I hold a strong interest in both urban design, graphic design and photography. 

My interest in urban design and urbanism initially began through a voluntary association with the non-government umbrella organisation Community Housing Aotearoa (CHA) that later saw me take up a part-time role as CHA’s communications manager for two years.

At around the same time I was drawn into a working relationship with urban designer James (Jim) Lunday that cemented my passion for ‘all things urban’. I first worked on a casual basis for Jim as a ghost writer and editor for his former company Common Ground Studio in 2009-2010, and later joined his urban strategy team at Regenerate Christchurch for a short-term project involving a mix of historical research and community consultation in 2017.

A decade of diverse writing

My reportage of topics related to urban design has continued for nigh on 10 years across many different forms and formats – from articles to essays.

The number of ‘news’ articles related to urbanism and design I have written over the last decade is approaching 100, and counting.

The list of articles below have been published by the following publications/ websites: ArchitectureNow (32 articles), Idealog (16), Scoop.co.nz (6), Urban (5), Newsroom_Plus (5), Prodesign (4), The Fifth Estate (2), Landscape Architecture (2), Build (2), Good (1), Celsias (1), Parity/ HousingWorks (1), UrbanismNZ2018 (1).

URBANISM

• Talking transport in Te Upoko o te Ika (for Talk Wellington)
• Will the planets align for our new Ministry of Housing and Urban Development? (Idealog)
• Joining the dots on urbanism (ArchitectureNow)
• Jonathan Rose: Bringing cities to life (ArchitectureNow)
• Urban is the answer: The life’s work of Jonathan F. P. Rose (UrbanismNZ2018)
• Urbanism NZ event primed to provoke (ArchitectureNow)
• Does your building have a hero’s cape? (Idealog)
• Knitted together by earthquakes (Wellington.Scoop)
• A curatorial architect: Sir David Adjaye (Idealog)
• University of Otago Childcare Centre (ArchitectureNow)
• Taking car parks for a spin (ArchitectureNow)
• Walk2Work Day (ArchitectureNow)
• Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (ArchitectureNow)
• Inside Gehry (ArchitectureNow)
• Seeing something in a new way (ArchitectureNow)
• Film for thought (ArchitectureNow)
• Weaving together matauranga Maori and urban design (Idealog)
• Seeing the future shape of cities through a foreign policy lens (Idealog)
• Naked walls and rooftops turn green with envy (Idealog)
• Setting the scene for green building (Idealog)
• The one discipline we all share: Memory Studies (Idealog)
• ‘What could go right?’ The question every business should be asking (Idealog)
• Empire State Building owner talks energy efficient retrofits and dishes out some advice to John Key (Idealog)
• Finding common ground on sustainable cities (ArchitectureNow)
• Urban planning gunned down by Productivity Commission (ArchitectureNow)
• Productivity Commission lands a whopper report on housing affordability (ArchitectureNow)
• Lifting perceptions with Green Star (ArchitectureNow)
• New agenda set for creating a sustainable Wellington (Idealog)
• Vancouver at the vanguard (ArchitectureNow)
• Newtown Park apartments (ArchitectureNow)
• The Building Intelligence Group (ArchitectureNow)
• Green Property lessons for New Zealand from the USA (ArchitectureNow)
• Massimo Santanicchia visits New Zealand (ArchitectureNow)
• Vincent paints a canvas for landscape architects (ArchitectureNow)
• Urban mobility a theme for World Habitat Day (ArchitectureNow)
• Architecture to be at centre stage at Semi-Permanent (ArchitectureNow)
• Affordable housing issues captured in new book (ArchitectureNow)
• Pipitea Marae (ArchitectureNow)
• Architecture and sports shoes (ArchitectureNow)
• Big week for VUW School of Architecture (ArchitectureNow)
• Book launch: From prefab precursors to an ab fab future (ArchitectureNow)
• Awards aplenty for social housing professionals (ArchitectureNow)
• Wellington architects making a mark in community housing (ArchitectureNow)
• Kiwi urbanism struggling to fly (ArchitectureNow)
• Turning one green corner of Christchurch into a field of possibilities (ArchitectureNow)
• Spotlight put on sites for city housing developments (ArchitectureNow)
• 17 mini parks instead of car parks, one parking space at a time (Wellington.Scoop)
• Putting enough land in New Zealand for future housing needs (Newsroomplus.com)
• Air Quality Gets An Airing On Both Sides Of The Tasman(Newsroomplus.com)
• Anatomy of a ‘housing scoop’ (Newsroomplus.com)
• A New Zealand Review: Housing in the Headlights (Parity | Housing Works)
• Housing Minister – “Warrants of Fitness not warranted” (Newsroomplus.com)
• Out Of Australia : Big Mansions & An Ageing Nation (Newsroomplus.com)
• Film for thought: The 2014 Resene Architecture & Design Film Festival (Wellington.Scoop)
• Lots to celebrate at the new, improved Newtown Park Apartments (Wellington.Scoop)
• Australia’s credentials as an innovative nation on the line (The Fifth Estate)
• NZ Green Property Summit (The Fifth Estate)
• Smart house move extends housing range (Build magazine)
• Affordable architecture (Build)
• The act of giving life to memory in our public spaces (Urban)
• Lest we forget our darkest hours (Urban)
• Property Council proposes springboard for change for Wellington (Urban)
• City of Villages? It might not be original but it’s working for Sydney (Urban)
• Memories & Melancholia : Jack Bowring (Landscape Architecture)
• Walk this way: Voting with our feet (Celsias)
• Towns & Cities New Zealand – committed to raising the bar (Urban)
• Vincent Ward: Deliberately Different (Landscape Architecture)
• What do New Zealand’s futurologists think of our cities/ Urban designers must start planning utopias (Good magazine)
• A Melbourne Vision For The Future Of City Making (Scoop.co.nz)

DESIGN

• Nga Aho design network gains a German infusion (Idealog)
• Do the Mix & Mash (Idealog)
• Semi-Permanent chucks up creative diversity (Idealog)
• Semi-Permanent brings a touch of vaudeville to Wellington (Idealog)
• Peeking into the keyhole at Mistress Creative (Idealog)
• Looking back on SPWGTN (Idealog)
• Filenotes On Webstock: News, Design & Dystopia (Scoop.co.nz)
• Imagine That! [exhibition opening, Massey University] (Prodesign)
• First Draft [NZ flag design] (Prodesign)
• Face the music [the posters of Jason Munn] (Prodesign)
• Tivoli, Oh Tivoli – 20 years of rocking posters (Prodesign)

Over many years I have now amassed a substantial personal collection of literature on cities, for enjoyment and research. The larger library of books this sits within also has a concentration of books and texts on graphic design and photography – particularly on subjects such as poster art, collage, montage, postcards, infographics, the ‘business of design’ generally, photojournalism and documentary photography.

My instagram account address is instagram.com/palavermedia