Professor Andrew Barrie, from the University of Auckland's National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, reflects on the influential career of architect Ivan Mercep, who recently passed away.
Ivan Mercep, whose work exerts a profound influence on way we live around the University, died in April. In the mid-sixties, Mercep was one of the founding members of Jelicich, Austin, Smith, Mercep and Davies – JASMaD – an adventurous multi-disciplinary design practice.
At the time, most of the University’s buildings were produced by the Ministry of Works, but Mercep’s young firm secured the commission for International House on Whittaker Place. Completed in 1971, the warm materials and sociable atmosphere of this hall of residence attracted both students and architectural awards. It became the first in a series of projects JASMaD produced for the University, including Student Housing in Freeman's Bay (1976), the multi-award winning Recreation Center (1977), the Arts & Commerce Building (1984), and the refurbishment of the Old Arts Building in 1987.
JASMaD’s rapid growth through the 1970s and 1980s coincided with the renaissance of Maori culture and the rise of Auckland as a Polynesian city. Ivan was a key contributor to this development, with JASMaD becoming one of the first architectural practices to engage in institutional-scale architecture for Maori and Polynesian clients. This work gave Maori and Pacific Islanders a public and enduring presence within the built and urban fabric of Auckland, South Auckland, and later around the Pacific. It included some of New Zealand’s first urban marae – a marae project in Otara led to Hoani Waititi Marae in Glen Eden and then to the design of the University’s Waipapa marae complex (1988) and the Fale Pasifika (2004).
In 1989 JASMaD transformed into Jasmax, and soon afterwards won the competition for the design of Te Papa – one of the biggest architectural projects ever carried out in this country Zealand. Powered by Te Papa and other major buildings around the country, Jasmax developed into New Zealand’s largest architectural practice, and Mercep became one of the nations most respected architects – in 2008 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the New Zealand Institute of Architects for outstanding contributions to the profession across a span of more than 50 years.
A humble and genial man, Ivan kept working until his death at the age of 83. He leaves a legacy not only in the buildings he designed, but in the work produced by the generations of architects that developed under his gracious mentorship – Jasmax recently completed the Grafton Campus Redevelopment – and will continue to serve both the university and the city.