Earthquake damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Shipping containers support the front of the building to prevent further damage, and workers are suspended from a crane above the remains of the dome.
The damaged cathedral is supported with steel bracing and cordoned off with fencing and barriers. Taken on a day when a walkway was opened up between Re:Start Mall and Cathedral Square to allow temporary public access.
The damaged cathedral is supported with steel bracing and cordoned off with fencing and barriers. Taken on a day when a walkway was opened up between Re:Start Mall and Cathedral Square to allow temporary public access.
The damaged cathedral is supported with steel bracing and cordoned off with fencing and barriers. Taken on a day when a walkway was opened up between Re:Start Mall and Cathedral Square to allow temporary public access.
The damaged cathedral is supported with steel bracing and cordoned off with fencing and barriers. Taken on a day when a walkway was opened up between Re:Start Mall and Cathedral Square to allow temporary public access.
Note the innovative use of hay bales on the left side of the image.
The graphic for an article titled, "Cathedral demolition 'on hold'".
A close up of damaged stonework of Christ Church Cathedral.
A page banner promoting an article titled, "The Cathedral files".
A page banner promoting an article about the Transitional Cathedral.
A rainbow behind the damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
Spotlights seen through the steel bracing of Christ Church Cathedral.
Detail of damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
Detail of damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
Detail of damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
Detail of damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
Detail of damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
A page banner promoting an article about ChristChurch Cathedral.
Detail of damage to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
A photograph of bricks forming a playing square of Christchurch: A Board Game. The bricks show a picture of ChristChurch Cathedral, and read, "ChristChurch Cathedral. Skip church, move to Ferry Rd".
This is an ethnographic case study, tracking the course of arguments about the future of a city’s central iconic building, damaged following a major earthquake sequence. The thesis plots this as a social drama and examines the central discourses of the controversy. The focus of the drama is the Anglican neo-Gothic Christ Church Cathedral, which stands in the central square of Christchurch, New Zealand. A series of major earthquakes in 2010/2011 devastated much of the inner city, destroying many heritage-listed buildings. The Cathedral was severely damaged and was declared by Government officials in 2011 to be a dangerous building, which needed to be demolished. The owners are the Church Property Trustees, chaired by Bishop Victoria Matthews, a Canadian appointed in 2008. In March 2012 Matthews announced that the Cathedral, because of safety and economic factors, would be deconstructed. Important artefacts were to be salvaged and a new Cathedral built, incorporating the old and new. This decision provoked a major controversy, led by those who claimed that the building could and should be restored. Discourses of history and heritage, memory, place and identity, ownership, economics and power are all identified, along with the various actors, because of their significance. However, the thesis is primarily concerned with the differing meanings given to the Cathedral. The major argument centres on the symbolic interaction between material objects and human subjects and the various ways these are interpreted. At the end of the research period, December 2015, the Christ Church Cathedral stands as a deteriorating wreck, inhabited by pigeons and rats and shielded by protective, colourfully decorated wooden fences. The decision about its future remains unresolved at the time of writing.
Pre Earthquake
The streets are quiet – a parked car sits outside Dalgety’s, a lone tram rumbles towards the tram sheds and a tired delivery horse stands with his head bowed, eating chaff from his feed…
After World War One, there was a growing appetite for the glitzy glamour of the ‘Jazz Age’ and Hollywood. Christchurch residents were hungry to embrace American culture and its new comm…
A video of a press conference about the ChristChurch Cathedral. The video includes statements by Jim Anderton and Stefano Pampanin, Associate Professor of Engineering at the University of Canterbury. Anderton and Pampanin discuss a report produced by the Great Christchurch Buildings Trust (GCBT) which outlines how the cathedral could be safely restored. The Anglican Church has agreed to review the report.
A video of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams touring the Christchurch central city Red Zone. Williams visited Christchurch for two days during his New Zealand tour to offer his support to the city. The video includes footage of Williams visiting the ChristChurch Cathedral, and meeting locals. It also includes an interview with Williams about the demolition of the ChristChurch Cathedral.
None
None
None
None