Napier – what a swell city this is
Far from the world's great population centres in Europe and America, where 20th Century design evolved, lies a small city that is uniquely New Zealand.
Napier, in the heart of the Hawke’s Bay region, was rebuilt in the early 1930s following a massive earthquake.
Subsequent fires destroyed most of its commercial heart and by the end of the decade Napier was the newest city on the globe.
Today, Napier is said to have the largest collection of Art Deco buildings outside Miami. Nowhere else in the Southern hemisphere can visitors see such a variety of buildings in the styles of the 1930s - Stripped Classical, Spanish Mission, and above all Art Deco, the style of the 20th Century - in such a concentrated area.
The earthquake hits
It was from tragedy that today's architectural treasure was created. At 10.46am on February 3 1931 Napier and its surroundings was struck by an earthquake that measured 7.8 on the Richter Scale. It lasted 2.5 minutes and claimed 261 lives.
Fires started raging all over town, beginning in chemists' shops where gas jets were in close proximity to flammable liquids. One hour after the earthquake, the fires were spreading rapidly while the water supply was lost and there was little that firemen could do.
People, afraid to enter their homes, camped in their gardens, on road-sides, at Nelson Park and on the Marine Parade Beach. Over the next two weeks 525 aftershocks were felt in the region.
As a result of the earthquake the Napier area tilted upwards, a maximum of just over two metres (seven feet) and 2230 hectares (5575 acres) were raised to sea level. Since then, apparently, the area has continued to creep up at the rate of 1cm per year, so that it is now 60cms (or two feet) above sea level.
Reconstructing Napier
In the 1920s Art Deco was fashionable. In architecture it is characterized by the skyscraper shape, sunbursts and fountains, and geometric shapes. Art Deco was safe, as all new buildings had to be built of concrete — a material then thought to be resistant to earthquakes and fire. And it was cheap to build with concrete. The typical relief stucco ornaments were an economical way to beautify buildings during the Great Depression.
In Napier, four architectural practises banded together after the earthquake to share facilities and bring a unity of purpose to the task of rebuilding the town, working in shifts around the clock. But they continued to design the buildings individually. These firms were:
• E A Williams, who favored the Art Deco style.
• Finch & Westerholm, which designed mainly in the Spanish Mission style.
• J A Louis Hay, who usually designed buildings inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, and occasionally Louis Sullivan.
• Natusch & Sons, whose work tended to reflect the growing modern movement.
As a result of these combined efforts Napier in a variety of architectural styles was rebuilt near completion only two years later.
Reliving the past
By the late 1930s Art Deco was in its Streamline or Streamline Moderne phase. This followed manufacturing and streamlining techniques arising from science and mass production. Not until the late 1960s did people begin to rediscover Art Deco as a symbol for vigor and optimism of the Roaring Twenties.
In Napier the nostalgia very much lives on. An Art Deco Trust was established in 1985 to promote and preserve what is now recognised as a world-class collection of Art Deco architecture. The trust offers a variety of activities such as guided historical walks and vintage cars tours.
The annual highlight is the Art Deco Weekend which is held every year, on the third weekend of February. The entire town turns back the clock and dresses in their deco finest.
Vintage cars, vintage planes, picnics, concerts, street parades, naval ships, dancing in the street, jazz, eating and drinking are part of more than 100 events that make up the celebration. Napier becomes fully immersed in the atmosphere of the 1930s.
Related Links
|
