My Favourite Building: Karen Walker creative director Mikhail Gherman

Karen Walker creative director Mikhail Gherman.
Karen Walker creative director Mikhail Gherman. Photograph by Mark Smith.

 

“This building in High Street, Auckland, is a real outsider for me. It was designed by Peter Beaven in 1965 and it forms the Canterbury Arcade along with a couple of older buildings that run through to Queen Street. For me it’s a great representation of the hotchpotch character of Auckland’s inner city, the often haphazard way that buildings have been inserted and built around over the past century or so. I like the way this development has generously embraced its neighbours, creating new connections between them as well as the arcade beneath. I also like this building’s shape – the slimness and elegance of it. When I first saw it I thought it looked like something from a classic ‘60s illustration. The other evocative aspect for me is that it reminds me of a distinguished sort of gentleman – someone from the ‘60s who still dresses in a certain way. It’s a building that is timeless and yet admirably of its time.”

 

Latest video features

In the Coromandel, a home with a humble profile and a thoughtful design makes the most of a stunning location.

Built with awe-inspiring attention to detail, this Arrowtown home is a fresh interpretation of a familiar Otago rural vernacular.

This sculptural Northland bach is a perfect north arrow on a remote farm high above the sea.

With the sun on its bow and the community at its stern, this is a house in which the elements are always front of mind.

Trending articles

Architecture For Sale

Pavilions on the ridge

High above the sea between Whale Bay and Rangihoua, this house by MAP Architects makes an art form of restraint.

Architecture For Sale

River Retreat

An award-winning family home on the edge of the Waikato River by Edwards White Architects.