Grand designs

Before the Twelve by Twelve exhibition opens at the Craft & Quilt Fair at Christchurch on Friday 17 September, I am catching up with university friends who live in New Zealand's national capital - Wellington.  I'm on the look out for inspiration for the next Colorplay challenge - Rusty - and found the new Supreme Court building has the copper tones well and truly covered with its amazing copper and beech panelled courtroom in the shape of a cone from the native kauri tree.

As Helen Frances from The Australian newspaper puts it in her article Guilty of Good Design:

The organic iconography of the new building sends a clear message that NZ's justice system is firmly rooted in home soil. There are no classical Greek columns, acanthus leaves or acorns. The exterior bronze screens depict windblown forms of rata and pohutukawa trees, representative of the country's North and South Islands, symbolising leadership, longevity and strength.