NZ Visual Diary - entry 131

Ponsonby Road - old and new

Stretching east from the intersection of Ponsonby and Richmond Roads, the buildings at 132 & 134 Ponsonby Road are a study in charming contrasts.

The older building to the right (134 Ponsonby) is representative of a classical commercial architectural style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The strict symmetry and rectangularity of the building sections is offset by the pair of roofline pediments. Furthermore, the otherwise banal brickwork building facade is nicely accented by rather handsome ornamental features, including cement belt courses and what I will call (perhaps mistakenly) heraldic crests.

To my eye, the cement works and the twin pediments lend character and beauty to what would otherwise be a prosaic building facade.

Contrast now the building at 134 Ponsonby with its neighbour to the east 132 Ponsonby Road. Cast in the austere rectilinear form of contemporary commercial architecture, this modern building would be as equally mundane as 134, if stripped of its cement features, were it not for equally effective architectural accents. I refer here to the vertical slats which have been set apart at right angles by horizontal level, creating to my eye a visually appealing illusion.

Finally, against the contrasts of distinct architectural periods between the two buildings, I love how the shared colour of both buildings adds an element of harmony across the two structures.