Claude Megson

Architect

Celebrating the work and legacy of a great New Zealand architect
From the 1960s until his early death in 1994, New Zealand architect Claude Megson forged a significant body of experimental houses — typically abstract and fantastical, they could seem almost unfathomable in their complexity.  

His work was written about in the same company as Ian Athfield, Peter Beaven, John Scott and Roger Walker, and as a teacher he influenced generations of architects who studied at the Auckland School of Architecture.

Claude Megson Architect examines the arc of Megson’s career, bringing together new photography and 150+ of his remarkable drawings. It both celebrates and illuminates his work, at a time when his legacy is being newly appreciated.

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About the authors

Giles Reid worked for Auckland practice Architectus after graduating from the University of Auckland School of Architecture and was employed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop on the design and construction of the Shard, first in Paris, then London, where he now lives. He then started his own architecture practice, focusing on arts-related and domestic projects. He produces an ongoing series of books on forgotten New Zealand buildings. His monograph on emigré architect Henry Kulka was published in 2022. 

After arriving in New Zealand in 2000, South African-born fashion and celebrity portrait photographer Jackie Meiring shifted her focus towards architecture and interiors (@jackiemeiring). Inspired by the work of New Zealand architects and designers, she developed a real passion for the genre. Her work has appeared in countless local and international magazines and books including Green Modern (2014), Small House Living (2015), Architecture at Home (2023) and Herbst (2024), among others and she was sole photographer with Omata (2022).

The Crash

A memoir

Facing the aftermath 40 years on
In 1987 Sally Wenley was the driven, fun-loving and at times naughty sports prefect of her Hawke’s Bay school with everything to live for. When a bus crashed on a school trip, five people were killed and she became a paraplegic, her sporting dreams in tatters. Now an award-winning radio reporter, in this engaging, uplifting and at times hilarious memoir she looks back at the angry, defiant, risk-taking younger self who used alcohol and arrogance to mask physical pain and trauma. And, for the first time in 40 years, she also looks squarely at the accident. As she explores what happened, and acknowledges that the bus crash also devastated other lives, she comes to understand why she was so driven to escape the limitations of her wheelchair and she counts her blessings.

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About the authors

Sally Wenley has a Bachelor of Arts from Massey University and a diploma in broadcast journalism from the New Zealand Broadcasting School. She began her journalism career at Television New Zealand in Auckland, worked for a time at a magazine for doctors and then at Radio New Zealand, where she won four journalism awards for radio reporting. Sally is now a freelance journalist for both RNZ and other publications. In her spare time, she enjoys hunting and fishing and volunteers to help other newly injured people who have become wheelchair users like herself. She lives in Auckland with Bruce and her teenage daughter.