Wellington Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation Te Wāhanga Waihanga-Hoahoa

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Diane Brand

Diane Brand profile picture photograph

Qualifications

BArch (Hons), PhD Auck, MAUD Harvard, RAIA, NZIA

Research Interests

My current research interests include:

  • urban history
  • urban design in C19 British and Portuguese Colonies
  • water as public space
  • edge cities
  • urban design and hospital design
  • urban representation.

Current research projects

My current research investigates concepts of 'bluespace' which I have developed as a new area of research over the past few years. 'Bluespace' is the urban land-sea edge which is used as public space for ceremonial and recreational purposes.

I have two principal research agendas with respect to this concept:

  • Historical perspectives which looks at the use of bluespace in British and Portuguese colonies principally Australia, New Zealand and Brazil.
  • The rediscovery of bluespace as a new sports arena for international yachting spectacles. The digital tracking technology-virtual spectator used to broadcast the regattas in 2003 has opened up the possibility for harbour space to be conceptualised as a macro public realm on water.

Research partnerships/collaborative work

I am currently researching and writing 'A strange paradise: the history of urban design in New Zealand' with Garth Falconer, Director Isthmus Group.

Selected Publications

Brand, D. (2011, July). Crossing The Roads: Urban Diagonals In New Zealand and The Nineteenth Century Anglo-Colonial World. Planning Perspectives 26/3. (pp. 423-444).

Brand, D. (2011). Studio as Cultural Bridge. Keynote address at National Institute of Creative Arts and Industry Studio Teaching symposium 16-17 February. University of Auckland.

Brand D. (2010, July). Transformations to Lisbon’s Terriero do Paco. Proceedings of the 14th IPHS Conference, Technical University of Istanbul. (pp. 11-22). Istanbul.

Brand, D. (2010). Urban Heritage and the Loss of Collective Confidence. Keynote address at Australasian Local Government CEOs Conference, Dunedin City Council.

Brand, D. (2010). Collective Amnesia and Individual Memory in urban Design. Public lecture at the School of Architecture, the University of Muenster. Muenster, Germany.

Brand, D. (2009). O Caracao Verde (A Green Heart): Travel, Urban Gardens, and Design of Late Colonial Cities in the Southern Hemisphere. Travel, Space, Architecture. Ins by Traganou, J., & Mitrasinovic, M. (Eds). Ashgate Publishing Limited. (pp. 64-84). Surrey, England. ="ashgate>

Full list of Publications can be found on the School of Architecture website.