RM Flag Project

The RM flag project is an exhibition of flags designed by artists, designers and collectives from New Zealand, Korea, and Europe. For a month, these flags will be flown on the vacant flagpoles of nine buildings throughout the CBD, as a way of encouraging people to look up and notice the wealth of cultural and architectural histories found there.

Flags being shown in Britomart:

Barrington Building, 12 Customs St East | Daniel Webby
This four storey warehouse was designed by John Currie and opened in 1905. Gustav Kronfeld operated in it as a fruit and produce merchant until 1915. Born in Germany, he came to New Zealand from Samoa and used his connections to develop trade between Auckland and the Pacific Islands. In the 1970’s the Barrington Gallery occupied the first floor and in 1975 an eight-shop arcade was installed on the ground floor linking Customs Street to Galway Street.
Information about the flag: Logotype as architecture - a home amongst the stars. Industrial abstraction both sanitary and stark.
A neither-ground is established; rotationally symmetrical; modern through and though.

Maritime Building, 130 Quay St | Claire Cooper
The building was designed in the late 1930s by the architects Chilwell and Trevithick for the NZ shipping company. Built of reinforced concrete with imported metal windows, this building is the epitome of modernity for the period, being a visual metaphor of rational design and solid construction. It is an interesting example of the glamorous Streamline-Moderne style made popular by Hollywood films in the 1930s.
Flag title: Knot; Link; Nexus; Tangle; Tie; Vinculum; Whorl; Yoke; Bond.

Northern Steamship Company Building, 122-124 Quay St | Tony de Lautour
This building was completed in 1898, and reflects the city’s role as a major port at the end of the colonial period. The Northern Steamship Company was instrumental in the kauri gum, timber, farming and early tourism industries, and also provided social contact between coastal communities. The building is a reminder of the time when the wharf side area was a hub of maritime activity.
Flag title: Waving to a friend in London
 

Visit www.rm103.org for more info and other flag locations