Saturday, September 29, 2012

hail Victoria in Wellington


While on the subject of Queen Vic, here are a couple more Wellington edifices from the 1890s to her glory: a giant statue of her in Post Office Square (in reality she was only 4'11") and Victoria College, now Victoria University of Wellington.  Given the sprawling complex that VUW is now, it's hard to appreciate that this is all it began with in 1899, what is now the Hunter Building and even this was later added to. About the only VUW building of architectural distinction, a campaign was required to save it from demolition and replacement by another high rise in the 1970s.

Both illustrations were considered for but not included in the book Wellington: a Capital Century

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