Beware the darkness, children, for there be monsters We love to characterise the dark as something to be feared, the territory of nightmares, of ghouls and ghosts and things that go bump. In our collective psyche it belongs to the … Continue reading →
Our city is a repository for the social and historical narrative of our past Each street, wall, facade, interior is an integral part of the people who walked passed them, shopped in them, worked in…
A PDF copy of pages 216-217 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Foamapalooza'. Photos: Peter Walker, Three Chairs Photography. With permission from Volunteer Army Foundation.
A report covering the ecological effects of the Christchurch Earthquake upon the city's rivers.
A report on the ecological effects of the Christchurch Earthquake upon the city's estuary.
Up until February 22nd, 2011, the city of Christchurch was a unique, historic and cultural living and breathing entity. Inherited from a long list of valuable contributors dating back to its incept…
A PDF copy of pages 208-209 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Street Football'. Photos: Eugenio Boidi
The temperatures are heating up, there’s Christmas decorations in shops around the city and we’re on the countdown to summer holidays. In our penultimate blog post for the year we’re going to look back on some of our best artefacts … Continue reading →
A PDF copy of pages 212-213 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project '500 Days: Churchill Park'. Photos: Peter Walker, Three Chairs Photography. With permission from Volunteer Army Foundation.
A PDF copy of pages 214-215 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Christchurch: A Board Game'. Photo (top): Peter Walker, Three Chairs Photography. With permission from Volunteer Army Foundation. Photo (bottom): Irene Boles.
The end of year is upon us again, and Underground Overground Archaeology is closing the boxes on our finds for the year. The year we finished up our Christmas party with a scavenger hunt around the central city using cryptic … Continue reading →
In response to the loss of our inner city of Christchurch, we were inspired to create this website, Lost Christchurch, as a freely accessible archive of photographs, social history and memories of …
A PDF copy of pages 206-207 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Fulton Hogan BMX Pump Track'. Page 206 photos: Irene Boles. Page 207 photos: Peter Walker, Three Chairs Photography. With permission from Student Volunteer Army Foundation.
A PDF copy of pages 210-211 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'St Luke's Labyrinth'. Page 210 photos: Irene Boles. Page 211 photos: Peter Walker, Three Chairs Photography. With permission from Student Volunteer Army Foundation.
For one of our city’s most famous early women settlers, poor health had marred not only her voyage to New Zealand but also her arrival to her new home at Riccarton. From the moment Jane Deans…
As life-changing experiences go, the earthquake on 22 February 2011 was fairly significant. On the one hand, our house was red-zoned (but still liveable), friends lost their lives and the city lost many of the old buildings that, for me, … Continue reading →
When you think about the Avon River running through Christchurch, you might imagine punting boats and kayaks in Hagley Park. Such attractions in our garden city are far from new and, recently, a few of us here at Underground Overground … Continue reading →
Recently, Peter Mitchell, one of our building archaeology specialists, recorded a 19th century residential dwelling just on the edge of Christchurch’s Central City. This dwelling was similar in form and function to others we have seen in Canterbury – it … Continue reading →
An entry from Jennifer Middendorf's blog for 23 December 2012 entitled, "Pallets and pop-up tearooms".
Late in 2014 we were contacted by contractors working on a rebuild project in Christchurch’s city centre. It was reported that a number of bottles had been uncovered during routine earthworks and the area cordoned off until our arrival. The bottles … Continue reading →
A pdf copy of an email sent to the participants in a One Voice Te Reo Kotahi forum held on 10 March 2014. OVTRK report that the email was sent to Arihia Bennett, the Chief Executive Officer of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel, Waimakariri Mayor David Ayers, Selwyn District Councillor Malcolm Lyall, and Dame Margaret Bazley, Chair of Environment Canterbury.
A PDF copy of signage for the Places of Tranquillity initiative. Healthy Christchurch lead the collaborative project to create six gardens of beauty and peace to fill in some of the grey demolition sites across Christchurch. The signage promotes the initiative and invites people to register to create tranquil gardens at healthychristchurch.org.nz. From healthychristchurch.org.nz: "Healthy Christchurch is leading this innovative collaboration creating six gardens of beauty and peace to fill in some of the grey demolition sites across Christchurch.These gardens are for peace and tranquillity as well as family and community use with spaces designed for both." "This is a Healthy Christchurch collaboration in partnership with the city's ethnic communities to include their traditions, cultures and spiritual beliefs. This ensures that these communities' voices and presence is more visible in the rebuild of our city. There are three key partners in this collaborative project. Greening the Rubble are providing expertise in temporary site development and project managing the creation. Lincoln University School of Landscape Architecture provided the student competition and are supporting the winning students and their designs into fruition. Community and Public Health (CDHB) provide the overall project management, networks and promotion." "In 2012 Lincoln University School of Landscape Architecture students created 40 beautiful designs for the Places of Tranquillity. Six winning designs were chosen from the 995 votes made online or at the displays at Community and Public Health and the Migrant Centre. The six winners were announced at the Healthy Christchurch Hui on the 31st May 2012. Each winning student received a Certificate and a $50 Scorpio Book Voucher. The awards were presented by Michelle Mitchell, General Manager of the CERA Wellbeing Team."