scholarly journals Self Help, Sunlight and a Modern Chair: Considering Auckland’s historic signage as a heritage object

Author(s):  
Caroline Powley

Cities are an ever-changing space, filled with commerce and community. Signage plays a strong role in the visual narrative of the urban environment. It creates a constant visual hum, a street level monologue of promotion, identification and direction. Commercial signs are designed to serve and improve business. So, what role could an old, fading or non-functioning piece of signage possibly play in our neoliberal capitalist society? From a designer’s perspective, there’s a lot to like—the craftsmanship, the idiosyncrasies of a hand-generated pieceof typography, the sense of nostalgia for a time before globalisation and brand guidelines took over. Looking at historic signs from a broader context they also represent an “intricate urban history.”1 They speak of the changing face of commercial enterprise, social values and cultural expression. Even when they no longer serve their original semantic role of commercial promotion, they “accumulate rich layers of meaning. They no longer merely advertise, they are valued in and of themselves. They become icons.”2 The semiotic function of an historic sign shifts to a new role—signifying notions of survival, continuity and loss. They also feed into our complex personal narratives of place, identity and community.3 These multiple and interwoven values can form the cultural significance of historic signs. Despite this recognisable value, historic signage tends to fall through the gaps of heritage practice and legislation in New Zealand. This paper offers a set of case studies that represent a range of possible outcomes for historic signs, when they exist outside a system of heritage management. I propose six categories for framing the case studies: remain, repair, regenerate, relocate, replace and remove. These examples are combined with a broader reflection on the value of historic signage and an overview of relevant heritage practice in New Zealand. The intention is to encourage reflection on the possible heritage significance of historic signage and our current approach to assessment, scheduling and conservation.

2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 844-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.H. Snelder ◽  
H.L. Rouse ◽  
P.A. Franklin ◽  
D.J. Booker ◽  
N. Norton ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ashlee Amanda Nelson

<p>This thesis examines the reportage of the New Journalists who covered the United States 1972 presidential campaign. Nineteen seventy-two was a key year in the development of New Journalism, marking a peak in output from successful writers, as well as in the critical attention paid to debates about the mode. Nineteen seventy-two was also an important year in the development of campaign journalism, a system which only occurred every four years and had not changed significantly since the time of Theodore Roosevelt. The system was not equipped to deal with the socio-political chaos of the time, or the attempts by Richard Nixon at manipulating how the campaign was covered. New Journalism was a mode founded in part on the idea that old methods of journalism needed to change to meet the needs of contemporary society, and in their coverage of the 1972 campaign the New Journalists were able to apply their arguments for change to their campaign reportage. Thus the convergence of the campaign reportage cycle with the peak of New Journalism’s development represents a key moment in the development of both New Journalism and campaign journalism.  I use the campaign reportage of Timothy Crouse in The Boys on the Bus, Norman Mailer in St. George and the Godfather, Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72, and Gloria Steinem in “Coming of Age with McGovern” as case studies for the role of New Journalism at this moment in literary journalism history. As writers who rejected the mainstream press’s requirement for objectivity, the New Journalists occupied a unique role in the campaign coverage by offering different agendas and more personal frameworks than the mainstream media. I examine the framework of each of these writers’ reportage, and how their secondary agendas shaped their consciously personal narratives of the campaign. These secondary agendas and personal narratives give the New Journalists’ reportage a lasting meaning and cultural significance beyond the initial context of reporting on the campaign, and beyond the victory of Nixon, whom all four of the New Journalists analysed in this thesis opposed.  As my examination of Crouse’s, Mailer’s, Thompson’s, and Steinem’s New Journalism about the 1972 campaign establishes, this microcosm represents a key point in the development of New Journalism. The research and analysis in this thesis argues that the field of study devoted to New Journalism needs to re-think some of the ways the mode has been written about. There are assumptions in the critical discourse that have been consistently accepted but which should be questioned further. It is crucial to an in-depth understanding of the mode that New Journalism scholarship reassess some of the ideas that we have become certain about and make sure they actually fit the aims and output of the New Journalists at the time. The importance of understanding the role of personal frameworks and secondary agendas in campaign journalism reaches beyond New Journalism and, as I argue in the conclusion to this thesis, has been demonstrated to be keenly relevant by the role of the press in the 2016 presidential election and the striking similarities between the 1972 and 2016 campaigns.</p>


Author(s):  
Anne De Bruin ◽  
Grant Power ◽  
Shayne Toko

This paper takes as its starting point the need for community level action as an immediate step toward 'Closing the Gaps'. The focus is on local employment initiatives underpinned by a broader approach to community development. New Zealand case studies are used to illustrate. The paper examines the development and refinement of an alternative framework - positive spirals of ‘societal capital’. This is differentiated from the concept of social capital. The role of the Community Advisor is also discussed. Lessons are drawn for the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10265
Author(s):  
Maya Mazor Tregerman

The current research is based on a socio-historical approach to the cultural role of tourism media in the reconstruction of cultural identities, specifically place-identity. It explores the role of Israeli outgoing tourism guidebooks in the reconstruction of local, Israeli place-identities. Stemming from a multidisciplinary methodological approach to the research of the book publishing industry, 17 titles written in Hebrew for Israeli outgoing tourists are chosen for their cultural stance and a manifest textual referencing of issues regarding Israeli identity. Critical discourse analysis of lingual content is used for exploring the texts’ social actions regarding the Israeli identity by following the inclusion and omission of tourist information and suggested itineraries. Results suggest justification of tourism abroad as the books’ main textual strategy. Six textual tactics are used for reconstructing Israeli tourists’ pre-trip motivations, on-trip tourist roles and behaviors, and post-trip reflections. Israeli outgoing tourism is reconstructed as creating a temporary, playful sphere for reiterating Israel’s predominance in the lives of Israelis even while touring abroad. The cultural significance of tourism media is discussed in conclusion by pointing at the books’ double role in both marketing and cultural construction of a consensual Israeli-Jewish pace-identity amidst global changes.


2015 ◽  
pp. 30-40
Author(s):  
David Turnbull ◽  
David Wescombe-Down ◽  
Oksana Feklistova ◽  
Katrina Dal Lago

This paper explores the role of cultural intelligence within libraries. Presentations were given by David Turnbull and David Wescombe-Down. David Turnbull defined culture and cultural change and discussed the importance of cultural intelligence for theological librarians. David Wescombe-Down continued the discussion and focused on the importance of coping with change and the need for effective communication to manage change correctly within an organization. To gain an understanding of cultural intelligence within a library setting, Oksana Feklistova and Katrina Dal Lago, facilitated a discussion with conference participants using case studies relating to generational and technological change and consumer culture. The participants discussed the case studies in small groups and answers were shared amongst all participants. The two following papers explore the ethnic perspective of multiculturalism, Gavin Glenn from Camden Theological Library in New South Wales, and Judith Bright from John Kinder Theological Library in New Zealand. Gavin and Judith discussed their experiences within the context of their libraries.


2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 101-110
Author(s):  
Kheir Al-Kodmany ◽  
Mir M. Ali

Globalization has supported the exportation of exotic design and construction of many buildings including skyscrapers. In the past two decades skyscrapers have proliferated across cities all over the world, particularly those in the Arabian Peninsula. Because of their massive bulk and soaring height, these skyscrapers have dramatically altered the urban landscape and city identity. This paper examines the role of skyscrapers in supporting place identity in the Arabian Peninsula. Through case studies, the paper describes and evaluates skyscraper projects. While the “imported” iconic skyscrapers with their flamboyant forms have been transformative in re-imaging cities and their skylines, many of these have been transplanted to these cities with little consideration for local heritage and culture.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bloxam ◽  
Adel Kelany

This chapter provides a broad, cross-cultural, and comparative discussion about the ways in which ‘westernized’ approaches to cultural heritage management (CHM) in Egypt have largely failed to live up to their expectations. The chapter reviews the processes of CHM funding and discusses the ways in which application procedures, and entrenched systems of allocating funds, marginalize those that they are seeking to empower. Within this context, it looks at the successes and failures of establishing community-based heritage strategies in Egypt and argues for a much more imaginative, ‘bottom up’ approach that diminishes the role of ‘top down’ bureaucracy and therefore the need for large amounts of international funding. Through two case studies in the Wadi Hammamat and Aswan, which focus on non-monumental landscapes, the chapter demonstrates the ways in which pragmatic, low-key, locally based strategies of engagement can work through dialogues that can harness the multi-vocality of people’s connection with place. It also addresses the need for a change in focus towards steering protection and promotion of archaeological heritage, and ultimately its sustainability, towards the more local and regional Egyptian tourist market.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-208
Author(s):  
Gayatri Nanda ◽  
Ajay Khare

Cultural manifestations of communities imbue deep-rooted meanings to places and establish intricate webs of relationships between people and places. These relationships cohesively add to the unique heritage of any place. In this era of urbanization, these webs are getting ruptured to make way for a globalized, homogenized and incoherent built environment leading to the loss of meanings, associations and identities. With the increasing recognition for the need of a holistic heritage management in both national and global platforms, a probe towards formulating a framework for such interventions becomes extremely essential today. This article signifies the role of spatial mapping of ‘people–place ties’ in the heritage management process. The methodology of documenting community–place relationships, mapping and interpreting maps to form a basis for interventions is demonstrated by taking the case of Puri, India. A number of research methods such as mental maps, essays and precoded questionnaire surveys have been used. To visualize this qualitative aspect, choropleth maps have been generated with the help of Geographic Information System (GIS) to be compared for residents of various age groups to interpret built environment qualities which need to be conserved/intervened. Thus, this process could be a part of a framework designed to sensitively intervene in rapidly transforming morphologies of heritage cities and help in sustaining and reinforcing their ‘place identity’.


Author(s):  
Rupert Tipples

Contests have played a major part in New Zealand's economic development since colonisation. They are part of the New Zealand psyche. After defining contests, this paper discusses the range and place of contests in economic development and the underlying theoretical concepts. How contests are used, operate in practice, and their benefits, are discussed by means of case studies based on both documentary sources and participant's accounts. The setting up and operation of contests is considered, together with the part played the various stakeholders in any particular contest. Conclusions are drawn on the features needed to prolong their usefulness and longevity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Janine Alyth Deaker Hayward

<p>In New Zealand, 'the Crown' is frequently referred to in contemporary discourse relating to the Treaty of Waitangi. This thesis investigates the identity of 'the Crown' as a treaty partner with Maori. There are major problems in identifying the Crown, and these problems have serious implications for the 'Maori' treaty partner. First, there is a problem of consistency in the identity of the Crown. Analysis shows that a range of institutions and individuals involved in the negotiation of treaty issues in contemporary New Zealand society is identified as 'the Crown'. The application of theoretical analysis of the role of symbols in politics shows that the Crown symbol is frequently used and widely applied in treaty debate. This is, it is argued, because use of 'the Crown' brings legitimacy and authority to the actions and policies of those entities it identifies. The flexibility and popularity of 'the Crown' symbol creates a problem for Maori, however, because 'the Crown' is not consistently naming the same thing. There is a second major and interrelating problem: the evolution of the Crown. In 1840, 'the Crown' title was used in relation to the Queen, and later was used to describe settler government. Most recently 'the Crown' has come to incorporate local and regional as well as central government. This evolution in the identity of the Crown has frustrated attempts by Maori to identify and negotiate with their treaty partner. In particular, case studies of local government and resource management law reforms in New Zealand demonstrate that Maori themselves have attempted to resist the evolution of the Crown and assert their own interpretation of the appropriate identity for their treaty partner. Having demonstrated the problems of 'the Crown' as well as the frequency of its use, there is the question of the broader constitutional relationship between Māori and the Crown to consider. A discussion of the role of the Crown in Canada illustrates some of the points made earlier in the thesis and demonstrates the unique position of the Crown in New Zealand. In addition, it is argued with regard to constitutional reforms facing New Zealand in the 1990s, that the future development of New Zealand's rapidly evolving constitution must consider the particular relationship between Maori and the Crown.</p>


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