Being a crane-driver can be tough...

A closer look:

At least he's wearing clothes today

Are you a man who is 5'9" or shorter? Then I would suggest staying away from the urinals at Archives New Zealand. They are almost mounted half way up the wall, it's really very strange.

Andrew Brettell, theatre visuals designer extraordinaire, turns his hand to something a little more ethereal this weekend, when he's planning to 'haunt' the renowned Futuna Chapel up in Karori. Just what this entails we're not sure, but there'll almost certainly be a few ghosts floating around the place, and there's also a talk at 8:30pm each night from Nick Blake about the chapel's architecture.

When: Fri Dec 15th - Sun Dec 17th, 10am - 10pm
Where: Futuna Chapel, 62 Friend Street, Karori
How much: Free!

[Hat-tip: No Right Turn]

Wellington Architecture Week kicks off next Monday, including everything from a visit to the exquisite and hidden Futuna Chapel to a sandcastle competition on Petone Beach.

My WellUrban post gives a bit of context, including links to relevant developments and controversies, and the full illustrated programme (in glorious black, white and blue) is available on the Architectural Centre website, but here's a text listing of all events.

Last night, I once again forced myself to sit through a Waterfront Development Subcommittee meeting. While it was full of enough procedural tedium and political pigheadedness to make sitting in broken glass during a Celine Dion concert seem like a pleasant alternative, it was worth it to get the latest updates and to see an inspiring presentation from UN Studio's Holger Hoffman (since Ben van Berkel had to miss it due to illness) about the processes behind their design for the transition building.

Here's an update on progress and plans, mainly based upon reports from the meeting, but with a few other tidbits.

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These days it seem like there's a specialist film festival for every taste and interest: human rights, vegetables, silent films and even Phoenix dactylifera. There's even one for architecture buffs, and the Wellington season starts at the Penthouse this Friday.

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I thought I'd do a quick round-up of what's going on at Our Place.

Today Te Papa continues its Business of Climate Change lecture series with the WWF (no, not the wrestling) for Conservation Week. Nigel Isaacs will be speaking about how do our buildings contribute to greenhouse gas emissions? What are the opportunities to reduce emissions? How will our buildings deal with climate change? Hear about the latest New Zealand research on building energy use and adaptation strategies. (12.15-1.30pm, Soundings Theatre, Level 2, free entry)

Tomorrow's talk should be just as good (same time, same place, same price) when Nick Jones talks about Marketing Climate Change: Influencing consumer spend.

This is great opportunity for those you still riding high (or low) after the recent spate of documentaries on these topics at the film festival.

The paintings by Constable must be fairly dull as Te Papa has tried to enliven the exhibition with Art After Dark (Toi ki te Pō). These are “artrageous" events on the third Thursday of each month. Seriously, they call it “artrageous".

So on August the 17th you can start with a presentation by Dr John Gage on The Poetry and Portraiture of Landscape (6.30-7.30pm, Soundings Theatre Level 2, free entry). Then get your get groove on at Constable with Music (7.30-8.30pm, Level 4, free entry) where you can enjoy the art with live music playing in the background, I assume it won't be Charlie Ash. And finally you can listen to Bob McDavitt from the MetService talking about the weather that is depicted in each painting (8-8.30pm, Tower Gallery, Level 4, Exhibition admission charges apply) but get in quick as there are only 20 places and it's first in, first served (register at Constable exhibition desk).

Here are a few things to keep your mind off the weather this weekend.

The World Press Photo '06 exhibition kicks off at Shed 11 today. It's been interesting to see that the publicity around town has taken a very political angle this year.

Just along the waterfront at the Museum of Wellington City and Sea (I wish they'd find a shorter name!), they're already two weeks into the month-long Wellingtonia LIVE event. The word "eclectic" doesn't even begin to describe the range of things going on there: there's a performances from the Tinakori Handbell Association, a Matariki celebration with Toni Huata, hurdy-gurdies, shanty singers, ghost tours, kete weaving and a debate on the controversial Marine Education Centre. My main interest will be in the series of talks organised by the Architectural Centre entitled "Why I do architecture". These kick off at 1pm tomorrow with Anna Kemble-Walsh and Martin Hanley of Red Design and John Mills of John Mills Architects.

From eclectic to electric: new synth-pop band The Blush Response have their debut gig at Sandwiches tomorrow night. The band may be new, but the musicians will be very familiar to Wellingtonians: Jeramiah Ross (aka Module), Rhian Sheehan, Raashi Malik (of Rhombus, among others) and Paul McLaney of Gramsci.

Finally, you could always try to figure out the location of the current Mystery Bar. If you do, you'd better get looking tonight because it's closed on Saturday nights (that's a clue). It also has something in common with Sandwiches.

The little side street at the Taranaki Street end of Courtenay Place has been due for big changes for a while, and now it all looks like it's finally happening. In June, work will start on closing the street and turning it into a pocket park: more details will be released by the council in a couple of weeks. Also, the long-abandoned toilet block which has been the subject of various suggestions over the years (including, hilariously, wetarium and sexual health museum), will undergo a more predictable but nonetheless welcome transformation. Ian "Ferg" Ferguson will convert it into a wine bar by doubling the underground space, lining the walls with wine racks and adding an outdoor drinking area on the roof. This work will also start in June and is expected to open by Christmas under the name "Wine Cellar" (WC for short, of course). If only the walls could speak!

But the first change that we'll see here is the opening of the first downtown Wellington branch of Burger Fuel. That explains the loud drooling noises emanating from Wellingtonista towers. There's no official word on the opening date, but construction work looks well advanced, so I'd guess that it's just a few weeks away. Mmm, booze, burgers and a sunny park: that's got to be better than a turning lane and a handful of car parks.