At the same time as Ernst Plischke promoted the internationalism of modernism, some local architects thought it could be adapted to create a vernacular style. Among these was Auckland architect Vernon Brown. He used mono-pitched (half-gable) roofs and creosoted weatherboard cladding, sometimes contrasting with white walls or window frames, to create forms that were reminiscent of the shed-like architecture of colonial New Zealand. This is his Birkenshaw House in Remuera, Auckland, in 1945. It followed the modernist dictum for simple forms – the only decorative feature is the angled roof struts under the eaves – but the mono-pitched roof located the house in New Zealand.
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Architecture Archive, The University of Auckland
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