NZ Chinese/Chinese NZ : Auckland architecture's changing response

Abstract

Auckland city once had an area that was collectively known as Chinatown. It existed briefly at the foot of Grey’s Avenue for approximately sixty years from the turn of the century. In the period from 1959 its citizens were dispersed ; some up onto the Hobson Street ridge but most further afield into the Auckland suburbs. This paper briefly reviews that early occupation of Grey Street/Grey’s Avenue and then examines Orient Towers, built in 1988, as an overt example of Chinese architectural influence. Attention crosses back to the late 1950s, the last years of Chinatown, to examine the Auckland Chinese Presbyterian Church as the only remaining architectural evidence of that earlier Chinese presence. The flash-back technique is used to throw the muted oriental tones of the church into relief with the overtly optimistic Chinese-ness of the Orient Towers project. Finally the paper looks at the 2014 Lantern Festival in Albert Park and the way that this event confidently asserts its Chinese-ness through the medium of architecture