Labour takes command : a history and analysis of state rental flats in New Zealand 1935-1949

Abstract

New Zealand's first Labour Government is remembered for the thousands of state rental houses it built during its 1935-49 term. It also built thirteen medium and high density blocks of state rental flats during that period. This thesis provides a history and analysis of six of these blocks of flats, the six being Labour's inaugural multi-unit scheme and the five multi-storeyed schemes that followed it. It shows that these blocks of flats were key buildings in the development of the Modern Movement in New Zealand. That development was aesthetic, political, social and urban: the blocks were used to market the progressive nature of the Labour Government; they were suited to Labour's advanced social programme; and they were influential and even pioneering in the development of an urban culture in New Zealand.