- Thursday Funny — If You Know, You KnowBit of a different post today… things are getting out of hand 😅Have some Savage Chickens. Anyway… carry on 🙂
- Opinion: You Can’t Call It Democracy If You Can’t Ask the QuestionI briefly touched on this in my last opinion piece, the growing gap between how things are said inside the council chamber versus outside of it. The tone changes.The posture changes.And increasingly, so does the tolerance for debate. Now my attention has turned to the 31 March Taupō District Council meeting. During that meeting, Councillor… Read more: Opinion: You Can’t Call It Democracy If You Can’t Ask the Question
- What the JMA Actually Is And What It Isn’tI’ve finally given in and decided to talk about the Joint Management Agreement (JMA). I said I wouldn’t, mostly because it is a complex document and it is very easy to get it wrong or misrepresent parts of it. To be honest, I have probably written and rewritten this post about ten times already. From… Read more: What the JMA Actually Is And What It Isn’t
About Me
Hi, I’m Sophie.
I’m not paid to write. I just keep doing it anyway.
I started out writing about Taupō politics during election season, when clear information was… not exactly easy to come by. It became a bit of a sounding board for locals. Especially the ones who weren’t sure if they’d even bother voting.
Yes, some of it was controversial.
But most of it? Stuff people were already thinking. Just not saying out loud.
Call it a no-filter filter, with a bit of humour so everyone could breathe.
It got a little heated at times. A few councillors didn’t love it. That’s a story for another day.
Toward the end of 2025, after the elections, I shifted gears. Not away from politics completely, but away from it being the only lens.
Because there’s another story here that’s just as important.
The land.
The buildings.
The decisions that quietly shape both.
That led me back to something I’ve always been drawn to: architecture.
Back in my early twenties, I was studying design and working alongside architectural writing. Thesis layouts, documentation, the formal side of things. That’s where my interest in architecture really took hold.
What I’m doing now feels like coming full circle. The good kind.
So in 2026, this space sits somewhere between architecture and politics.
Because the two are tied together whether people like it or not.
Here you’ll find:
- writing on Taupō’s architecture — past and present
- observations on how buildings sit on the land, and how people actually live in them
- commentary on council decisions, planning, and development
- documentation of places before they’re altered, stripped back, or disappear
- the occasional deep dive when something doesn’t quite add up
I come from a design background with a strong interest in pattern language. Why some places feel right, and others don’t. Why some buildings last, and others slowly lose their identity.
Sometimes I write formally.
Sometimes I don’t.
Sometimes I sketch, photograph, or map things out.
Sometimes I just say what needs to be said.
Mostly, I’m just trying to slow things down enough to actually see what’s going on.
If You’re Here For…
Architecture. Politics. Or the space where the two collide.
You’re in the right place.
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