New New Zealand Houses by Patrick Reynolds and John Walsh Random House, $90
Trends Inspiring Homes Harper Collins, $59.99
KEY POINTS:
The thin economic years of last century are becoming a memory and the good fat years of this decade are with us, creating an architectural revival.
An age of miracles has dawned. Vast new houses crouch under the Remarkables presenting a phalanx of steel doors towards Coronet Peak. Tough places without artifice are springing up in workaday suburbia, on islands, in the bush and near the coast. Dwelling places have begun to float above estuaries and rivers, majestic in indigenous design but light on the landscape.
Our architecture has become our living art. We are residing in a Kiwi renaissance, a time of great celebration, innovation and prosperity.
And the way we really know this is from two substantial glossy books on new residential architecture released within a few weeks of each other.
The largest and better by far is New New Zealand Houses, a 320-page giant featuring 25 significant places built since 2000. Behind the book is the powerful duo of John Walsh, the talented editor of Architecture New Zealand magazine, and the country's best architectural photographer, Patrick Reynolds. They have produced a book to take your breath away.
The focus is on a short timespan from 2000 yet Walsh and Reynolds have identified an enormous body of new work. Each house features a long and detailed written description, history and analysis which achieves academic standards.
Trends Inspiring Homes covers 22 outstanding homes built since Trends first began publishing its magazines 25 years ago. David Johnson, chairman and publisher of Trends International, said these houses were chosen for their enduring qualities which would still inspire people. The book's format is appealing for its orderly approach. Houses are classified by terrain whereas the Walsh/Reynolds book classifies houses according to architects.
Both books are exquisitely produced with high-quality colour plates.
Iconic architectural practices have also celebrated their work recently, with books on Jasmax, Stephenson & Turner and Warren and Mahoney.
These two new books will find a place alongside that growing body of work cataloguing and rejoicing in our brilliant new architecture.
