Over many years, Ian Athfield and his team at Athfield Architects have reshaped New Zealand architecture: from the Buck House at Te Mata Estate, Hawke's Bay, to Wellington's Civic Square, from Jade Stadium to Athfield's own sprawling settlement on the Khandallah hills. Reflecting on half a century of work, Julia Gatley's landmark new book, Athfield Architects, introduces a major body of architecture that will lead readers through modernism, postmodernism and beyond. Its four-part structure traces Ian houses; its important break into commercial work; and finally, its impact in the public, urban and institutional realms.
Athfield Architects combines newly commissioned photography, evocative original architectural drawings and a rich text informed by extensive archival research and interviews with key figures in the firm. Taking us from the slums of Manila to the streets of post-quake Christchurch, this major book shows how Aotearoa/New Zealand's leading contemporary architect is transforming the way we all might live.