Auckland Town hall, 100 years old.

http://www.the-edge.co.nz/aucklandtownhall.aspx
Auckland Town Hall is a prominent civic landmark of neo-Baroque style. Taking pride of place on Queen Street in Auckland’s CBD, it was specifically designed by Melbourne architects JJ and EJ Clark to fit the wedge-shaped piece of land acquired for it. Protected as a Category A heritage building, it was opened in 1911 by Baron Islington, New Zealand’s Governor General at the time. From 1994-1997 the building was fully restored, allowing the addition of modern amenities and re-estabhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giflishing the building’s standing as a multi-functional venue and world class performance hall.

Constructed from Oamaru limestone, this historic five-storey building with its distinctive clock tower, has many special features including kauri floors, decorative pressed metal ceilings and plasterwork, stained glass windows, cast iron balustrades, porcelain and glazed ceramic tiling, and hand blown chandeliers.



Such an ornate building, though Auckland is very young relatively, we have a beautiful building. Its interior was extensively restored from 1994-1997http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif for NZ$ 33 million, partially because the unreinforced masrony structure did not meet earthquake standards, especially as a gathering place. Sinclair Knight Merz pioneered various techniques to reinforce the structure without substantially changing the heritage character of the building.[3] The exterior has recently (2007) undergone some restoration work as well.[1][ The water engineer happens to work for this company.








Auckland Town hall at night.


Our Town hall has a renovated organ. They plan to have organ tours. This is a speciment of the organs.

Great Hall
The centrepiece of Auckland Town Hall is the Great Hall, seating up to 1,529 people in theatre-style on three levels, and featuring a 17 metre (approximately 60 foot) stud and permanent concert platform.

Considered to have one of the finest acoustics in the world, this is Auckland’s premier venue for fine music and orchestral performances as well as being a popular choice for rock concerts.

Housed in the Great Hall, the Auckland Town Hall Organ also dates from 1911 and is the largest musical instrument in New Zealand. The organ has recently been restored to its former Romantic-era status and was unveiled to the public in March 2010. The organ required a major rebuild due to the extensive remodelling it underwent in 1969-70 during the Organ Reform Movement, giving it the then-fashionable Baroque sound.



When you have slogged three, four, six, ten years. Don't you think you deserve an elaborate ceremony like this? The water engineer getting his PhD.
***Inside the Auckland Town Hall***

This was my capping/graduation/convocation with Mark. I walked from the campus at Princess Street, down Victoria Street, walked up the stairs into the Great Hall. Then I never saw him again. I wonder where he is now.

My reflection for this week is two profound ideas. I just learn that some Town fathers wanted to demolish this building. Luckily there was some wise people who opposed to this move. Imagine this grand old lady was gone? What a great loss it would be.

The other is some people advocate that you don't need to succeed in life without an education. I beg to differ. Education has served my family very well. My grand grand dad had a SIEW CAI, and equivalent of a university degree more than 100 years ago in China. The family had instilled in us the value of education. Yes, we may not be rich financially, but we have a wealth of experience.




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