1.
Wellington
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Wellington is the capital and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 405,000 residents. It is at the tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. Wellington is the population centre of the southern North Island and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the worlds windiest city, with a wind speed of over 26 km/h. Situated near the centre of the country, Wellington was well placed for trade. In 1839 it was chosen as the first major planned settlement for British immigrants coming to New Zealand, the settlement was named in honour of the Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo. As the nations capital since 1865, the New Zealand Government and Parliament, Supreme Court, despite being much smaller than Auckland, Wellington is also referred to as New Zealands cultural capital. The city is home to the National Archives, the National Library, architectural sights include the Government Building—one of the largest wooden buildings in the world—as well as the iconic Beehive. Wellington plays host to artistic and cultural organisations, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. It has an urban culture, with many cafés, restaurants. One of the worlds most liveable cities, the 2014 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world, Wellingtons economy is primarily service-based, with an emphasis on finance, business services, and government. It is the centre of New Zealands film and special effects industries, Wellington ranks as one of New Zealands chief seaports and serves both domestic and international shipping. The city is served by Wellington International Airport, the third busiest airport in the country, Wellingtons transport network includes train and bus lines which reach as far as the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa, and ferries connect the city to the South Island. Wellington takes its name from Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo, his title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset. One of the founders of the settlement, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, reported that the settlers took up the views of the directors with great cordiality, in Māori, Wellington has three names. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is signed by raising the index, middle and ring fingers of one hand, palm forward, to form a W, and shaking it slightly from side to side twice. The citys location close to the mouth of the narrow Cook Strait leads to its vulnerability to strong gales, legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the 10th century. The earliest date with hard evidence for Maori living in New Zealand is about 1280, European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840
2.
Pedestrian zone
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Pedestrian zones are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in which most or all automobile traffic may be prohibited. Converting a street or an area to use is called pedestrianisation. However, pedestrianisation can sometimes lead to reductions in business activity, property devaluation, in some cases traffic in surrounding areas may increase, due to displacement rather than substitution of car traffic. Pedestrian zones have a variety of approaches to human-powered vehicles such as bicycles, inline skates, skateboards. Some have a ban on anything with wheels, others ban certain categories, others segregate the human-powered wheels from foot traffic. Many Middle Eastern kasbahs have no wheeled traffic, but use donkey-driven or hand-driven carts for freight transport, the idea of separating pedestrians from wheeled traffic is an old one, dating back at least to the Renaissance. However, the earliest modern implementation of the idea in cities seems to date from about 1800, separated shopping arcades were constructed throughout Europe in the 19th century, precursors of modern shopping malls. The first pedestrianisation of an existing street seems to have taken place around 1929 in Essen and this was in a very narrow shopping street that could not accommodate both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Two other German cities followed this model in the early 1930s, by 1955 twenty-one German cities had closed at least one street to traffic, although only four were true pedestrian streets, designed for the purpose. At this time pedestrianisation was not seen as a traffic restraint policy, pedestrianisation was also common in the United States during the 1950s and 60s as downtown businesses attempted to compete with new suburban shopping malls. However, most of these initiatives were not successful in the long term, a car-free zone is different from a typical pedestrian zone, in that it implies a development largely predicated on modes of transport other than the car. A pedestrian zone may be more limited in scope, for example a single square or street being for pedestrians. A number of towns and cities in Europe have never allowed motor vehicles, archetypal examples are, Venice, which occupies many islands in a lagoon, divided by and accessed from canals. The city has been car-free for more than three decades, motor traffic stops at the car park at the head of the viaduct from the mainland, and water transport or walking takes over from there. However, motor vehicles are allowed on the nearby Lido, mount Athos, an autonomous monastic state under the sovereignty of Greece, does not permit automobiles on its territory. Trucks and work-related vehicles only are in use there, the medieval city of Mdina in Malta does not allow automobiles past the city walls. It is known as the Silent City because of the absence of traffic in the city. Sark, an island in the English Channel, is a zone where only bicycles, carriages
3.
Central business district
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A central business district is the commercial and business centre of a city. In larger cities, it is synonymous with the citys financial district. Both the CBD and the city centre or downtown may also coincide with the central activities district, a citys CBD is usually typified by a concentration of retail and office buildings. The CBD usually has a density higher than the surrounding districts of the city. The CBD is often also the city centre or downtown, Mexico City also has a historic city centre, the colonial-era Centro Histórico, along with two CBDs, the mid-late 20th century Paseo de la Reforma - Polanco, and the new Santa Fe. The shape and type of a CBD almost always reflect the citys history. Cities with maximum building height restrictions often have a historic section quite apart from the financial. It has been said that downtowns are therefore distinct from both CBDs and city centres. CBDs usually have very small resident populations, for example, the population of the City of London declined from over 200,000 in the year 1700 to less than 10,000 today. In some instances, however, CBD populations are increasing as younger professional, the Buenos Aires Central Business District, is the main commercial centre of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The actual area was the point of first European settlement and its north-south axis runs from Monserrat in the south to Retiro railway station in the north. Its east-west axis runs from Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve and Puerto Madero, the district is the financial, commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina. Its port is one of the busiest in South America, navigable rivers by way of the Río de la Plata connect the port to northeast Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. As a result, it serves as the hub for a vast area of the southeastern region of the South American continent. Tax collection related to the port has caused political problems in the past. The Buenos Aires Human Development Index is likewise high by international standards, the term is used to refer to the business and financial area of a state capital city such as the Sydney CBD, Melbourne CBD, Brisbane CBD, Perth CBD and Adelaide CBD. The city centres of some cities, such as Townsville, Bendigo. More recently, in cities the city centre, which may or may not be distinct from the CBD, is increasingly separately identified
4.
Bohemianism
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Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic, literary or spiritual pursuits. In this context, Bohemians may or may not be wanderers, adventurers, Bohemians were associated with unorthodox or anti-establishment political or social viewpoints, which often were expressed through free love, frugality, and—in some cases—voluntary poverty. A more economically privileged, wealthy, or even aristocratic bohemian circle is sometimes referred to as haute bohème, the term Bohemianism emerged in France in the early nineteenth century when artists and creators began to concentrate in the lower-rent, lower class, Romani neighborhoods. Literary Bohemians were associated in the French imagination with roving Romani people, outsiders apart from conventional society, the term carries a connotation of arcane enlightenment, and also carries a less frequently intended, pejorative connotation of carelessness about personal hygiene and marital fidelity. The title character in Carmen, a French opera set in the Spanish city of Seville, is referred to as a bohémienne in Meilhac and her signature aria declares love itself to be a gypsy child, going where it pleases and obeying no laws. Henri Murgers collection of short stories Scènes de la Vie de Bohème, published in 1845, was written to glorify, Murgers collection formed the basis of Giacomo Puccinis opera La bohème. In England, Bohemian in this sense initially was popularised in William Makepeace Thackerays novel, Vanity Fair, public perceptions of the alternative lifestyles supposedly led by artists were further molded by George du Mauriers highly romanticized best-selling novel of Bohemian culture Trilby. The novel outlines the fortunes of three expatriate English artists, their Irish model, and two very colorful Central European musicians, in the artist quarter of Paris. In Spanish literature, the Bohemian impulse can be seen in Ramón del Valle-Incláns play Luces de Bohemia, in his song La Bohème, Charles Aznavour described the Bohemian lifestyle in Montmartre. Also reflects the Bohemian lifestyle in Montmartre at the turn of the 20th century, in the 1850s, aesthetic bohemians began to arrive in the United States. In New York City in 1857, a group of some 15–20 young and this group gathered at a German bar on Broadway called Pffaffs beer cellar. Members included their leader Henry Clapp, Jr, walt Whitman, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, and actress Adah Isaacs Menken. Similar groups in cities were broken up as well by the Civil War. During the war, correspondents began to assume the title bohemian, Bohemian became synonymous with newspaper writer. Mark Twain included himself and Charles Warren Stoddard in the category in 1867. Club member and poet George Sterling responded to this redefinition, Any good mixer of convivial habits considers he has a right to be called a bohemian, but that is not a valid claim. There are two elements, at least, that are essential to Bohemianism, the first is devotion or addiction to one or more of the Seven Arts, the other is poverty. Despite his views, Sterling associated very closely with the Bohemian Club, canadian composer Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann and poet George Frederick Cameron wrote the song The Bohemian in the 1889 opera Leo, the Royal Cadet
5.
Courtenay Place, Wellington
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Courtenay Place is the main street of the Courtenay Quarter in the Wellington, New Zealand inner-city district of Te Aro. Courtenay Place is known for its entertainment and nightlife, many restaurants are open late and most of the bars stay open until dawn. It contains offices, accommodation, tourist shopping, entertainment, food, art, pedestrian traffic is substantial around the clock. The first building of any importance in Courtenay Place was built shortly after 1900 by local butcher and businessman and it is now a heritage listed building, originally designed by T S Lambert, situated on the eastern corner of Allen Street and Courtenay Place. Of brick construction, it originally had three stories and a cellar, with stables at the rear. It has since reduced to two stories, probably due to earthquake damage. In 2015, the floor and cellars accommodate a bar. Every two years Courtenay Place is home to many of the New Zealand International Arts Festival events, the richness of Courtenay Place culture inspires many artists, including photographers, professional and amateur alike. Bats Theatre is New Zealands leading venue for the development of new theatre practitioners, downstage Theatre, founded in 1964, is New Zealands first professional theatre. Embassy Theatre The Lord of the Rings movie The Return of the King had its premiere at the Embassy Theatre at the head of Courtenay Place. The movies The Two Towers and The Fellowship of the Ring both had their Australasian premiere at the Embassy, both events were broadcast live to the world for many hours, involving the movement of record amounts of data by CityLink. The theatre is on the Wellington City Councils heritage list in the District Plan, heritage New Zealand has recognised its heritage values with Category One registration, indicating a place of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value. It was originally known as the De Luxe and was built in 1924, designed by Llewellyn Williams and constructed of reinforced concrete, it included classical external and internal architectural details. The name changed to the Embassy in 1945, a long list of theatre identities has been associated with the theatre, including William Kemball, who formed the De Luxe Theatre Company in 1923, and Sir Robert Kerridge. Kerry Robins, leaseholder of the Paramount Theatre in Wellington, took over the lease of the Embassy in 1996 and it was purchased by the Embassy Theatre Trust in 1997 with financial underwriting of the refurbishment programme by Wellington City Council. Ownership was transferred to the WCC under the terms of the agreement, the Paramount is the oldest surviving cinema in Wellington, still with its original name. Originally a part of Te Aro beach, in August 1916 the location of the Paramount was purchased by John James Williamson and he arranged for architect James Bennie to design a picture house. Reading Cinema Complex,100 Courtenay Place, the $23m complex contains shops, restaurants and a ten-screen multiplex cinema
6.
Victoria University of Wellington
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Victoria University of Wellington is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand, the university is well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, and offers a broad range of other courses. Entry to all courses at first year is open, and entry to second year in some programmes is restricted, Victoria had the highest average research grade in the New Zealand Governments Performance-Based Research Fund exercise in 2012, having been ranked 4th in 2006 and 3rd in 2003. Victoria has been ranked 229th in the Worlds Top 500 universities by the QS World University Rankings, in 2017s QS World University Rankings Victoria was ranked in the top 2% of universities in the world, and in the top 1% for 14 subjects. Victoria is named after Queen Victoria, as 1897 was the 60th anniversary of her coronation, there was a dispute initially as to where to site it, and it opened in temporary facilities in Thorndon. It was eventually decided to place it in Kelburn, where it still has its primary campus. This decision was influenced by the Cable Car companys offer of a donation of £1,000 if it were located in Kelburn so that students would patronise the Cable Car from the city, the foundation stone of the historic Hunter Building was laid in 1904. An extramural branch was founded at Palmerston North in 1960 and it merged with Massey College on 1 January 1963. Having become a branch of Victoria upon the University of New Zealands 1961 demise, in 2004, Victoria celebrated the 100th birthday of its first home, the Hunter Building. In 2015, Victoria opened a new campus in Auckland to service the growing demand for its courses and its main campus is in Kelburn, a suburb on a hill overlooking the Wellington central business district, where its administration and humanities & social science and science faculties are based. A smaller campus in Te Aro is the base for the architecture, the Faculty of Education is in the Karori campus. The newest facility, the Victoria University Coastal Ecology Laboratory supports research programmes in marine biology, the Court of Convocation is composed of all graduates who choose to participate. Charles Wilson, at the time the librarian of the parliamentary library, was a member of the original council. For New Zealand residents entry to most courses is open, with a few exceptions, there is selection for entry into the second year in degrees such as the LLB, BArch and BDes. BA in criminology and creative writing is based on selection. It is one of three institutions to offer a degree in architecture in New Zealand. In conjunction with Massey University it owns the New Zealand School of Music, the blazon for the arms is, Vert on a fesse engrailed between three Crowns Or, a Canton Azure charged with four Estoilles Argent. What this means, The colour of the shield is first described, Vert is green so the shield is green
7.
Fat Freddy's Drop
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Fat Freddys Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by musicians from bands in Wellington. Band members continued playing with their other respective groups—The Black Seeds, TrinityRoots, Bongmaster, Fat Freddys Drop are known for their improvised live performances, songs on their studio albums are versions refined over years of playing them live in New Zealand, and on tour abroad. The group gained recognition in 2003 after their single Midnight Marauders was re-distributed by record labels. The group has toured Europe nearly every year since then, the band Fat Freddys Drop gradually took shape from members of other bands in Wellington, New Zealands music scene in the late 1990s. The groups founder, Chris Mu Faiumu, had performed with bands for most of that decade under the name DJ Fitchie. He and two friends, trumpeter Toby Laing and vocalist Dallas Tamaira, occasionally played improvised jam sessions at his seaside home, Faiumu provided percussion and bass for these on an Akai Music Production Center. All three were involved with other bands, Faiumu and Tamaira were members of the 15-piece dub band Bongmaster, Laing was a member of The Black Seeds. In 1999, they began performing together at local clubs and festivals and that same year, Faiumu founded the independent music label The Drop with the help of his partner Nicole, and money from private investors. According to Faiumu, the venture was an experience in the business of making and releasing records. The Drops first release was Dallas Tamairas solo project, the five-track EP Better Than Change, Hope was written and recorded over two days under the influence of LSD, according to interviews. Each blotter—individual dose—of that type of LSD, popular in Wellington at that time, had the image of Fat Freddys Cat printed on it, dropping—common slang for taking LSD—Fat Freddys became the inspiration for the bands name. The group organised several informal jam sessions in 2000, inviting musicians to play with them at Faiumus home. These sessions led to four new members joining Fat Freddys Drop, Warren Maxwell on tenor and alto saxophone, Tehimana Kerr on guitar, Iain Gordon on keyboards, and Joe Lindsay on trombone. Like the original three, the new members played with groups in and around Wellington, and continued to for most of Fat Freddys Drops career. Iain Gordon was a fellow Bongmaster member with Faiumu and Tamaira, Gordon was also a member of the band Ebb which in 2001 performed an audiovisual concert and released an EP titled Plush Bomb, with Fat Freddys Drop playing in support. Maxwell was in the reggaemusic group TrinityRoots, Maxwell and Joe Lindsay, who make up the horn section of Fat Freddys Drop, were students at the Conservatorium of Music in Wellington in the mid-1990s. Faiumu was the point the reason for the band getting together
8.
Heritage New Zealand
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Its current enabling legislation is the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014. It is governed by a Board of Trustees, currently chaired by Shonagh Kenderdine, past chairs include Dame Anne Salmond. The head office is in Antrim House, Wellington, while regional and area offices are in Kerikeri, Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and it publishes the quarterly magazine New Zealand Heritage. Buildings owned by Heritage New Zealand include the Mission House, the Stone Store, the Canterbury earthquakes of September 2010 and February 2011 resulted in damage to a number of historic buildings in Christchurch. Post-earthquake redevelopment has caused a significant loss of buildings in Christchurch. The Māori Heritage Council sits within the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and was established by the Historic Places Act 1993, as of 2013 Sir Tumu Te Heuheu is the Chair of the MHC
9.
The Bucket Fountain
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The Bucket Fountain is an iconic kinetic sculpture in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located in Cuba Mall, which is part of Cuba Street and it consists of a series of buckets that fill with water until they tip, spilling their load into the buckets and pool below. The fountain was designed by Burren and Keen and erected in 1969, much of the water does not reach the buckets below, but instead splashes onto pedestrians and onlookers. On windy days water is carried several metres from the fountain, people often add dishwashing detergent to the water, which spreads bubbles all over the mall. This is common on Friday and Saturday nights, Wellington City Council upgraded the fountain in 2003, and some buckets were turned around so they intentionally tip their water onto the pavement. Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in Peter Jacksons The Lord of the Rings films, climbed on and this was confirmed by the actor during an interview with Jay Leno. In March 2006, the fountain was coated in a substance by New Zealand artist John Radford. In January 2014 the bucket fountain was victim of an oil spill with the water turned black. This was to protest oil exploration which is happening around Aotearoa New Zealand, in February 2016, one of the larger yellow buckets located near the bottom of the fountain was stolen in the night. After a plea by the Wellington City Council to have the bucket returned, the returned bucket was found to have been painted with an intricate and psychedelic pattern. On the 17th of March, the bucket was reinstalled on the fountain, Wellington Mayor Celia Wade, when approached on the issue, said “Im unequivocally blissful they brought it behind unscathed and apparently enhanced, from what I’ve seen. We consider it’s utterly an appealing small paint job. ”Unofficial website Bucket fountain group on Flickr In The Night Kitchen - Documentary
