New Zealand architect Jack Manning FNZIA has passed away just a few days short of his 93rd birthday.
We are saddened to hear that NZIA Gold Medal recipient Jack Manning (1928-2021) has passed away after a long and illustrious life, just a few days short of his 93rd birthday.
Jack, usually referred to as Manning, or The Man, was responsible for some of Auckland’s more refined and expressive buildings over his long career. Early work at the Auckland City Council included the Auckland City Library. Working for Thorpe Cutler Pickmere Douglas (TCPD) in the 1960s and '70s, Jack was the key designer for Queen Street’s elegant AMP tower, and the new complex of buildings out at the Auckland College of Education in Epsom. At TCPD he met later partners David Mitchell and Pete Hill.
Hill Manning Mitchell Architects was an energetic, somewhat rebellious practice that embraced the free spirits of the time. Their most celebrated project was the University of Auckland’s School of Music, and its blazing yellow wall to Symonds Street still lights up the campus.
Jack’s biggest project came later in his career; the towering Majestic Centre in Wellington for Rainbow Properties in 1989-91. One of his smallest, the Cathcart House, a black box of plywood with a vibrantly coloured interior, is a meticulously crafted set piece of architecture.
Jack loved construction, and a vast stack of A4 hand-drawn details remain as a testament to his passion for detailing and just “nutting it all out”. He was a total modernist, always looking for the New.
A gracious person, with a great sense of humour and irony, Jack was a delight to work with for those of us lucky to have spent time in his office. And then there was the music! Jack provided the soundtrack: Lou Reed, Velvet Underground, Nirvana… always something new.
Jack was buried today, in these Covid-constrained times, by his closest family. He took his iPod with him.
A celebration of Jack’s life will be held when times permit. A more in-depth acknowledgment of his contribution to our architecture and our lives will follow in Architecture NZ.
Julie Stout FNZIA, 13 October 2021
Read Jack Manning's 2011 Gold Medal citation and watch the film.