Breeze blocks
Shooting the breeze
Neil Pardington’s photo essay on the breeze block elevates these humble hunks of concrete to new heights.
Originally designed to let the breeze through while providing shade from the sun, the decorative concrete blocks a.k.a. solar blocks were very popular for easy-assemble, hardwearing, feature walls. The repeat patterns they make when used en masse change dramatically with light and proximity – they can appear delicate and lacy or chunky with graphic punched-out shadows.
Sadly these walls are slowly disappearing, some under smooth characterless plaster as New Zealand’s suburban domesticity seeks to hide itself behind bland Italianate stockades; while others crumble under weeds like ruins.
Happily breeze blocks are still being made out of lime sand cement and mass-produced in batches of 3000 per day at Firth, Napier. There are eight patterns to choose from, which haven’t changed since 1965. Neil shot these in the Kapiti area.
Breeze blocks
