"Just as an artist must paint his own pictures, so must a
domestic architect carry out his own designs”, said James
Chapman-Taylor. Judy Siers' deep immersion in the
manifestations of Chapman-Taylor's philosophy is reflected
in the design and making of this quietly magnificent book,
published by James and Judy Siers' own company. Lindsay
Missen was the design consultant but one suspects the author
had much to do with crafting the verbal/visual presentation.
James Chapman-Taylor, who arrived from England in 1880 aged
two, began transplanting medieval English architectural
heritage embodied in Arts and Crafts thinking to New Zealand
domestic dwellings about 100 years ago. But this book is
about much more than crafted living spaces incorporating
Chapman-Taylor designed and made furniture, door latches,
concrete blocks and concrete roof tiles. The many personal
stories incorporated 3[ in chronicling each project provide
a rich insight into a young country building itself on many
levels.
Siers' book will give generations to come much to admire,
embrace, question and challenge about Chapman-Taylor's
design philosophy. It is clearly a labour of love but, to
quote her subject: "When the creator made a tree it was not
with the idea of making a saleable article, but of making a
good tree"
Michael Smythe
Prodesign magazine
Issue 92 \2007
‘The life and times of James Walter Chapman-Taylor’ enables us to enter into the life and times of a man, a family, a society, and ways of thinking and acting different to, yet not so distant from, our own.We enter the world of an architect, who is also an artist; builder, craftsman; a theosophist, an astrologer, a photographer, a furniture maker.We are presented with the life story of a complex and talented man, a man who influenced the lives of others, and was influenced by particular beliefs, both religious and artistic.
To enter a Chapman-Taylor house is to enter into a world of warmth, comfort, re-assurance; of materiality and craftsmanship. It is a practical world touched by art.Chapman-Taylor’s world is where “beauty is really a by-product and comes almost of itself when our motives are right”.Lavishly illustrated, this book enables us to enter every one of Chapman-Taylor’s houses - not as good as the real thing, as Chapman-Taylor himself would have said, but important to understanding his work and commitment to a particular way of producing architecture.
Architect, David Kernohan 2007.
Chapman-Taylor photographed Bessie Snell, wife of Joseph Snell, at the front entrance to their home 'Restormel', Chatsworth Road, Silverstream, Upper Hutt, c. 1930. On entering the house the visitor moves from the hall to the Houseplace.The two interior photographs include the brick fireplace and the ingle seating.
Penelope Beider, Sunday Star Times
16 September 2007
Homes Away From Home
A hymn in book form to one of our architectural pioneers is
as monumental as its subject’s houses were finely crafted.
At 417 pages, it is a meticulously detailed, hugely
researched work that the author has confessed to being
involved with, on and off, for over 40 years. However, with
each page generously illustrated with plans, drawings and
photographs, it is far from an onerous read. The book’s
attention to design and detail pays perfect homage to its
subject. Anyone interested in domestic architecture will
have heard of James Chapman-Taylor, though his particular
contribution to New Zealand architecture has only been
relatively recently
recognised….
A Chapman-Taylor house is solid, enchanting, an intriguing
blend of art with earthly practicality, and while his work
had such a close affinity with the English arts and crafts
movement, his buildings sit peacefully in the New Zealand
landscape.
Robert Young, Chairman, Taranaki NZ
Historic Places Trust Chairman, Taranaki Daily News 11
August 2007
Book captures complex man’s life and times.
I was constantly amazed by Ms Siers tenacity, which is
revealed in the research that she undertook. The body of the
book is written as a biography and records chronologically
the buildings and architectural career and his life…
It is not only a biography but an important record, a social
history as well as a history celebrating the legacy of a
lifetime’s work and journey.
Mary Shanahan Hawke’s Bay Today 9
June 2007
The language of home.
Celebrated as a champion of the Arts and Crafts Movement in
New Zealand, James Chapman-Taylor forged many significant
links with Hawke’s Bay.
...a striking large-format book – a marathon feat that has
taken years of research…this beautiful crafted book will
appeal to many readers…
Ann Packer The Dominion Post 26 May
2007
A handsome new book covers the extraordinary career of a
hands-on architect who built more than 60 houses in the
Wellington region in the first half of the century.
The size and scale of the subject matter has resulted in a
hefty and beautiful sepia-covered book…
Kim Hill Saturday Morning with Kim
Hill Radio New Zealand, 2 June 2007
This is not so much a coffee table book as a coffee table!
