Following up from a recent DominionPost article on Wellington’s worst buildings, the Architectural Centre has been coming up with a list of Wellington’s best buildings, and that should be published in the cming week. I thought I’d try to get in first by writing up my own top ten list, and I’ve been counting them down on WellUrban.
ZoomIn has come in very handy for this, since not only can I link to the address of each building, but I can upload photos and write descriptions for each one. In fact, ZoomIn could be a great platform for creating a “building database” for historians or architecture buffs. Wikipedia allows you to write articles about buildings, but unless the building is deemed noteworthy enough, you’d risk deletion. If you consider that the quirky little building down the road is noteworthy to you, because you are a fan of the architect, or you used to work or live there, go ahead and say so on ZoomIn: it’s your choice.
Some of the buildings already had ZoomIn places create for them, but not all, so I had to create few places. There are several ways to do this, such as adding a description and photos directly on the page for that address (e.g. http://zoomin.co.nz/nz/wellington/wellington+central/victoria+street/81/. But when writing about a building, I prefer to create a place at that address to capture building details. The practical reason for that is that there may be several buildings at one address, or different buildings at different times; but from a philosophical perspective I like to maintain a distinction between a building, which is a physical edifice, and an address, which is an abstract construct.
Here is the resulting group map:
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Observant readers will note that there are only nine places: that’s because I’ll announce my #1 favourite tomorrow. If you’re reading this after that, there will be ten buildings listed, because this map is live, not just a static image. I’ll also create a group for the Architecture Centre’s “official” list, though I imagine ther’ll be a few overlaps.
Don’t agree? Join the group and post to the discussion, or just comment on the building pages themselves. If you have some extra information, edit the description to add it. Upload your own photos, drawings or architectural plans. Even better, create your own group and start your own discussions. Where are the ten best buildings in Auckland, New Plymouth or Timaru? The ten best parks, sculptures or pubs? That’s exactly what ZoomIn’s community features were built for.
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