Written and Posted by Janet Sayers
The main point of this series (ongoing) is to argue there would be real benefit to Auckland and New Zealand for Auckland to embrace itself as a ‘City of Volcanoes'. As this series develops I will elaborate upon this argument.
Part 1: Visual Representations of Auckland to 1987 (Historical Maps and other Images)
The main point of this series (ongoing) is to argue there would be real benefit to Auckland and New Zealand for Auckland to embrace itself as a ‘City of Volcanoes'. As this series develops I will elaborate upon this argument.
Part 1: Visual Representations of Auckland to 1987 (Historical Maps and other Images)
Part 2: Visual Representations of Auckland - Now
Part 3: Place and Identity: The Theory
In Part 1 I provide an eclectic historical tour through some images of Auckland and relate them to Auckland’s significance as a developing global city. I provide a series of images of Auckland, with some commentary to provide some historical context on how Auckland has been symbolized and mapped since the early 1800s.
The first image below of Auckland in 2002 is a satellite map. The impact of the city on the volcanic landscape is remarkable, especially when you compare this image with the Fernindad von Hochstetter’s 1859 map of the Auckland isthmus below it.
In Part 1 I provide an eclectic historical tour through some images of Auckland and relate them to Auckland’s significance as a developing global city. I provide a series of images of Auckland, with some commentary to provide some historical context on how Auckland has been symbolized and mapped since the early 1800s.
The first image below of Auckland in 2002 is a satellite map. The impact of the city on the volcanic landscape is remarkable, especially when you compare this image with the Fernindad von Hochstetter’s 1859 map of the Auckland isthmus below it.
Landsat image of Auckland (2002) http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/archive/c0012.html
The next map is by early cartographer Von Hochstetler and is an evocative reference point for understanding Auckland’s volcanic landscape in 1859. The nascent CBD of Auckland can be seen clinging to its coastal port.
Fernindad von Hochstetter’s 1859 map of the Auckland isthmus
The image in settlers’ minds of Auckland in this period was of a little England.
The greater part of the land on this isthmus, which divides the two harbours, is now in a high state of cultivation. Solid stone walls and quickset hedges are generally taking the place of temporary wooden fences of posts and rails. At Epsom, and in the Tamaki district, there are grass and clover paddocks, as large, as rich, as well laid down, and as substantially fenced, as any grass land in England. There is a good macadamized road across the isthmus from Auckland to Onehunga, on the Manukau Harbour; and the country around is studded with picturesque farms, cottages, and wayside houses. (Angas, 1866, p. 107)
Another useful interesting historical map of Auckland is provided on the Auckland City Council's website; The 1908 City of Auckland Map. It is described thus:
"The 1908 map is a significant and unique record of Auckland City's history and early infrastructure. The map portrays an exciting period in the city's development and documents the progress of a growing city. As such, it is one of Auckland City Council archives' most treasured and valuable assets; it is referred to regularly by family and property researchers, local historians, students, archaeologists and contractors working for council."
Other interesting visual representations of Auckland are 'advertising images' and images designed to communicate the essence of Auckland to visitors to the city, and thus to ourselves. Auckland’s first major visual identity was conferred by Great Britain. The Coat of Arms, given below on 23 October 1911 symbolized the characteristics and traditions of the region in New Zealand where the city is situated. It is made up of a number of heraldic elements which suggest progress built upon Auckland’s natural features: the port and a ship; a shovel and a pick as a reminder of early mining activities; arms placed inside the shield with cornucopia representing Auckland as a cup of plenty with agricultural and natural richness; native flax in flower; and two rampant kiwi as the primary symbols of New Zealand; all textually anchored by the word ‘Advance’ ("The Auckland city coat of arms," 2011). This first official visual representation was therefore a conferred one by the colonial power, which saw Auckland as a seat of colonial administration, and as a resource-base whose primary identity was commercial. This identity was seen from the outside as being closely tied to its natural environment, and its commercial exploitation as a primary resource.
Auckland's Coat of Arms - 1911
Other early representations of Auckland were focused outwards in an attempt to attract settlers, investors and visitors to the region to stimulate economic growth. The free 1934 ‘The gateway official guide to Auckland’ (see below) features strong Māori figuration with its representation of two Māori, a man and a woman, in ‘traditional costume’ framed by green whakairo (carving). The green probably represents valuable pouanamu (jade) for which there was a vigorous early trade. Whakairo represent ancestors, and this symbology is directly related to natural features of the land through the cultural practice of whakapapa. The gateway symbol refers to traditional Māori welcoming practices, where visitors are formally welcomed on to a marae (meeting house) through the tomokanga (gateway) (Te Ahukaramū, 2011).
The Gateway Official Guide to Auckland 1934
This booklet was published to promote Auckland by a conglomerate of civil and business authorities. Māori symbols were yoked to lever advantage for Auckland settlers with little cultural understanding of the irony in their use of ‘displaced’ Māori in this fashion.
Auckland began to develop its civic structures, and with the advent of the motor vehicle, arterial roads and motorways became the defining feature of the urban landscape. Auckland grew rapidly and spread out. The uptake of the car led to further massive expansion that has resulted in the growth of associated urban areas like the North Shore, especially after the construction of the Auckland Harbour Bridge finished in 1959. Advertisements during this period reinforced Auckland as a thriving city full of opportunities for the visitor and emphasised it still as a gateway to New Zealand. As time has progressed representations have become more abstract; in the image below Auckland is like a framed painting, with the city fore-grounded. The harbour is depicted as a busy port, and the volcanic cones of Rangitoto and North-head are in the background.
1930 Auckland The Gateway to New Zealand
The next image below is from the period after the harbour bridge was built, and is entirely abstract in its representation, probably following stylistic fashions of the time. This image has dominated the city collective imaginary as the ‘City of Sails’ until now. The image symbols are framed by a port-hole like circle emphasising an insider-outsider spilt characteristic of the 'imperial gaze' (see part 3 of this series). The four icons within are: the harbour, the bridge, Rangitoto and two sails. The sails dominate the harbour, overpowering nature. The harbour bridge overarches all of nature, symbolically representing technology and flow. This symbol was used for the Auckland City Council for a number of years.
Auckland Visitors Guide 1986/87
In the next part of this article Part 2: 'Visual Representations of Auckland - Now' I'll discuss Auckland's current visual identity. In Part 3 I provide a rationale for Auckland being the 'City of volcanoes' based on some pointy-headed theory about place, identity and memory. In further postings I hope to explore Auckland in visual art (and a little bit of literature) and why this should all matter to businesses in Auckland.
References
Angas, G. F. (1866). Polynesia. A popular description of the physical features, inhabitants, natural history, and productions of the islands of the Pacific. With an account of their discovery, and the progress of civilisation and Christianity amongst them. Retrieved 3 July 2010, from http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-AngPoly-t1-body-d5.html
The Auckland city coat of arms. (2011). Retrieved 1 May 2011, 2011, from http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/auckland/introduction/coatarms/default.asp
Maling, P. (Cartographer). (1999). Historic charts and maps of NZ 1642-1875. Reed: Wellington. .
Based on a work at managingservicesblogspot.blogspot.com.
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