Nishi in the fog. Images of Canberra

1/2 of it is an office building (I think the half not facing the camera in this shot). Partially to house Dept of Climate Change, for the 6 months or so that it will be in existence until the next election.

b_radical said :

Japanese style apartments in the Bush capital.

Oh great.
Not only are we going up size in structural height, we’re going to down size living quarters into rabbit warrens.

bikhet said :

Madam Cholet said :

…I’m wondering who the hell thought it was a great idea to stick a whacking great building that now over-shadows a small heritage listed building, with another huge whacking great building on the other side.

That’s one of the difficulties with heritage listing – is it still meaningful without the context? You seem to be suggesting that in this case it’s not. If the context is needed, how much is reasonable?

I would have thought that new buildings around other heritage listed buildings would have to be sympathetic. I don’t mind mixing old with new, and I admit I am not a fan of Nishi or anything else that has gone up around there. Doesn’t mean it needs to be built with the exact same look, but should share the same aesthetic values. I don’t think Canberra needs to remain stuck in the 1930’s but if you look at some of the beautiful houses from way back, they are solid and look like they’ll be there for another 100 years or more. Will Nishi? And what does the relatively short term nature of these newer buildings do to their environmental credentials?

It’s a shame that in this town we now seem to have a firm emphasis on high density living. And given that this is not a block that is going to house your average canberran due to the fact that they are quite expensive, again I would question the need and value – even if it does have so many green credentials.

I actually went to the Nishi website and by crikey is that going to be one messy building when it is relieved of it’s scaffolding. I was quite shocked actually. Maybe I’d feel better if I coudl afford one?

b_radical said :

Multiculturalism in action.[/quote>

From what I’ve seen of the brochures, the only thing Japanese about it is the name (it means “west”). The apartments have stairs and walls in weird places and are nothing like the row upon row of craptacular shoebox apartment buildings that populate Japan… one of the joys of Australia is we DON’T live in that style housing!!

NCA Turf is Nishi.
ACT Government not to blame for this.
“The Big Pineapple” comes to Canberra.
Japanese style apartments in the Bush capital.
Multiculturalism in action.

Madam Cholet said :

…I’m wondering who the hell thought it was a great idea to stick a whacking great building that now over-shadows a small heritage listed building, with another huge whacking great building on the other side.

That’s one of the difficulties with heritage listing – is it still meaningful without the context? You seem to be suggesting that in this case it’s not. If the context is needed, how much is reasonable?

I drive past this a few days a week on my way home and now that it has really risen out of the ground, I’m wondering who the hell thought it was a great idea to stick a whacking great building that now over-shadows a small heritage listed building, with another huge whacking great building on the other side. It might look ok from the angle in this photo, but if you come at it from the other direction, it’s pretty hideous.