'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.
The pre-European history of New Zealand has left virtually nothing of architectural note because Maori built little in stone. Almost all indigenous structures were wood: meeting houses, huts, storage sheds and the palisades that protected hilltop defences and villages. Earthworks abound, buildings are absent.
But Europeans built using the most appropriate local material and in Central Otago that meant stone. These two buildings in Clyde, which I illustrated in 1988, could last forever (how long is that?), although their roofs, being of corrugated iron, will be replaced often. The lower drawing is of a building under restoration and I was rather saddened to see that the modern window doesn't quite keep in tune with the rest.
© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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