Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Also known as:
- DSIR
1 Artwork
First established in 1926 to unify the dispersed research programmes evolving across New Zealand. By "1976, the agency employed over 2,000 staff in 20 research divisions. It was undertaking research covering climate, geology, the marine environment, native and introduced plants and animals; developing better plant varieties; and providing scientific advice to industry." The DSIR was dissolved in 1992.
In the early 1960s Government Architect F. G. F Sheppard and the Director of the New Zealand Soil Bureau commissioned E. Mervyn Taylor to create a mural for a new modernist building they were developing for the park-like grounds of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) agency at Gracefield, Lower Hutt.
See also:
- Simon Nathan, 'Research institutions - Developing research organisations', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
- National Library records on the development of the Gracefield site.
E. Mervyn Taylor, First Kumera Planting mural in situ, Taita Soil Bureau building, Lower Hutt. Image courtesy of New Zealand Society of Soil Science.
- Associated Artworks
