Page 3 of Section A of the Christchurch Press, published on Monday 28 February 2011.
A chimpanzee paints with a palette of colours. Context: After the earthquakes in Christchurch buildings and areas were designated green, blue, red or white depending on the degree of damage. Buildings in the 'red' zone were then examined to ascertain whether they should be demolished or restored and sometimes the land itself was deemed unsafe. There have been many controversial decisions made which is the point the cartoon makes. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A photograph of Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. A green sticker on the front door indicates that the house has been inspected and it is safe to enter.
A PDF copy of page 128 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The page documents the transitional project 'Redzone Data'.
A photograph of an excavator demolishing Siobhan Murphy's house at 436 Oxford Terrace. Wire fencing has been placed around the house as a cordon.
A photograph of an excavator demolishing Siobhan Murphy's house at 436 Oxford Terrace. Wire fencing has been placed around the house as a cordon.
A photograph of an excavator demolishing Siobhan Murphy's house at 436 Oxford Terrace. Wire fencing has been placed around the house as a cordon.
A photograph of an excavator demolishing Doug Sexton's garage at 378 Oxford Street. Wire fencing has been placed around the house as a cordon.
Page 1 of Section A of the South Island edition of the Christchurch Press, published on Saturday 15 October 2011.
It is well established that urban green areas provide a wide range of social, aesthetic, environmental and economic benefits. The importance of urban green spaces has been known for decades; however the relationship between urban livability and green areas, as incorporated in overall urban green structure, has become the focus of international studies during the last 10 to 15 years. The spatial structure of green space systems has important consequences for urban form; configuring urban resources, controlling urban size, improving ecological quality of urban areas and preventing or mitigating natural disasters. However, in the field of architecture or urban design, very little work has been done to investigate the potential for built form to define and differentiate the edge to a green corridor ... This thesis therefore poses the hypothesis that architecture and urban design critically mediate between city and green corridor, through intensification and definition of the built edge, as a means of contributing to an ecological city form.
All this is "red zone" after the earthquakes and has to be demolished. The roof of my "old" house (now owned by the government) can be seen between the third and fourth river-side houses.
A photograph of the house at 466 Oxford Terrace. The house number has been spray-painted on one of the windows. Wire fencing has been placed across the front of the property as a cordon.
A photograph looking through the door of the front room in Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace to the lounge and kitchen. A bed has been placed in the middle of the lounge.
Liquefaction and flooding in Waitaki Street, Bexley. The photographer comments, "Waitaki Street a week after the Christchurch Earthquake. Because of the damage to the drains and liquefaction in the area the streets are not drying out".
A photograph of Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. Plastic sheeting has been placed over sections of the house to keep it water tight.
The 2010 and 2011 earthquakes in the region of Canterbury, New Zealand caused widespread damage and the deaths of 185 people. Suburbs on the eastern side of Christchurch and in the satellite town of Kaiapoi, 20 kilometres north of Christchurch, were badly damaged by liquefaction. The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), a government organisation set up in the wake of the earthquakes, began to systematically zone all residential land in 2011. Based on the possibility for land remediation, 7860 houses in Christchurch and Kaiapoi were zoned red. Those who were in this zone were compensated and had to buy or build elsewhere. The other zone examined within this research – that of TC3 – lies within the green zone. Residents, in this zone, were able to stay in their houses but land was moderately damaged and required site-specific geotechnical investigations. This research sought to understand how residents’ senses of home were impacted by a disaster and the response efforts. Focusing on the TC3 and red zone of the eastern suburbs and the satellite town of Kaiapoi, this study interviewed 29 residents within these zones. The concept of home was explored with the respondents at three scales: home as a household; home as a community; and home as a city. There was a large amount of resistance to the zoning process and the handling of claims by insurance companies and the Earthquake Commission (EQC) after the earthquakes. Lack of transparency and communication, as well as extremely slow timelines were all documented as failings of these agencies. This research seeks to understand how participant’s sense of home changed on an individual level and how it was impacted by outside agencies. Homemaking techniques were also focused on showing that a changed sense of home will impact on how a person interacts with a space.
A photograph of Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. A green sticker on the front door indicates that the house has been inspected and it is safe to enter.
A photograph of Doug Sexton's garden at 378 Oxford Terrace, now overgrown. In the background is his partially-demolished garage. The photographer comments, "Sexton's garden was once published in Small Gardens".
A photograph of Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. A green sticker on the front door indicates that the house has been inspected and it is safe to enter.
A photograph of the hallway of Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. To the right, a couch has been upturned and placed against a mantelpiece in one of the rooms.
At the conclusion of the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes more than 5100 homes had been deemed unsafe for habitation. The land and buildings of these were labelled “red zoned” and are too badly damaged for remediation. These homes have been demolished or are destined for demolition. To assist the red zone population to relocate, central government have offered to ‘buy out’ home owners at the Governmental Value (GV) that was last reviewed in 2007. While generous in the economic context at the time, the area affected was the lowest value land and housing in Christchurch and so there is a capital shortfall between the 2007 property value and the cost of relocating to more expensive properties. This shortfall is made worse by increasing present day values since the earthquakes. Red zone residents have had to relocate to the far North and Western extremities of Christchurch, and some chose to move even further to neighbouring towns or cities. The eastern areas and commercial centres close to the red zone are affected as well. They have lost critical mass which has negatively impacted businesses in the catchments of the Red Zone. This thesis aims to repopulate the suburbs most affected by the abandonment of the red zone houses. Because of the relative scarcity of sound building sites in the East and to introduce affordability to these houses, an alternative method of development is required than the existing low density suburban model. Smart medium density design will be tested as an affordable and appropriate means of living. Existing knowledge in this field will be reviewed, an analysis of what East Christchurch’s key characteristics are will occur, and an examination of built works and site investigations will also be conducted. The research finds that at housing densities of 40 units per hectare, the spatial, vehicle, aesthetic needs of East Christchurch can be accommodated. Centralising development is also found to offer better lifestyle choices than the isolated suburbs at the edges of Christchurch, to be more efficient using existing infrastructure, and to place less reliance on cars. Stronger communities are formed from the outset and for a full range of demographics. Eastern affordable housing options are realised and Christchurch’s ever expanding suburban tendencies are addressed. East Christchurch presently displays a gaping scar of devastated houses that ‘The New Eastside’ provides a bandage and a cure for. Displaced and dispossessed Christchurch residents can be re-housed within a new heart for East Christchurch.
A photograph of two workers beginning the clean-up and evacuation of a flat on Poplar Street during the Residential Access Project. The project gave residents temporary access within the red-zone cordon in order to retrieve items from their homes.
A photograph of a van parked on High Street which has been packed with items from the Residential Access Project. The project gave residents temporary access within the red-zone cordon in order to retrieve items from their homes.
A photograph of workers loading a trailer with items salvaged from people's homes during the Residential Access Project. The project gave residents temporary access within the red-zone cordon in order to retrieve items from their homes.
A photograph of two workers loading a truck with items from people's homes during the Residential Access Project. The project gave residents temporary access within the red-zone cordon in order to retrieve items from their homes.
A photograph captioned by Elizabeth Ackerman, "Brandon, Elizabeth and Danica". The photograph was taken during the Residential Access Project which gave residents temporary access within the red-zone cordon in order to retrieve items from their homes after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of a bike, a canvas and damaged mirror in a flat on Poplar Street taken during the Residential Access Project. The project gave residents temporary access within the red-zone cordon in order to retrieve items from their homes.
A photograph of a trailer loaded with items from the Residential Access Project being driven down High Street. The project gave residents temporary access within the red-zone cordon in order to retrieve items from their homes.
A photograph of workers loading a trailer with items salvaged from people's homes during the Residential Access Project. The project gave residents temporary access within the red-zone cordon in order to retrieve items from their homes.
A photograph of the front porch of Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. A sign on the porch reads, "Avon Loop Harvest Market".