“SURPRISE AT NEW CHINESE CONTAINER-style Kāinga Ora apartments for Sandringham”, blared the clickbait headline of a Herald story at the end of May. Some of the residents of the inner-city Auckland suburb were indeed surprised at how quickly the six new apartments in two three-level blocks were craned into place in just one day.
While some may argue prefabricated building at speed is just what is needed to tackle our housing crisis, some in the street of predominantly California bungalows combined with brick-and-tile single-level units were shocked at what they saw. “We’re starting to look like ghetto cities that we see in other countries,” said one. I guess that means cities with too many people crammed together in impoverished conditions resulting in a high crime rate – US cities, perhaps, like…
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Architecture NZ (Digital) - 1 Issue, July-August 2024