Early in September, we received the sad news that senior lecturer in the School of Architecture, Dr David Turner had passed away suddenly on 7 September, aged 80. Head of School, Peter McPherson, shares with us the enormous contribution David made to Unitec and New Zealand architecture as an academic and a colleague.
David was a founding member of the school, present in the architecture programme from its very first days in 1994. David established himself as the foremost scholar on housing in Aotearoa New Zealand and elevated how the school was able to address teaching these issues, which are becoming ever more prevalent as we grapple with various issues of our time; environmental, cultural, social, and economic.
In the early 2000s, David established his renowned Urban Housing elective, advancing many hundreds of students and subsequently improving outcomes for thousands of members of the public as graduates entered the profession to apply the skills and knowledge honed under David’s tutelage. David supervised more than50 post-graduate students on their final-year research project thesis, with many benefiting from his broad expertise and rigour covering areas of planning, sustainability, design methods, and socio-economic understanding impacting decisions in the built environment.
David’s research led to him holding roles with Auckland Council’s Urban Design Panel and running continual professional development courses for professional practices and groups across Tāmaki. He contributed to improving the understanding of increased housing densities in the profession and most recently compiled a resource of many recent developments assessing their performance and educating Council teams of what to look for to improve outcomes in planning policy.
David was generous and always had time for a conversation and to share his passions. David would indulge on any topic; family, architecture (of course), education, technology, Manchester, Docklands, cars, Eames chairs. And sailing. He would forge a crew and share the beauty of the harbour with his family, colleagues and friends, giving his international colleagues in particular friendship and a deeper understanding of life in Aotearoa.
David’s approach and wit have had a significant impact on a great number of students. And I include myself and many of my peers in that number. We will miss David deeply.
A gathering to celebrate David’s life is planned for Saturday, October 28, at 10am, in the Central Park Chapel of Davis Funerals, 150 Central Park Drive, Henderson.
Our thoughts are with David’s family and friends at this difficult time.