasure of Art Deco buildings. But the earthquake happened and by dint of human determination the town's CBD was rebuilt. By design Art Deco prevailed in the rebuilding. Napier has every cause and right to bask in its Art Deco glory.
Finally and no surprise, Napier has turned its circumstance to its advantage, to be sure, luring tourists because of its Art Deco treasure. Yet I sense that, aside from the inevitable commercializing of circumstance (a human trait not to be despised), the community genuinely enjoys celebrating its Art Deco heritage. The celebration is good because, thanks be to God, life can be good. Following below is a YouTube video sales pitch for Napier's Art Deco Weekend, which has been celebrated each February for somewhat over twenty-five years. I've included it in this post not least because it provides interior glimpses I'm otherwise unable to provide. And I hope it suggests the locals, as well as visitors, have fun a la Art Deco.
In a subsequent blogpost I hope to share images of my favorite and not-so-favorite Napier Art Deco buildings. In the meantime and in any event...
Warm regards,
Tim (& Jean)
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| 7.G Stripped Classical vs 'Plain Vanilla' Art Deco along Hastings Street, Napier |
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| 7.H Stripped Classical at 58 Tennyson Street |
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| 7.I Stripped Classical with Maori Motifs at 100 Hastings Street |
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| 7.J 61 Tennyson Street in Italian Renaissance Style |
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| 7.K Hastings Street Facade of the Criterion Hotel in Spanish Mission Style with Clutter at Pedestrian Level |
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| 7.L Masonic Hotel, Tennyson Street Facade |
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| 7.M Facade Detail at Masonic Hotel Entrance |
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| 7.N Masonic Hotel, Marine Parade Facade |
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| 7.O Ellison & Duncan Building, Ahuriri |
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| 7.P Post Office Building, Erected in 1930 and One of the Few CBD Buildings to Survive the 1931 Earthquake |
Sixthly, it's remarkable that a New Zealand town, far from Paris, where Art Deco originated, should in fact be one of the very few places that has an assemblage of Art Deco buildings that rewards a visit. Napier may not be 'The Art Deco Capital of the World' but it is an Art Deco capital. It might be argued that if the earthquake of 1931 hadn't happened, Napier would never have acquired its treasure of Art Deco buildings. But the earthquake happened and by dint of human determination the town's CBD was rebuilt. By design Art Deco prevailed in the rebuilding. Napier has every cause and right to bask in its Art Deco glory.
Finally and no surprise, Napier has turned its circumstance to its advantage, to be sure, luring tourists because of its Art Deco treasure. Yet I sense that, aside from the inevitable commercializing of circumstance (a human trait not to be despised), the community genuinely enjoys celebrating its Art Deco heritage. The celebration is good because, thanks be to God, life can be good. Following below is a YouTube video sales pitch for Napier's Art Deco Weekend, which has been celebrated each February for somewhat over twenty-five years. I've included it in this post not least because it provides interior glimpses I'm otherwise unable to provide. And I hope it suggests the locals, as well as visitors, have fun a la Art Deco.
In a subsequent blogpost I hope to share images of my favorite and not-so-favorite Napier Art Deco buildings. In the meantime and in any event...
Warm regards,
Tim (& Jean)
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| 7.Q Entrance Details, Gladstone Chambers, 50 Tennyson Street |
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| 7.R Hawke's Bay Chambers, 78-82 Emerson Street |
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| 7.S Former State Theatre in Spanish Mission Style and Apricot Splendour, Dalton & Dickens Streets |
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| 7.T 'Spirit of Napier' Statue in Napier's Marine Parade |
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