Rewi Thompson, Kohimarama, New Zealand, 1985
OfHouses guest curated by Matheson
Whiteley: “Rewi Thompson’s house for
his own family has neither precedent or progeny. Its outline is singular,
totemic and symmetrical. This places it in contrast to much New Zealand
architecture, which equates gesture with individualism and mistrusts both. It
is clad in plywood, and not, as is sometimes supposed from photos, shuttered
concrete. It has no windows to the street, other than arrow type slots. You
cannot tell anything about the interior or lifestyle within. In plan and image
it rejects the deeply suburban surroundings and seemingly makes no claim to the
land beyond the boundaries of the house – turning away from the street, it
looks back at the bush covered hill into which it is slowly receding.” (Text: Giles Reid. Photos: © Rewi Thompson, Google
Street View.)
