page_title: Tibor Donner
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Tibor Donner / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: The 'Civic Building', also known as the Council Administration Block (Auckland City Council), near Aotea Square and Queen Street, Auckland City, New Zealand. Considered a positive example of 1950s modernism, it is also thought of as Auckland's first skyscraper.
context_page_description: Tibor Donner was Chief Architect for the Auckland City Council from 1947-1967.
context_section_description: Donner's designs incorporated styles from North and South America which were often reflective of high modernism. Although they were influenced by international architectural trends, their usage of local materials also gave them a distinctly New Zealand flavour. Notable structures by Donner include Auckland's Savage Memorial (1941), Avondale Military Hospital - later converted into the high school (1943), Khyber pump station (1947), Parnell Baths (1951–54) and the Auckland City Council's Administration Buildings (1954–60). They reflect the confidence of Auckland during its rapid expansion in the postwar era.
  Donner's stylistic influences are particularly evident in the Auckland City Council Administration Building. The building draws significantly from the design principles espoused by Le Corbusier. Donner had visited New York City in 1956 to study Lever House and was aware of emerging contemporary styles (such as those of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) but chose to reject them. It is significant that Donner had turned away from the more minimal contemporary style of building and the extensive use of glass, since this style is now very common in Auckland.
caption: The Auckland City Council Administration Building
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