Name: The hand of the architect — John Scott
Start: 2025-10-15T07:30:00+13:00
End: 2025-10-15T08:30:00+13:00
Location: Corner Molesworth and Aitken Streets, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand 6011

$The hand of the architect \u2014 John Scott$

Delving into the Futuna Chapel Trust archive, the Scott family archive and the newly established and digitised John Scott Drawing Archive at the Alexander Turnbull Library, Nick Bevin will explore and reveal the extent and significance of the work of architect John Scott.
Join us at the Library or online. Register for a Zoom link: https://dia-nz.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gAVkcTdRRASW9zyDCrU4Zg#/registration

Insights from the John Scott architectural archive
Join us for a talk by Nick Bevin, former architect and Futuna Chapel Trustee, as he delves into the life and work of one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most influential architects — John Scott (1924–1992).
This presentation will showcase newly digitised materials from the John Scott Drawing Archive at the Alexander Turnbull Library, including never-before-seen sketches, architectural drawings, photographs, and audiovisual recordings.
John Scott: Architect — Website
Designing the iconic Futuna chapel
John Scott, a pioneering Māori architect, is celebrated for his bold, culturally resonant designs — most notably the iconic Futuna Chapel. Drawing on years of research, Nick Bevin will offer fresh insights into John Scott’s creative process and enduring architectural legacy.
The Library welcomed the John Scott archive of architectural records into the Alexander Turnbull Library collections in 2020.
Caring for the John Scott collection — Blog post: https://natlib.govt.nz/blog/posts/caring-for-the-john-scott-collection
A Friends of the Turnbull Library event
The Friends of the Turnbull Library, Ngā Hoa o te Whare Pukapuka Turnbull, offers a monthly programme of free public talks. These talks are held in the National Library in Wellington and on Zoom. Some of these talks will be repeated in Auckland. The public programme highlights the work of researchers who draw on Turnbull material for their projects and staff who care for and research the collections.
About the speaker
Nick Bevin practised as an architect from 1984 to 2024 and was made a Distinguished Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects in 2022.
In 2006, Nick first became involved with the Futuna Chapel Trust. He was drawn in by an early childhood memory, triggered by a black and white image of the opening of the Chapel on 19 March 1961, where he remembered accompanying his parents to the opening of the chapel. Since then he has developed a growing admiration for the chapel’s architect John Scott, and was involved in the gifting process of the John Scott Drawing Archive to the Alexander Turnbull library in 2020.
Nick chaired the Chapel Trust from 2009 to 2024 and remains a trustee. With fellow trustee Greg O’Brien, Nick co-edited the book Futuna – Life of a Building published in 2016. In 2024, Nick participated in the organisation of an exhibition at Futuna Chapel that included a number of John Scott’s drawings from the Turnbull Collection.
Since October 2015 Nick has served as an appointed independent member on the Rārangi Kōrero Committee (Listing Committee) of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Toanga.
Image: Architect Nick Bevin. Image supplied.