Sir Ian Charles AthfieldKNZM (15 July 1940 – 16 January 2015) was a New Zealand
architect. He was born in
Christchurch and graduated from the
University of Auckland in 1963 with a Diploma of Architecture. That same year he joined Structon Group Architects, and he became a partner in 1965. In 1968 he was a principal partner in setting up Athfield Architects with Ian Dickson and Graeme John Boucher. Athfield died in 2015 due to complications from a routine procedure which resulted in pneumonia, at the Wellington Hospital, where he was being treated for prostate cancer.[1]
Projects
In 1965 Athfield started work on his first major project, Athfield House, for his family and a studio. Located in
Khandallah, Wellington, this distinctive group of structures stands out amongst neighbouring conventional suburban houses. His early projects were constructed with a broad palette of materials including corrugated iron, plaster, stainless steel and
fibre glass. As a reaction to much of the bland "Modern" architecture of the period, Athfield built in a deliberately vernacular style using features harking back to colonial buildings. His designs incorporated finials, steeply pitched roofs, timber weatherboards, verandahs and double hung windows. He was also inspired by the architecture of the
Greek Islands with their exterior envelopes of continuous plaster and small windows. Conversely, he also much admired the buildings of
Mies van der Rohe with their precise and refined detailing of industrial materials.
Yet another area of influence for Athfield was the geometric massing of the Japanese
Metabolists. Athfield combined all these disparate elements into a highly eclectic and personal style. During the 1970s Athfield built and renovated numerous domestic houses and buildings, developing a distinctive and highly personal design approach based on the repetition of small scale elements and complex massing. Critical opposition to these 'cartoon houses' did not bother him. Another criticism of Athfield's houses were that they were built for charm and not practicality. Athfield believed, however, that "in a house, you should get a surprise every time you turn a corner and look up".
Athfield's practice expanded during the 1980s from mainly residential work to a wider variety of community and commercial buildings. As well as continuing to work on small-scale projects, his portfolio includes churches, pubs, council flats, stadiums and commercial high-rise buildings. Athfield's best known works include Telecom Towers, Civic Square and
Wellington Central Library,
Jade Stadium in Christchurch and work on the design of the Bangkok rapid transport system.
He was a President of the
New Zealand Institute of Architects, judged many design competitions and was a keynote speaker at many overseas conferences. His firm's later projects included Chews Lane Precinct, the Wellington Overseas Passenger Terminal redevelopment and the Wellington Marine Education Centre.
A documentary on Athfield, Architect of Dreams, was produced for the NZ Documentary Festival.[2]
Following the Canterbury earthquakes of
2010 and
2011, Athfield was appointed as an Architectural Ambassador to Christchurch.[3]
Awards and honours
Athfield won over 60 national and international architecture and design awards. In 1976 he won first prize in the International Competition for the Urban Environment of Developing Countries. In 1978 he was placed first equal in a Low Cost Housing Design Competition in Fiji. He won 13
NZIA Supreme Awards for his outstanding architectural projects. In 2004 he won the New Zealand Institute of Architects' highest honour, the
Gold Medal. Athfield was the first New Zealand architect to register as an APEC architect.
I accept this on behalf of architects, designers, plumbers and gas fitters. We have suffered at the hands of accountants and engineers for too long. (Ian Athfield, 2000)
Personal life
Athfield married
Clare Cookson in Kawakawa on 22 December 1962. They had two sons.[10]
^Bradwell, Simon; Hunt, Tom.
"Sir Ian Athfield dies". Stuff. Retrieved 17 June 2015. Complications from a routine procedure at Wellington Hospital resulted in pneumonia. He was being treated for prostate cancer.