Deco, deco, deco, not deco in Napier

 

Sketching around Napier at Christmas
was a lot of fun, there is always so
much to draw in 'The Bay'.

A visit to the MTG (Hawkes Bay
Museum) to see the Speedlines and
Ziggurates: Deco House Style
photography exhibition inspired
us to look a bit closer at the
deco suburb of Marewa, the
source of the top two sketches
here. There are streets and
streets of these houses in Marewa.

Next is Louis Hays office in
Herschell Street. This where
he designed many of Napier's
prominent Art Deco and Mission
Revival buildings after the devastating
1931 earthquake. If you've been
to Napier you'll recognise some
of the buldings he designed listed here.

And lastly, at the bottom, and not fitting
in at all with all these deco buildings –
a Victorian villa – not everything was
destroyed in the earthquake and you'll
still find plenty of these dotted around
the Napier hills.