Cardboard Cathedral

Transitional / New Anglican Cathedral

Stephanie Ingham

The Cardboard Cathedral (named for its internal structuring made from large cardboard tubing) is a project organized by the Church Property Trustees as a temporary building for members of the Anglican congregation while the fate of the Christ Church Cathedral was being determined.

Unveiled in July of 2011, the Cardboard Cathedral was intended to act as the Anglican Cathedral for approximately ten years while the Anglican Cathedral was being rebuilt. Its construction was completed in July of 2013; the design of the cardboard cathedral honours its predecessor with stained-glass images referencing the original rose window, which was badly damaged during aftershocks of the February 2011 quakes. 

Infographic showing the stained-glass images from the original cathedral, in comparison with the designs for the cardboard cathedral. The infographic circles specific images from the old design and the new, to show where these designs were taken from.

Credit: The Press, Fairfax Media New Zealand. Source: https://quakestudies.canterbury.ac.nz/store/object/223150

Initially, the Church Property Trustees proposed that the Transitional Cathedral would be handed over to the St John's Latimer Square congregation upon completion of the Reinstatement Project. Another option considered was to sell the Cardboard Cathedral in order to offset the reinstatement costs of the Anglican Cathedral; this was disregarded following the suspension of the Reinstatement Project.

The "Transitional" cathedral now represents a core piece of Christchurch identity, and it appears the cathedral will remain the Anglican cathedral for the foreseeable future.

A photograph of people gathered in the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral. Johnny McFarlane of Beca is talking about project management of transitional architecture. The talk was part of a tour of the Cathedral, during FESTA 2013.

Credit: Erica Austin, FESTA. Source: https://quakestudies.canterbury.ac.nz/store/object/324514

Resources:

  • Fairfax Video October 2012 (7) - Caption: "A video of architect Shigeru Ban overseeing the construction of the cardboard beams which will be used to build the Transitional Cathedral on Hereford Street. The video includes an interview with Ban about the beams, and the ways that the design has changed since the construction started."
  • Transitional Cathedral | Vimeo - This 2-minute video shows a timelapse of the construction process for the Transitional Cathedral, which took place over several months, from October 2012 until July 2013.
  • Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV (page 88-89) | "Christchurch Transitional Cathedral." - A PDF copy of pages 88 and 89 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. These pages document the project developments for the Transitional Cathedral and includes a conceptual rendering of the building as well as photos from the construction process.
  • Christchurch Cathedral : New Zealand - This is the official website for the cardboard cathedral. It includes information about services and upcoming events, as well as a welcome message from Dean Ben Truman and relevant links at the bottom of the page.
  • "Cardboard cathedral: Soaring, modest, inspiring." Charlie Gates, Stuff - This article, written just after the cardboard cathedral was opened to the public, provides a descriptive account of the new building and an overview of the design and construction, with reference to architect Shigeru Ban. Writer Charlie Gates recounts his visit to the cardboard cathedral, as well as voicing a couple of potential qualms with the building.
The partially constructed cardboard cathedral, consisting of large cardboard tubes

Credit: John Stewart. Source: https://www.ceismic.org.nz/search/33693207/

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