'New Zealand Odyssey', published in 1989 by Heinemann, was authored by me, Don Donovan (who did the text and illustrations) and Euan Sarginson, who did the photography and design. In this series of blog posts, I will publish some of my drawings.
Napier suffered a monumental earthquake in 1931 which killed something like 250 people and laid the town to waste. With brilliant perspicacity the powers-that-be decided that the city should be rebuilt and that its architectural style should be art deco, a fashion that was worldwide at the time and has since become as classical as Bauhaus, art nouveau or Palladian.
I could have illustrated many Napier buildings for our book but chose just two typically art deco designs: the doorway of the Masonic Hotel with its leaded glass pelmet and the first storey balcony of the Central Hotel whose almost Egyptian themes might readily be seen on cinemas all over the world.
© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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