A residential property in Bexley with an overgrown garden. A spray-painted message on the wall of the house reads, "Thanks 4 the memories, 1997-2012, kia kaha". The photographer comments, "Today I took a drive around the residential area between Bexley and New Brighton. It was a stark reminder to be thankful for the situation we're in and perhaps not complain too much that our garden wall hasn't yet been rebuilt ... Saddest of all are the messages that have been scrawled on walls and garage doors by departing locals. At one end of the scale, thanking the family home for the memories, and at the other end of the scale cursing the looters which have made a bad situation that much more unbearable".
Following the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes a detailed campaign of door to door assessments was conducted in a variety of areas of Christchurch to establish the earthquake performance of residential dwellings having masonry veneer as an external cladding attached to a lightweight timber framing system. Specifically, care was taken to include regions of Christchurch which experienced different levels of earthquake shaking in order to allow comparison between the performance of different systems and different shaking intensities. At the time of the inspections the buildings in the Christchurch region had been repeatedly subjected to large earthquakes, presenting an opportunity for insight into the seismic performance of masonry veneer cladding. In total just under 1100 residential dwellings were inspected throughout the wider Christchurch area, of which 24% were constructed using the older nail-on veneer tie system (prior to 1996) and 76% were constructed using screw fixed ties to comply with the new 1996 standards revision (post-1996), with 30% of all inspected houses being of two storey construction. Of the inspected dwellings 27% had some evidence of liquefaction, ground settlement or lateral spreading. Data such as damage level, damage type, crack widths, level of repair required and other parameters were collected during the survey. A description of the data collection processes and a snapshot of the analysis results are presented within. http://15ibmac.com/home/
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.)
A tribute taped to a window of a house on Tasman Place. The tribute reads, "Our red zoned house. When we bought you years ago, you looked a bit tired and sad, but overall you weren't too bad. We spruced you up with paint and love and asked for a blessing from above. The years went by, family and friends celebrations under your roof, your 'veggie' garden gave us kai. We felt safe within your wall, then one dreadful September night, the shaking earth made you fall. You tried with all your groaning might to keep us from harm. Because you were strongly built we held onto the door, while a wave of terror buckled the floor and outside the garden flooded with silt. Now you are near the end, sunken walls and windows bend. We say goodbye today and let you go, Our spirit and heart feels low. You are more than just mortar and brick. For us you were a gift, a safe haven where we once lived".