Purchase

Reviewed by
Federico Monsalve
HOME

Creative duos are an interesting phenomenon. Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The Coen Brothers. Charles and Ray Eames. Gilbert and George. For most onlookers, It is often hard to distinguish where one individual ends and the other begins; the fruit of their labours seeming more important than the sum of its parts.

This monograph by the country's foremost architectural writer, John Walsh, goes a long way towards portraying one of the most recognisable contemporary design couples and high-end bach 'brands'in Aotearoa. Nicola and Lance Herbst.

Twelve projects - including some of the many that have been finalists and winners of the Home of the Year Awards - are introduced by the architects themselves. This first-person narrative gets readers closer to the process, ideas, and depth that go into the coastal eye candy their firm is known for creating.
Aside from the obvious tasks of a monograph — part coffee-table book, part business card for the architects in question — the introduction hints at other ways the duo's impressive work can be approached: the migrants' gaze (the Herbsts were born and educated in South Africa) in a particularly nationalistic housing sector (the bach); their contribution towards shaking up that old cliché of 'modest materials' into something more daring and elegant; and much more.

A very timely, beautiful introduction to the life, ideas, and evolution of New Zealand's dynamic duo of coastal architecture.