Dominion Museum building

Dominion Museum building
The former Dominion Museum
Map
Former namesNational Museum
General information
LocationBuckle Street, Wellington, New Zealand
Coordinates41°17′58″S 174°46′37″E / 41.299538°S 174.776843°E / -41.299538; 174.776843
Current tenantsMassey University
Completed1936
Design and construction
Architect(s)Gummer and Ford
Designated6-Jun-1990
Reference no.1409

The Dominion Museum building on Mount Cook in Buckle Street Wellington completed in 1936 and superseded by Te Papa in 1998 was part of a war memorial complex including a Carillon[note 1] and National War Memorial.

It was designed and built to house New Zealand's national museum collection, the National Art Gallery of New Zealand and the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts.[1]

The building, registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category 1 Historic Place,[2] currently houses part of the Massey University Wellington Campus.[3]

History

Thorndon

Colonial Museum 1865–1907, Dominion Museum 1908–1936. Museum Street, Thorndon now Pipitea. Prefabricated in Dunedin in 1865

Prior to 1936, the Dominion Museum collection was officially housed in a smaller wooden building in Museum Street behind the Parliament Buildings. Much of the collection was on offsite display or storage.

The Maori Collection including the Maori House originally built at Turanganui, Poverty Bay were housed in the Dominion Farmers' Institute from 1924 until the new Dominion Museum was ready to house them.[4]

Mount Cook

The museum on Mount Cook

In 1929 a fresh competition to design a new museum was announced,[5] and 23 architects submitted designs.[6]

The competition was won by Gummer and Ford from Auckland.[6] In 1930, the National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum Act 1930[7] established a board of trustees to oversee development of the new building. The building housed the Dominion Museum, the National Art Gallery of New Zealand and the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts (who had sold their land and donated the proceeds to the new organisation on the provision that they would be accommodated).[8]

The museum is built of reinforced concrete and partly faced with Putaruru stone. Columns in the foyer are faced with Whangarei marble. The roof is steel-framed and clad with copper and glass.[9] The museum was officially opened by the Governor-General on 1 August 1936.[10][11]

In 1972, an act of Parliament changed the Dominion Museum's name to the National Museum.

In 1992 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Act 1992[12] combined the National Museum and the National Art Gallery to form the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

The Dominion Museum building was featured in Peter Jackson's 1996 film The Frighteners, and in Peter Webber's 2012 film Emperor.

A view of the Dominion Museum building from the Carillon

Notes

  1. ^ Much of the 1914–1918 war was in parts of France and Belgium where there were carillons in many churches and towns

References

  1. ^ "Our History". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. 3 February 2016. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016.
  2. ^ "National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum (Former)". Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  3. ^ "College of Creative Arts of Massey University". Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  4. ^ Historic Link doomed to disappear. The Old Colonial Museum. The Evening Post 19 April 1939 Page 17
  5. ^ "The Mount Cook Group: Art Gallery, Museum, Bells". Evening Post. 18 September 1929. Retrieved 3 July 2021 – via Paperspast.
  6. ^ a b "Accepted Design Described: Auckland Architects' Work". Evening Post. 18 June 1930. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  7. ^ "National Art Gallery Wellington – Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand". teara.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  8. ^ ART GALLERIES – National Art Gallery Wellington in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. (Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 18-Sep-2007)
  9. ^ Kernohan, David (1994). Wellington's Old Buildings. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press. p. 151. ISBN 0-86473-267-8.
  10. ^ "Art Gallery and Museum: Official Opening Ceremony". Evening Post. 1 August 1936. Retrieved 3 July 2021 – via Paperspast.
  11. ^ "His Excellency's Address". Evening Post. 1 August 1936. Retrieved 3 July 2021 – via Paperspast.
  12. ^ "Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Act 1992 No 19 (as at 25 January 2005), Public Act – New Zealand Legislation". legislation.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.

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