The Soldier Architects of the Auckland Museum
Auckland Museum is a landmark destination for visitors to New Zealand, telling our story through its caring curation of art, nature, and society. It’s a story that ranges from the time before humans first set foot in Aotearoa right through the epoch of Māori and European settlement and on into the modern age.
And that’s just on the inside. The museum building itself tells a story as an outstanding example of New Zealand architecture whose origin is rooted in the loss and pain of the First World War.
NEED FOR SPACE AND A YEARNING TO HONOUR
It begins in 1920, when alongside the public’s deeply felt need to honour soldiers lost during the war, the city required a new space for its brimming Princes Street museum. The solution was to construct a new integrated complex in the Auckland Domain. It was to be the city’s key landmark and a quintessential touchstone, evoking what it means to be an Aucklander. The only question remaining was who should design it.
To answer this, the Institute of British Architects funded a worldwide architectural competition. The standard called for nothing less than “a noble and dignified building suitable for a WAR MEMORIAL…which will also form a worthy repository for the Collections of the Auckland Museum, including its unrivalled Māori Treasures….”
Out of seventy-four entries from across the globe, the winner was the Auckland team of Hugh Grierson, Kenneth Aimer and Keith Draffin.
COMBAT VETERANS
Their Greek-inspired design was certainly a marvellous conception, but just as important, the three men bore the spiritual gravity of combat veterans. “Soldier Architects” headlined The New Zealand Herald’s announcement of their achievement.
And rightly so. Grierson fought in France and lost a brother at Gallipoli. Aimer was wounded (twice) and lost his brother too. Draffin (also wounded) was among the last men to leave Anzac Cove when Gallipoli was evacuated. These were not just architects—they were young men who only months before fought as combat soldiers.
PUREWA CONNECTIONS
Purewa Cemetery has close ties to the museum and to the architects. All three men are buried here, as is Archbishop Walter Averill, who consecrated the Cenotaph at the museum’s opening.
Other connections include renowned museum botanist and illustrator Ellen Cheeseman and her taxidermist sister, Emma, whose work was important to the early development of the museum.
Moreover, the museum’s Hall of Memories features interactive displays of half a dozen more Purewa notables. Among them are aviation pioneers George Bolt, John Seabrook and Howard Coverdale and the touching personal diaries of veteran William Smallfield. Yet another exhibit features the recollections of decorated battlefield nurse Cora Beattie Anderson.
All and more are buried at Purewa, which invites museum visitors to visit and pay their respects to all these remarkable Aucklanders while remembering their great contributions to our society and history.
IMAGE: Architects Hugh Grierson, Keith Draffin and Kenneth Aimer.
