The damaged Knox Church on Bealey Avenue. The brick walls have collapsed, exposing the wooden structure beneath. The photographer comments, "Bealey Avenue is open to traffic, as are many of the side streets, and the damage to buildings along this street is quite impressive and perhaps just a small taste of the damage that lies beyond the cordon ... At the Hagley Park end of Bealey Avenue lies the Knox Church. This church suffered in the first earthquake and featured in the news a fair bit at the time. It's crazy to think that all that appeared to be damaged then were some bricks that had fallen from near the roof. Now, Knox Church is all but a wooden frame holding up a roof. It's eerie to drive past this large church and be able to look straight through it to trees on the other side".
Paul Nicholls from the University of Canterbury's E-Learning team and Digital Media Group Manager Wayne Riggall in their temporary office in KB02 in Kirkwood Village, the complex of prefabs set up after the earthquakes to provide temporary office and classroom space for the university. The photographer comments, "The e-learning group and the video conferencing team are now located in the Kirkwood Village at the University of Canterbury. It's a very impressive project, about 60 buildings arranged in various configurations with some used for teaching or computer labs, and others as staff offices. We will probably stay here for several years now. Adjoining our area is a space for Wayne, the Digital Media Group Manager, who will organise a sitting area for visitors and small meetings. Beyond Wayne is a closed-off meeting room".
Members of the University of Canterbury's Digital Media Group in their temporary office in KB02 in Kirkwood Village, the complex of prefabs set up after the earthquakes to provide temporary office and classroom space for the university. The photographer comments, "The e-learning group and the video conferencing team are now located in the Kirkwood Village at the University of Canterbury. It's a very impressive project, about 60 buildings arranged in various configurations with some used for teaching or computer labs, and others as staff offices. We will probably stay here for several years now. Looking up the centre of the room towards the front doors. The video conferencing team and Nikki Saunders, the course reader publisher, sit here. (The pizzas are for a moving-in celebration held just after I took these photos.)
The dome of the Isaac Theatre Royal covered in sheeting and suspended in the backstage area. In the foreground, a small digger sits on the bed of a truck, and a crane is visible to the left. The photographer comments, "This is the 'dome' of the Isaac Theatre Royal's heritage stage. The front section of the theatre has stayed and so has the back, but the middle has been completely demolished. The best way to hide a secret is in plain sight. Could this really be an ancient UFO stored secretly in the old theatre for decades and now exposed by the earthquake? Is the waiting crane and transporter ready to whip it away to another secret location in the dead of night?".
A protest sign painted on a fence shows a bulldozer labelled "Govt." driven by a woman (presumably representing Education Minister Hekia Parata) running over a sheep labelled "Chch schools", next to the words "Every time you close a school you have to build a jail - Mark Twain." The photographer comments, "Due to the earthquakes in Christchurch and parents leaving the area to give their children a quieter and more education friendly life a lot of the local schools especially in the East of Christchurch are to be closed or amalgamated. This was a decision by the government without consultation with any other authorities. Mark Twain actually said 'Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail'".
People gather at the corner of Colombo and St Asaph Streets shortly after the 22 February earthquake. A building has collapsed, and bricks and rubble litter the street. The photographer comments, "Just after the aftershock settled on Tuesday afternoon, myself and colleagues fled our Tuam Street office to absolute devastation outside. We couldn't see more than a block in either direction due to the clouds of dust that had arisen from buildings that had just collapsed ... From here, we picked up our vehicles from the CCC car park and headed out to get out of the chaos to a position where we could check on loved ones. Heading first along Manchester Street, buildings that were already heavily damaged were now completely written off. We couldn't get much further down Manchester Street so eventually made it to Colombo Street".
A photograph of the back page of a Christchurch City Council form. The form allowed contractors to apply for the authorisation to enter the Christchurch Red Zone after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Information on the back reads, "What does this authorisation mean for me? I am wearing appropriate personal protection clothing and equipment. At all times DO NOT enter any red placarded building. You may enter a yellow placarded building for a period of time (no longer than 30 minutes) and follow the instruction of the escorts. A green placarded building may be accessed for longer periods. Please note: do not enter any buildings which are not for the purpose of your authorisation".
A digitally manipulated image of the Gap Filler Monopoly board square on Manchester Street. The photographer comments, "On the site of a demolished earthquake damaged building in Christchurch, New Zealand is a Monopoly game square for giants. The Gap Filler Project makes the bare land where once a building once stood into something both interesting and unique and this time they created a massive Monopoly board square. In the game of Monopoly you move your player with a dog, shoe or maybe the hat, but as the most common thing in the City are diggers they have the placed one on the square. There are also two houses on Manchester Street, which is priced at $240".
Part of Mike Hewson's installation 'Homage To Lost Spaces' in the Cramner Courts building, a photograph of a young man working at a desk has been inserted into a gap in the building. The photographer comments, "Cranmer Courts in Christchurch, New Zealand was very badly damaged in the earthquakes that have rocked the City for the past two years. Mike Hewson thought he would try to bring life back into the buildings by putting photographs into the spaces where the doors and windows were. There was a month or so when no one seemed to know or admit who had put the pictures up, but it was done officially. It seems that though very badly damaged the buildings may get restored".
Paul Nicholls, a member of the University of Canterbury's E-Learning team, in their temporary office in KB02 in Kirkwood Village, the complex of prefabs set up after the earthquakes to provide temporary office and classroom space for the university. The photographer comments, "The e-learning group and the video conferencing team are now located in the Kirkwood Village at the University of Canterbury. It's a very impressive project, about 60 buildings arranged in various configurations with some used for teaching or computer labs, and others as staff offices. We will probably stay here for several years now. Closer view of our corner of the building. We will have some cubicle partitions soon, but I don't know how we'll configure the space then. It's quite nice being so open, but it may be too noisy".
Paul Nicholls, a member of the University of Canterbury's E-Learning team, in their temporary office in KB02 in Kirkwood Village, the complex of prefabs set up after the earthquakes to provide temporary office and classroom space for the university. The photographer comments, "The e-learning group and the video conferencing team are now located in the Kirkwood Village at the University of Canterbury. It's a very impressive project, about 60 buildings arranged in various configurations with some used for teaching or computer labs, and others as staff offices. We will probably stay here for several years now. Our "techy corner", with Paul waiting for the desk-assembler to come back and put his desk together. My desk is in the corner, and Jess is on the right of the window".
See previous photo (exactly 3 hours earlier). Demolition of the support structure for NZ Breweries smokestack in Christchurch. CERES NZ's nibbler is at work, the pipe stack having been removed yesterday (Saturday). This is three hours after the previous photo, and just a pile of rubble sits beside the tree (largely undamaged despite being next...
Nearly 80 40 foot containers (most two high) protect Wakefield Avenue in Sumner from further rock falls. Behind these (to the left) are houses, church, bowling club, RSA (Returned Servicemens Association) and other community buildings that have been isolated now for nearly two years now. On the right upper third boundary (just behind two stand a...
According to the sign it can take about 30 minutes to walk from the entry point (near the small statue) to the centre and out again. What you can do with a few thousand old bricks and gravel. See next photo for more detail.
The small wharf area of the now gone Pleasant Point Yacht Club has already been taken over by the Pied Shags (cormorants). It is under water now except for low tide. Note the dead pine tree in background. Many have died because of the salt water their roots are in.
Trees cut down so a house being removed from behind could get out above the fence on one of those elevating house removal trailers. I don't know the story about the yellow (recycling) wheelie bin - the wheels have been removed.
According to the sign it can take about 30 minutes to walk from the entry point (here) to the centre and out again. That is without stepping across the gaps between bricks. What you can do with a few thousand old bricks and gravel!
Shot from up Hunstbury Hill with a 600mm f/4 on a very grey morning. 8am demolition. The guy behind me only looked up when the sounds of the explosion reahed us and the building was half way down!
This is a temporary pile of silt piled on the old Bexley landfill sight. Some trucks are addng to the pile, while other truck and trailer units are taking it away to the old Bottle Lake landfill sight, a few km to the north of here.
Cleaning up Manning Signs of the silt from liquefaction. Three fellow workers man the shovels while two building engineers talk to the boss (hidden). After doing the car park we then turned our hands to the inside of the factory, once clearance was given that we could go inside.
Text reads 'Could the wrecking ball be used on structures outside Christchurch?' The cartoon shows Minister for the Reconstruction of Christchurch Gerry Brownlee as the wrecking ball on a crane; he says 'let the fun begin'. To one side is a large house crowded with people which represents 'the welfare state' and is surrounded by a barrier on which are printed the words 'Fiscal emergency'. Context - Gerry Brownlee is seen by many as rather too quick to demolish heritage buildings in his rush to rebuild Christchurch. The wrecking ball idea also suggests that the National government is likely to wreck the welfare state in its efforts to sort out economic problems. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A crowd of rather sad people queue for jobs and work at the Christchurch rebuild; all around them are signs that read 'Pike River', 'leaky buildings', 'Chch quake rebuild', 'EQC levy hike', '200,000 children in poverty', 'food prices up', 'deficit', and 'GST hike'. Prime Minister John Key in the centre of the crowd yells 'Hey everyone - look up there!' as he kicks a rugby ball into the sky. Context: John Key attempts to divert the attention of people from New Zealand's current woes. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A photograph of a sign taped to a window. The sign includes a bullet pointed list of humorous observations about Christchurch following the February 2011 earthquake. The sign reads, "You know you're from Christchurch when: you use the term 'liquefaction' and 'seismic design' in casual conversation; digging a hole and shitting in your garden is no longer weird; your mayor describes the city as munted. If he means FUBARed, you agree; weaving through car size potholes on the street is no longer weird; a shower is heaven; you have a preference of which kind of silt you'd rather shovel, dry or wet; you see tanks...driving around town; you are always noting what you are under; due to frequent aftershocks during the night, you sleep like a baby - every 10 minutes you wake up and shit yourself".
People stand in front of a damaged house in New Brighton. The upper storey at the front of the house has collapsed onto the floor below. The photographer comments, "This house at 158 Marine Parade, New Brighton, Christchurch was owned by the man leaning on the fence. He lived next door and his daughter lived here. During the earthquake the 2nd storey stayed mainly whole, but the 1st collapsed. Luckily the daughter was in the top storey. She was rescued from the building by neighbours, by climbing out of the window and down a ladder. Another piece of luck is that most of the belongings were stored in boxes in the garage at the front. Though the garage also collapsed the boxes appear intact. The owner had tried to sell it previously without success".
On the day the the government and council jointly announced who will fund what, for the Christchurch rebuild, a rainbow appears over the rebuild of the Latimer Hotel. For the central city the figures are: NZ$4.9 billion with $2.9 billion coming from central government and $1.9 billion coming from the local city council (us ratepayers in Christc...
Went for a drive down to South New Brighton/Southshore after work today to see what interesting birds I could find on the Estuary (godwits, skuas, terns etc), but passing Jellico Street, I saw this. T-Rex the seismic survey truck from the University of Texas that is visiting the city (first time out of USA). Weighs 30 tonne and from the marks o...
20140521_1080_1D3-24 It has started! Removal of the double-glazed windows is underway at my "red zone" house, now owned by the Government of New Zealand. Sold to CERA (the government agency) in October 2012 and has remained empty since, despite having little damage, apart from the tilt to the front from the land damage that occurred during the...
A poster created by Empowered Christchurch to advertise their submission to the CERA Draft Transition Recovery Plan on social media.The poster reads, "Submission, CERA Draft Transition Recovery Plan. Risk Acceptance. It is the role of insurance companies, the EQC included, to accept the risks covered under their terms of reference/policies and compensate policyholders when such risks eventuate. However, many policyholders in Christchurch have not been compensated for the damage to their homes and their lives. These responsibilities need to be faced by the entities responsible. An equitable solution needs to be found for properties with hazards such as flooding that are a direct result of the earthquakes. In tandem with this, every effort must be made to protect residents from the risks posed by climate change. We need a city that is driven by the people that live in it, and enabled by a bureaucracy that accepts and mitigates risks, rather than transferring them to the most vulnerable residents".
The area beside the lower Avon River in New Brighton of Evans Avenue and Admirals Way has been cleared of houses and boundary fences (there were between 15 and 20 houses on this block) , fully fenced with post and wire and "spray on" grass applied. These were all red zone properties acquired by the crown after the land was deemed too damaged t...
The two nice trees in the front of my old property (now owned by the government) have been cut down so the main section of the house behind could be trucked down the drive. The truck must have been up against the fence to get the height above the house to the left (15 Velsheda Street). Down this drive were numbers 17, 19 and 21 (still occupied b...