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In 1939, Porsolt was contracted by Alva Bartley to design the flagship for the radio station 1ZB on Durham Street West.[1] This was facilitated by Morris van Staveren from the Jewish Welfare Society soon after Porsolt's arrival in New Zealand, as Bartely wanted a modern European approach to the building.[3] The building's style lends itself to rondo-cubism and Art Deco, giving a modernist, European flair to the New Zealand context.[1] The staircase of the building was most evident of rondo-cubism.[1] The staircase was curved and cantilevered and, according to Porsolt, was expressive of human movement.[1] Porsolt was very enamoured by winding staircases, as to him they represented progress, new spaces and liberation.[3] A pegasus sits above the staircase in 1ZB, introducing a classical motif in a modern setting.[1] Porsolt used an extensive amount of glass bricks to create the modern foyer, which was the most discussed aspect of the building upon its opening in 1941.[1] In 1990, the building was demolished.[4]
Porsolt worked in the construction firm Noel Cole designing interiors, then worked as a chief draughtsman for Gummer & Ford and then for the firm Alleman & Land.[1] He was friends with fellow architects Vladimir Čačala and Heinrich Kulka, all Czech émigrés.[1] He tried his hand at private practice whilst he was teaching and had many commissions from clients interested in good design.[1] One of his first house's commissioned was in 1956, for fellow Czechémigré Robert Goodman, and this was also published in Home and Building.[1] The house took the form of a Central European modernist villa and drew no comparisons to New Zealand design.[3]
The Pollard House, designed by Porsolt in Titirangi, New Zealand, was constructed in 1962.[5] It was included in Bill McKay and Douglas Lloyd-Jenkin's list of top 50 houses in New Zealand in the 20th century.[1] The house was designed to merge with the landscape, curving around the hill it sits upon.[1] Its windows give a panoramic view of the bush.[5]
Post WWII, work was scarce for Porsolt as an architect.[1] He worked part-time as a teacher at the Auckland University School of Architecture in the 1940s, then became full-time from 1950 until 1974.[6] Porsolt was the school's first European émigré teacher.[7] He taught architectural history and design studio.[1] His predecessors had been criticised by students, led by the Architectural Group, about the limitations of the curriculum and the poor studio teaching.[1] Porsolt was hired to address these issues and approached teaching with the inclusion of many histories, be that African, Chinese, Japanese and Persian methods.[1] He was significant is the modernisation of history and theory at the Auckland School.[8]
Upon retiring, Porsolt was asked to published 12 of his lectures on architectural history by the School of Architecture.[1]
Porsolt's first published article was in Home and Building in 1950, where his design for a two storey house made the cover.[1] He was a productive art critic, writing for The New Zealand Herald, The Auckland Star, Home & Building, and Landfall.[1] His writing tried to educate his readers, putting local art and architecture into an international context.[1] He was wary of nationalism and a supporter of abstraction in painting.[1] He also used his writing to engage with debates about heritage sites such as Saint Mary's Cathedral in Parnell and Victoria Arcade on Queen Street.[3]
Colin McCahon said of Porsolt that, "before the advent of Mr. Porsolt there was no criticism in New Zealand."[3]
