The first European settlers came to Wellington in 1840 and the capital moved from Auckland to “Welly” due to its central location in 1865. Earthquakes have always been an issue in Wellington and in 1992 they closed the parliament building for three years in order to strengthen it. They used an new technique where they separated the building from its original foundation and placed it onto over 400 rubber bearings. The goal is to reduce the transfer of the earthquake’s force from the ground to the building itself.
The cable car was built in 1902 to open up Kelburn hill for settlement.
Panoramic view from the top of the hill.
The Parliamentary Library was completed in 1899 and the Parliament House was “completed” in 1922. I put completed in quotations, because it was never completed to its original design. You’ll noticed the main entrance to the left of the picture. This was supposed to be the center of the building, but during construction there was WWI and then the flu epidemic. There weren’t enough men to complete the project so they just finished it off the way it was. This is why the Beehive was needed later for the executive branch.
The Beehive was designed by British architect Sir Basil Spence and was built between 1969 and 1980 and it serves as the base for the executive wing of government.
Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger started Weta in the back room of their flat in 1987 and it is now a 65,000 sq ft workshop. They worked their way up and are responsible for the special effects in movies such as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit Trilogy, Avatar, Adventures of Tintin, King Kong, Elysium, and Spiderman.
Legolas’ arrow quivers.
Hobbit feet
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