OEPS

First State House

David and Mary McGregor moved into the first state house at 12 Fife Lane in Miramar on 18 September 1937. The Prime Minister at the time, Joseph Savage, helped lift the dining room table through the front door. 50 years later, the Minister of Housing at the time, Helen Clark, carried a new coffee table through the same door. That was soon after the house was listed as a Category I historic place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, the gold standard of architectural significance. By 1970 more than 70,000 houses had been built by the State and 12 Fife Lane continues to be celebrated as a symbol of that historic housing programme.

This continued celebration is also a tacit endorsement of the single-family house set back from the street and surrounded by lawn. Single family houses proliferated in the 20^th century, not just in New Zealand, but in cities right across the world as the car enabled massive suburban sprawl. Houses have grown bigger, and further from the city centres, and they demand an increasingly vast network of roading infrastructure to connect them. This sprawling network of single-family houses and roads is underpinned by one vital ingredient: oil.

Oeps.

Project: OEPS Exhibition
Year: 2022
Location: Sint-Niklaas Cultural Centre, Belgium
Type: Exhibition

Team:
Sam Kebbell