Beyond the Edge Beyond the Bar: 15.06 Napier: Art Deco & Deco Renaissance

6.A Memorial Cenotaph in 'Memorial Place' along Marine Parade

Napier has a good reputation and deservedly so. As I've previously said (in Blogpost 14.07), that reputation partly stems from its numerous structures built in the Art Deco era. This architectural legacy arises from the fact that Napier's Central Business District (CBD) and certain outlying areas had to be rebuilt following the great earthquake that occurred on 3 February 1931.

At one time I'd contemplated writing a blogpost highlighting my favorite Napier 'Art Deco' buildings. Such highlighting would have rested on a thorough survey of all putative Art Deco structures to be found in Napier. There is such a survey (here). But as I thumbed through that survey and as I became more familiar with Napier's heritage, it became apparent that more than a few buildings in the Art Deco survey weren't strictly speaking Art Deco. Rather, they were erected in the 1930s and '40s, when Art Deco was the prevalent style. Napier may choose to call this heritage 'Art Deco' but I choose to call it 'Deco Renaissance', a term that serves to group those buildings erected during Napier's great rebuilding, when Art Deco was prevalent.

Call it what you will, Napier has reason to cherish, preserve, and further embellish its Deco Renaissance heritage. To speak of the rebuilding of Napier isn't to suggest the town was entirely flattened in 1931. It wasn't. Rather, the most severe devastation took place in the CBD. Even in the CBD there were survivals.

As good a place as any to see this is what I regard as the heart of Napier, what I call Memorial Place, shown in the photo above. 'Memorial Place' is the name I've given—the natives don't seem to have one—for the small plaza that hosts memorials to Napier's war dead. It's just north of Napier's i-Site on the west side of Marine Parade. One of the survivors of the quake was the memorial cenotaph erected in memory of the fallen of World War I (which was restored after the earthquake). Here's a photo of the lion at the base of the cenotaph.

6.B Lion at Base of War Memorial Cenotaph,
Memorial Place, Napier

Napier's cultural center—MTG Hawke's Bay—faces Memorial Place. MTG stands for 'Museum Theatre Gallery'. The MTG's present facade and entrance exemplifies what I call 'jewel box' architecture, open and airy but with nary a touch of the Deco Renaissance of Napier's heritage. Walking to the west side of the MTG, one can see the previous, vault-like entrance to the cultural center, which now merely serves as an emergency exit. All things considered, the jewel box entrance was an enhancement to the MTG building and to its immediate environs.

6.C Entrance to MTG Hawke's Bay

6.D Former Entrance to MTG Hawke's Bay

Works of art are to be found in the MTG. Such works are also placed about Napier. They vary in merit and vary in the merit of their placement. The photo below shows a well placed 'pot of flowers'. It may not be a serious work of art, but not all art, even public art, must be serious. The pot is big, but it's light and festive and its 'flowers' change with the seasons.

6.E Napier CBD Streetscape, Emerson & Market Streets

Just as not every building can or should be a stunning work of art, there's room in public art for gestures toward the beautiful, even mere jests.

6.F Jesting Art Fronting Napier i-Site (Upper) and Fronting a Parking Garage (Lower)

6.G Backside Mural on a Countdown Supermarket

The pedestrian, capricious placement of transient or jesting art can be part of their charm and beauty. Such placement, however, is unsuitable for art of arguably greater merit. Regrettably, Memorial Place may be becoming a knickknack cupboard for the meritorious. The 'Gold of the Kowhai' piece, shown below, deserves a more conspicuous spot than its recent placement at the backside of Memorial Place. It doesn't thematically fit here. To be sure, the kowhai serves unofficially as the national flower, but red poppies in New Zealand, as elsewhere, have come to be used to remember the war dead. Napier has plenty of roundabouts where the Gold of Kowhai could be better appreciated and where, indeed, it could serve as a landmark. Speaking of landmarks, the other photo below (Excuse the poor quality, please) depicts a fountain and statue erected in 1971 to honor the spirit of Napier. It is well placed in the Marine Parade beachfront 'domain' (Kiwiese for an urban park).

6.H 'The Gold of the Kowhai' Sculpture (2014) in Memorial Place (Left);
'Spirit of Napier' Fountain (1971) along Marine Parade (Right)

The Spirit of Napier Fountain raises the issue: Why don't we see in Napier more contemporary structures built in one of the Deco Renaissance styles? Some of the styles, as you'll see below, would be too expensive to replicate now. But others, like pure Art Deco, wouldn't appear to be prohibitively expensive to embrace. Whether there might ever be a revival of Art Deco (in Napier or elsewhere) is an open question. I've seen one revival attempt in greater Napier, in the Taradale district. I'll give the McDonald's franchise an 'A' for effort, but the execution of the exterior leaves much to be desired (I've not been inside).

6.I Touted as the World's Only Art Deco McDonalds, in Taradale, Napier

Perhaps one of the more striking things in the photo above is the pavement. You'll see lots of special paving in Napier (and in other New Zealand places) on pedestrian crossings or abutting them. The mild climate permits this kind of installation. I like Napier's Art Deco pavement street signs, placed during Napier's renaissance (See Blogpost 13.03 for a photo of an Art Deco manhole cover). The few pavement signs are to be found in Napier's CBD.

6.J Napier Streetname Pavement Inlays

Marine Parade and Tennyson Street intersect in the vicinity of the Masonic Hotel. The hotel is one of my favorite structures, in part because it has so many faces. The face shown below might cause travelers to imagine they're standing on a plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

6.K Masonic Hotel Marine Parade Facade

Here below are photos of another impressive hotel, the County Hotel, occupying one of the two major CBD structures to survive the 1931 earthquake (The other was the post office building). The structure survived but the exterior was modified somewhat following the earthquake. The colour, the ornament, the rhythm of the County Hotel facades make it one of the most engaging Napier buildings.

6.L The County Hotel, 12 Browning Street

Just south of the County Hotel is 'Archies Bunker', an Art Deco backpackers' hostel. The name is amusing and clever. The design is pleasing.

4.M 'Archies Bunker', 14 Herschell St

One could walk in any of several directions from Memorial Place and come upon good design. Bear with me and we'll bear mostly west on Tennyson. I'll let the photos below set the pace.

6.N The Daily Telegraph Building, 49 Tennyson Street

6.O Daily Telegraph Building Bas Relief and Fenestration Details

6.P Munster Chambers, 59 Tennyson Street:

As if it had been dropped into Napier from Belgium or Holland.

6.Q Scinde Building, 71 Tennyson Street

6.R Scinde Building Detail

6.S Sculpted Apron below a Scinde Building Window

6.T Former Napier Central Fire Station, 163 Tennyson Street

There's plenty more in the CBD, but I won't pretend to offer a catalogue. Before leaving the CBD, though, let's pause before the McClurg Building, with its beautiful upper story windows.

6.U Upper Fenestration on McClurg Building, 116 Hastings Street

Except for some postscript photos taken in or along the Marine Parade Beach Domain, I'll close out this post with some views of Deco Renaissance buildings in Napier's Ahuriri district. First below is a picture of a building on West Quay now serving, like so many buildings on West Quay, as a bistro and bar.

6.V NZ Shipping Co Ltd Building, 60 West Quay, Ahuriri

Next I'd like you to take a look at an Ahuriri building originally erected (but no longer occupied) by the National Tobacco Co. Ltd. The building's architect worked under the inspiration of the 'father of skyscrapers', American architect Louis Sullivan. Obviously, this Ahuriri building is no skyscraper. But it's hardly pedestrian. It has what must be one of the most magnificent doorways in New Zealand, a doorway of note in any event. The building is a destination for tour buses but I confess I've only recently gone inside. The doorway seems sufficient cause to admire what otherwise might be a largely unremarkable building.

6.W National Tobacco Company Ltd Building, Ahuriri, Napier

6.X Entrance Detail, National Tobacco Company Ltd Building

There's more to be said about Napier than could be captured in the few pictures I've shared. But I hope you get the sense that Napier's heritage of buildings and artifacts speak volumes. That they continue to do so speaks well for the efforts of Napier's citizens to maintain them.

Warm regards,
Tim (& Jean)

PS Urban parks, among other things, are a form of urban art. In consonance with so many places in New Zealand, Napier is a good practitioner and proponent of the art of park-making. New Zealand's park practices stem from the country's British heritage, I believe. In any event here below are some shots of the Beach Domain, which fronts Napier's Marine Parade.