New Zealand architecture (Christchurch in particular)
Written in response to an e-mail from a foreign architect, considering migration to New Zealand ...
New Zealand is a fairly well-developed country, although the population is pretty small -- only 3 million in the whole country, with about 350,000 in Christchurch -- so things are on a much smaller scale than you will be used to if you're from a bigger city.
I'm afraid I can't really compare housing well, as I've lived here all my life and haven't seen much else, but I can tell you that most people live in detached housing -- i.e. a house on a section of land rather than an apartment building or a flat built together with many others.
Older housing has no insulation - COLD - but newer (less than 10 years old) houses are quite comfortable to live in.
There are 5-6 tall buildings (around 10 storeys) in Christchurch, but no "skyscrapers". Here's a picture I took in town recently:
Cashel Street
Most of the landscape looks more like this -- the occasional 4-6
storey building, surrounded by single storey buildings:
CTV building
Here's a car park:
Inner city car park
And a restaurant:
Alva Rados
Right now there is a housing boom, and there is a LOT of building going on. It might collapse in the next few years, though, so I wouldn't bet your future on it continuing.
... more like this: [New Zealand]
New Zealand is a fairly well-developed country, although the population is pretty small -- only 3 million in the whole country, with about 350,000 in Christchurch -- so things are on a much smaller scale than you will be used to if you're from a bigger city.
I'm afraid I can't really compare housing well, as I've lived here all my life and haven't seen much else, but I can tell you that most people live in detached housing -- i.e. a house on a section of land rather than an apartment building or a flat built together with many others.
Older housing has no insulation - COLD - but newer (less than 10 years old) houses are quite comfortable to live in.
There are 5-6 tall buildings (around 10 storeys) in Christchurch, but no "skyscrapers". Here's a picture I took in town recently:
Cashel Street
Most of the landscape looks more like this -- the occasional 4-6
storey building, surrounded by single storey buildings:
CTV building
Here's a car park:
Inner city car park
And a restaurant:
Alva Rados
Right now there is a housing boom, and there is a LOT of building going on. It might collapse in the next few years, though, so I wouldn't bet your future on it continuing.