Sir Miles Warren

ONZ KBE FNZIA
Warren in 2011
Born(1929-05-10)10 May 1929
Christchurch, New Zealand
Died9 August 2022(2022-08-09) (aged 93)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Alma materAuckland University College
OccupationArchitect
AwardsNZIA Gold Medal (1959, 1964, 1969, 1973, 2000)
PracticeWarren and Mahoney
Buildings

Sir Frederick Miles Warren ONZ KBE FNZIA (10 May 1929 – 9 August 2022) was a New Zealand 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 and 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 and Mahoney in 1994 but continued to consult as an architect and maintain his historic home and garden at Ohinetahi.

Early life

Miles Warren, his office and flat

Warren was born in Christchurch on 10 May 1929, the son of Jean and Maurice Warren.[1] He 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.[2]

Buildings

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).[3]

Warren & Mahoney: Harewood Crematorium (1963)

Awards and recognition

Warren & Mahoney won the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) Gold Medal in 1959, 1964, 1969 and 1973.[4] In 1966 they won the American Institute of Architects' Pan Pacific Citation, an award also given to among others the architects Kenzo Tange and Harry Seidler. Warren was awarded the NZIA Gold Medal as an individual in 2000.[5][4] Warren and Peter Beaven are the only two Christchurch architects who have been awarded both the New Zealand Institute of Architects gold medal.[6]

In the 1974 New Year Honours, Warren was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire,[7] advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1985 New Year Honours,[8] and appointed to the Order of New Zealand in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]

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.[12]

In 2011 Warren was profiled on Artsville, a TVNZ arts documentary series.[13]

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".[14]

In 2015, the NZIA replaced their Architecture Medal award with four named awards honouring prominent New Zealand architects, including the Sir Miles Warren Award for Commercial Architecture.[15]

Gardens

In addition to his passion for architecture Warren was 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.[16] 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. In 2012 Warren gifted his house and garden to the people of New Zealand via the Ohinetahi Charitable Trust.[17]

Death

Warren died in Christchurch on 9 August 2022 at the age of 93.[3][18]

Books

Miles Warren: An Autobiography was published by Canterbury University Press in November 2008.[19][20]

List of designs

References

  1. ↑ Taylor, Alister, ed. (2001). "New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001". New Zealand Who's Who, Aotearoa. Auckland: Alister Taylor Publishers: 920. ISSN 1172-9813.
  2. ↑ "Sir Miles Warren". Christchurch: Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Sir Miles Warren". New Zealand Institute of Architects. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Warren, Frederick Miles (Sir), 1929–". natlib.govt.nz. National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "History". The Warren Architects Education Charitable Trust. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  6. ↑ Beaven, Peter (6 September 2011). "New city plan is... the old city plan". The Press. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "No. 46163". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 1 January 1974. p. 36.
  8. ↑ "No. 49970". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1984. p. 1.
  9. ↑ "Queen's Birthday honours list 1995". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Sir Miles Warren". The Arts Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "Canterbury Heroes". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  12. ↑ Exhibition at the Christchurch Art Gallery Archived 22 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine; accessed 12 January 2010
  13. ↑ "Artsville". TVNZ 7. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  14. ↑ Fallowell, Duncan: Going As Far As I Can, Profile Books, London 2008, p164
  15. ↑ "Sir Miles Warren Award for Commercial Architecture". NZ Institute of Architects. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  16. ↑ "Ohinetahi". gardenstovisit.co.nz. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  17. ↑ "Historic Ohinetahi gifted to the public". The Press. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  18. ↑ "Frederick Warren obituary". The New Zealand Herald. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  19. ↑ "Miles Warren Autobiography Published" (Press release). Scoop Review of Books. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  20. 1 2 Warren, Miles (2008). Miles Warren: An Autobiography. Christchurch, NZ: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 9781877257766. OCLC 1309693999.
  21. ↑ "Exterior of Grigg house, Mt Somers". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  22. ↑ "RH Ballantyne, 1959". Christchurch Modern. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Itinerary no 15: Warren & Mahoney in Christchurch 1" (PDF). Squarespace. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  24. ↑ "65 Cambridge Terrace House & Offices". Warren and Mahoney. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  25. ↑ "Our architecture & art". College House. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  26. ↑ "Cox Street R C Webb Flats (1965)". New Zealand Institute of Architects. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  27. ↑ "Munro House (1968)". New Zealand Institute of Architects. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  28. 1 2 "I never met a straight line I didn't like". The Design Chaser. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  29. ↑ "D Forbes House". Warren and Mahoney. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  30. ↑ "Central Library Building, 1982–2014". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  31. ↑ "Michael Fowler Centre". Warren and Mahoney. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  32. 1 2 "Four Decades of Architecture: Warren and Mahoney Retrospective". Warren and Mahoney. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  33. ↑ "Warren and Mahoney". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  34. ↑ "49 Boulcott Street". PlacesNZ. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
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