| Sir Miles Warren | |
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Sir Miles Warren in 2011 |
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| Born | 1929 Christchurch |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Alma mater | University of Auckland |
| Awards | NZIA Gold Medal 1959, 1964, 1969, 1973 |
| Work | |
| Practice | Warren & Mahoney |
| Buildings | Christchurch Town Hall, Dorset St Flats, Harewood Crematorium, College House |
Sir Miles Warren, ONZ, KBE, FNZIA (born in Christchurch in 1929) is New Zealand's foremost modern architect. He apprenticed under Cecil Wood before studying architecture at the University of Auckland, eventually working at the London County Council where he was exposed to British New Brutalism. Upon returning to Christchurch, and forming the practice Warren & Mahoney, he was instrumental in developing the "Christchurch School" of architecture, an intersection between the truth-to-materials and structural expression that characterised Brutalism, and the low-key, Scandinavian and Japanese commitment to "straightforwardness". He retired from Warren & Mahoney in 1994, but continues to consult as an architect and maintain his historic home and garden at Ohinetahi.
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Warren was educated at Christ's College. He commenced his architectural training as an apprentice to Cecil Wood and studied architecture via correspondence at the Christchurch Atelier. Warren later moved to Auckland to complete his studies at the University of Auckland.[1]
Warren’s first major building was the Dorset Street Flats (designed in 1956) that were derided as prison-like due to their small scale and exposed concrete. This domestic vocabulary was quickly adapted to various building types – the Dental Nurses School (1958), the Architect's own office and home (1962), Harewood Crematorium (1963), Christchurch College (now known as College House) (1964) and the Christchurch Town Hall (1972). In between these larger projects, Warren & Mahoney designed a group of beautifully detailed houses, mostly in the language of contemporary Danish models. These houses were composed of crisp boxes of white-painted concrete block, with punched, recessed window openings and no eaves or verges on their steeply gabled roofs.
Warren & Mahoney won the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) Gold Medal in 1959, 1964, 1969 & 1973. In 1966 they won the American Institute of Architects’ Pan Pacific Citation, an award also given to such luminaries as Kenzo Tange and Harry Seidler. Miles Warren was awarded the NZIA Gold Medal as an individual in 2000.[2] Warren and Peter Beaven are the only two Christchurch architects who have been awarded the New Zealand Institute of Architects gold medal.[3]
Warren was awarded a CBE in 1974, advanced to KBE in 1985, and the Order of New Zealand in 1995. In 2001 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Auckland, and in 2003 he received an Icon Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.[4] In March 2009, Warren was commemorated as one of the Twelve Local Heroes, and a bronze bust of him was unveiled outside the Christchurch Arts Centre.
For his 80th birthday, his work was the basis of an exhibition at the Christchurch Art Gallery, which was also shown at the University of Auckland's Gus Fisher Gallery in 2010.[5]
In 2011 Warren was profiled on Artsville, a TVNZ arts documentary series.[6]
Critics of his work and its impact on the Victorian architectural heritage of Christchurch include Duncan Fallowell, who has written: "his buildings can't manage the simplest attributes of good design or benevolence".[7]
In addition to his passion for architecture Warren is also well known as a keen and talented gardener. The garden at 65 Cambridge Terrace (Pictured above) was admired for its simplicity. In 1977, with Pauline and John Trengrove, Warren began work on the garden at Ohinetahi. This garden includes a formal rose garden, a walled "red and green" garden and a woodland garden. Warren also designed a display garden for the 2009 Ellerslie Flower Show.
Miles Warren: An Autobiography was published by Canterbury University Press in November 2008[8]
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