Page 228 - Constructing Craft

Paul Johnson working on the mural ‘Craft and Architecture', 1982. Photo: David Clegg.

Howard Williams

Howard Williams was a ‘ceramist’ who discovered that the commitment of many
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businesses to expressions of cultural benevolence was shallow. Williams trained
as a potter with the New Zealand-born potter Kenneth Clark in Britain where he

learned to make slip-cast pottery, mosaics and hand-built ceramic murals and
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helped Clark work on large-scale murals. In 1971 he returned to New Zealand to
establish a studio where he used these techniques to make pottery, tiles and

murals. Through his mural work and social networks Williams became involved in
the designing and installation of commissions in board rooms, restaurants and

corporate buildings. One of Williams’ most important commissions was an
installation in the Kensington Swan building in central Auckland. In 1986 the

construction company Mainzeal began building a twelve-storey office block in
downtown Auckland. In April 1988 the law firm Kensington Swan occupied the five

top floors and sublet the remainder of the building. Part of the planning included the

installation of an art work which was to include water. Mainzeal’s policy was to
incorporate art work in the buildings it constructed and this reflected a growing trend

in the late 1980s. The CCNZ was consulted on the selection of the successful
design.

Constructing Craft