Athfield Architects

Over many years, Ian Athfield and his team at Athfield Architects have reshaped New Zealand architecture: from the Buck House at Te Mata Estate, Hawke’s Bay, to Wellington’s Civic Square, from Jade Stadium to Athfield’s own sprawling settlement on the Khandallah hills.

Reflecting on half a century of work, Julia Gatley’s landmark new book, ATHFIELD ARCHITECTS, introduces a major body of architecture that will lead readers through modernism, postmodernism and beyond.

Its four-part structure traces Ian Athfield’s for­mative years; the fledgling firm and its radical 1960s and 1970s houses; its important break into commercial work; and finally, its impact in the public, urban and institutional realms.

ATHFIELD ARCHITECTS combines newly commissioned photography, evocative original architectural drawings and a rich text informed by extensive archival research and interviews with key figures in the firm. Taking us from the slums of Manila to the streets of post-quake Christchurch, this major book shows how Aotearoa/New Zealand’s leading contemporary architect is transforming the way we all might live.

Author Biography

Dr Julia Gatley is a senior lecturer in the School of Architecture & Planning at The University of Auckland. She has edited two bestselling and critically Zealand's New Architecture, 1904–1984 (2008) and Group Architects: Towards a New Zealand Architecture (2010).