David Straight was born in Christchurch, raised on the West Coast of the South Island, and graduated from Massey University School of Fine Arts, Wellington. He is a photographer whose work focuses primarily on architecture and the built environment. While living in London and New York, where he interned at Magnum Photos, David’s street photography and habit of walking and exploring sharpened his appreciation of the impact of architecture and urban design on our everyday lives. His practice has evolved into a more focused exploration of our built environment and architecture, and he now works with many leading New Zealand architects. His previous book, in collaboration with friend and landscape designer Philip Smith, was Vernacular: The Everyday Landscape of New Zealand (Potton & Burton, 2015). David now lives in Auckland.

Hana Rose Rongomaiwahine Scott is of Ngāti Kahungungu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Whakaue,Te Āti Awa and Pākehā descent from Haumoana, Hawke’s Bay. She is an architect and thegrand daughter of John Scott. After graduating from Victoria University of Wellington in 2011with a master’s in architecture, Hana has been predominantly working in the residential sector.

Gregory O’Brien was born in Matamata in 1961 and is a poet, essayist, curator and visual artist. With Nick Bevin he co-authored the 2016 publication Futuna: Life of a Building (Victoria University Press). His other recent publications include Whale Years (poems, Auckland University Press, 2015) and See What I Can See: New Zealand Photography for the Young and Curious (Auckland University Press, 2015). In 2018, he and his wife Jenny Bornholdt held the Henderson Arts Trust Fellowship and lived in the Ernst Plischke-designed Henderson House on the outskirts of Alexandra, in Central Otago.

Douglas Lloyd Jenkins is an award-winning writer and commentator on all aspects of architecture, design and the arts. His book At Home: A Century of New Zealand Design (Godwit, 2004) won the Montana Medal for Non-fiction in 2005, and the co-authored The Dress Circle: New Zealand Fashion Design Since 1940 (Godwit, 2010) was shortlisted for the same prize. In 2008 he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for contribution to architecture and design, and in 2009 the New Zealand Institute of Architects awarded him a President’s Award for contribution to architecture. His most recent book is Beach Life: A Celebration of Kiwi Beach Culture (Godwit, 2016).

Dr Julia Gatley is an associate professor of architecture at the University of Auckland and an historian of twentieth-century New Zealand architecture. She has published four books with Auckland University Press: Vertical Living: The Architectural Centre and the Remaking of Wellington (2014, with Paul Walker); Athfield Architects (2012); Group Architects: Towards a New Zealand Architecture (2010); and Long Live the Modern: New Zealand’s New Architecture, 1904–1984 (2008). She also co-edited, with Lucy Treep, The Auckland School: 100 Years of Architecture and Planning, published in 2017 on the occasion of the University of Auckland’s School of Architecture and Planning’s centenary.

 Bill McKay is an award-winning architectural historian, critic and commentator based at the University of Auckland’s School of Architecture and Planning. His recent books include Worship: A History of New Zealand Church Design (Godwit, 2015) and Beyond the State: New Zealand State Houses from Modest to Modern (Penguin, 2014; a New Zealand Post Book Awards finalist), as well as extensive contributions to Group Architects: Towards a New Zealand Architecture (Auckland University Press, 2010), Long Live the Modern: New Zealand’s New Architecture 1904–1984 (Auckland University Press, 2008) and The Auckland School: 100 Years of Architecture and Planning (2017). He is currently working on several projects including a PhD on war memorial community centres, a design history of Auckland and a website devoted to Pacific architecture.