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Confetti starts creative arts building off in style

Friday 22 June 2012, 7:32PM

By Massey University

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Sir Richard Taylor and Industrial Design Lecturer Matthijs Siljee compile the time capsule. Sir Richard noted that he and Mr Siljee have taught students together in the past.
Sir Richard Taylor and Industrial Design Lecturer Matthijs Siljee compile the time capsule. Sir Richard noted that he and Mr Siljee have taught students together in the past. Credit: Massey University

WELLINGTON CITY

Blue, green and gold confetti rained down on over 200 guests at Massey’s new creative arts building, Te Ara Hihiko, in Wellington today. New Zealander of the Year Sir Richard Taylor placed a specially designed time capsule in the foundations to open the building.

The building represents a major investment in art and design education in New Zealand, as well as being a world-first in seismic engineering.

Sir Richard, who is one of the College of Creative Arts’ most distinguished alumni, was accompanied by his partner Tania Rodger and his father. He reminisced about arriving at design school as “a fairly timid bloke” and told today’s students that he looked forward to seeing how they will use the building and “share your ideas with the world”.

“It’s been a huge thrill for me to continue to be associated with Massey over the years since I left Wellington Polytech. And I certainly look forward to many, many more years as faculty, tutors and students continue to be so welcoming to me and my colleagues.”

Commenting on the future of Wellington, Sir Richard said the city is “shifting from the corporate world that it has been and it’s changing to be a dynamic, adaptable new city that’s celebrating creative endeavours”.

The University’s Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey argued that the country’s future is based not just on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Design, he said, should also be included. “Universities are not just about teaching and research, they must be about solving the problems of a very challenging century… and design is crucial to those solutions,” he said.

The College of Creative Arts Pro Vice-Chancellor Associate Professor Claire Robinson acknowledged her predecessor Professor Sally Morgan “who had a vision for what a world-class teaching and learning facility in the creative arts should look like and started this ball rolling in 2009” along with then Regional Chief Executive for the Wellington campus Professor Andrea McIlroy. Associate Professor Robinson especially thanked mana whenua (Tenths Trust, Te Ati Awa and Taranaki Whanui) for their gift of the name of the building Te Ara Hihiko. And she paid tribute to the design and construction team, notably Athfield Architects, Dunning Thornton Consultants (engineering) and Arrow International (project management).

Students will be using the building from July, when semester two begins. Two to three technical staff will have offices in the building, with the rest of the space devoted to student work.