9 Quotes by Robert McGregor

  • Author Robert McGregor
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    The people of Napier wanted a new modern city, they didn't want to replace the old city with another city,

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  • Author Robert McGregor
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    People were sure that science, education, technology and mass production were going to solve their problems,

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  • Author Robert McGregor
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    There has been a suggestion that the rebuilding of Napier in a modern style pushes New Zealanders into a greater acceptance of modernism than you would find in many other countries, even though we were quite isolated in those days,

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  • Author Robert McGregor
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    We knew that we had to bring in overseas tourists taking photos of them and admiring them before anybody would believe us.

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  • Author Robert McGregor
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    There was going to be no more poverty, no more ignorance, no more disease. Art Deco reflected that confidence, vigor and optimism by using symbols of progress, speed and power.

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  • Author Robert McGregor
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    It wasn't until the 1980s when we lost several really good buildings to another building boom that we woke up to the value of what we had,

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  • Author Robert McGregor
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    The fact that we were unique and that there was a huge opportunity for Napier to not only save some important heritage but to benefit economically from tourism.

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  • Author Robert McGregor
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    In any New Zealand town, even small country towns, you will find at least one Art Deco house. These were not built by intellectuals using an avant-garde architect as you might have found in the United States. These were built by builders using handbooks for young married couples who didn't have any intellectual pretensions at all.

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  • Author Robert McGregor
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    The Trust's attitude had been to always been to save the buildings through tourism because nobody took us seriously when we said that these concrete boxes were important,

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