A photograph of a member of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team standing in a car park in the Christchurch central city. In the background is the Hotel Grand Chancellor. The hotel has a noticeable slump on the left side.
A photograph of a member of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team standing in a car park in the Christchurch central city. In the background is the Hotel Grand Chancellor. The hotel has a noticeable slump on the left side.
A plaque on the side of the Edmonds Band Rotunda on Cambridge Terrace. The plaque reads, "This rotunda shelter and circular seat were presented by T.J.Edmonds to celebrate fifty years of residence in Christchurch 26th September 1929".
A photograph of stencilled words on a footpath on Peterborough Street. The words read, "On Peterborough Street the houses are wonky. The ground has been pulled out from underneath them. The trick worked and the houses stayed up, but they are wonky. If you lived in them you might become wonky too".
A PDF copy of a page on the EQ Recovery Learning site which linked to a YouTube video. This short video provides an insight into the design and location of the Canterbury Earthquake Memorial, due to be completed in February 2017. We meet its designer Grega Vezjak, who shares his vision for the Memorial
A photograph of street art on the wall of the Calendar Girls building on Hereford Street. The artwork is by Australian artist Seb Humphreys, who works under the name 'Order 55'.
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team talking to a member of the New South Wales USAR team in Latimer Square.
A photograph of the USAID headquarters in Latimer Square. A sign above the entrance to the camp reads, "Must wash hands". Whiteboards placed around the entrance read, "Please wash hands before taking food".
A photograph of a Singapore Rescue Team tent set up in Latimer Square after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. In the foreground there is a group of tents, cordoned off with tape and plastic mesh.
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team examining the Southern Finance Ltd building. Silt from liquefaction covers part of the footpath and road.
A photograph of the southern end of the Provincial Chambers Building taken through a car window. The roof and the wall of the building have collapsed on the right.
A photograph of tents pitched at the On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC) in Latimer Square. The OSOCC was set up by the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator.
An aerial photograph of Bangor Street in central Christchurch. The photograph has been captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Avon Loop. Some of this is zoned green and the land to the right of Bangor Street is zoned orange (plus the piece above Willow Street)".
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a building in central Christchurch. The basement of the building has collapsed and the concrete blocks have broken away from each other. The left corner of the building has also suffered damage, with many of the concrete blocks shaking loose.
This thesis revisits the topic of earthquake recovery in Christchurch City more than a decade after the Canterbury earthquakes. Despite promising visions of a community reconnected and a sustainable and liveable city, significant portions of the city’s core – the Red Zone – remain dilapidated and “eerily empty”. At the same time, new developments in other areas have proven to be alienated or underutilised. Currently, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority’s plans for the rebuilding highlight the delivery of more residential housing to re-populate the city centre. However, prevalent approaches to housing development in Christchurch are ineffective for building an inclusive and active community. Hence, the central inquiry of the thesis is how the development of housing complexes can revitalise the Red Zone within the Christchurch city centre. The inquiry has been carried out through a research-through-design methodology, recognising the importance of an in-depth investigation that is contextualised and combined with the intuition and embodied knowledge of the designer. The investigation focuses on a neglected site in the Red Zone in the heart of Christchurch city, with significant Victorian and Edwardian Baroque heritage buildings, including Odeon Theatre, Lawrie & Wilson Auctioneers, and Sol Square, owned by The Regional Council Environment Canterbury. The design inquiry argues, develops, and is carried through a place-assemblage lens to housing development for city recovery, which recognizes the significance of socially responsive architecture that explores urban renewal by forging connections within the social network. Therefore, place-assemblage criteria and methods for developing socially active and meaningful housing developments are identified. Firstly, this thesis argues that co-living housing models are more focused on people relations and collective identity than the dominant developer-driven housing rebuilds, as they prioritise conduits for interaction and shared social meaning and practices. Secondly, the adaptive reuse of derelict heritage structures is proposed to reinvigorate the urban fabric, as heritage is seen to be conceived as and from a social assemblage of people. The design is realised by the principles outlined in the ICOMOS charter, which involves incorporating the material histories of existing structures and preserving the intangible heritage of the site by ensuring the continuity of cultural practices. Lastly, design processes and methods are also vital for place-sensitive results, which pay attention to the site’s unique characteristics to engage with local stakeholders and communities. The research explores place-assemblage methods of photographic extraction, the drawing of story maps, precedent studies, assemblage maps, bricolages, and paper models, which show an assembly of layers that piece together the existing heritage, social conduits, urban commons and housing to conceptualise the social network within its place.
A photograph of a paste-up from the Roger Sutton/Man About Town series, created by Nathan Ingram and Jemma Brown. The paste-up is titled "Hip Man", and is on a building on Madras Street.
A photograph of a paste-up on the cordon fence surrounding the Crowne Plaza demolition site. The paste-up is in the shape of an awards ribbon, and reads, "Voted Chch best demo 2012".
A photograph of street art on the side of an electricity substation on St Asaph Street. The artwork includes a Maori heimatau (fish hook) motif. Search and rescue codes have been spray-painted on the door of the building.
An aerial photograph of the Christchurch central city. The photograph has been captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "This photograph shows nearly all of the CBD. The two streets which are prominent in this photograph are Manchester Street on the left and Colombo Street on the right of the photograph. This photograph is from the north, looking towards the southern part of the city. Cathedral Square is about half way up, towards the right. It shows the extent of demolition that has happened already close to the river and near the Manchester/Gloucester Street intersection where there is a lot of bare land surrounding Radio Network House".
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a block of buildings in central Christchurch. The basement of the buildings have collapsed and the concrete blocks have spilled into the car park. Large cracks have also formed in between the blocks in the walls of the building to the left.
An aerial photograph of the IRD Building in the Christchurch central city and the surrounding area. The photograph has been captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "There are many empty sites in this part of the CBD. The street running up the photograph from the left to the right is Cashel Street. The empty site left of centre with the trees is where St John's Church has been demolished. To the left of the IRD building, is the site of the CTV Building".
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a building in central Christchurch. Broken glass and other rubble litters the courtyard in front of the building. There is a large crack in the brick wall to the right. A red sticker on the glass door indicates that the building is unsafe to enter.
A photograph of workers preparing breakfast for the emergency management personnel in Latimer Square. The workers are wearing high-visibility vests and hair nets. A sign on one of the tent poles reads, "Please wash hand before approaching the food tables, thank you".
A photograph of a member of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team lining up for breakfast in Latimer Square. To the right, members of the New South Wales USAR team are also getting breakfast.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The Christchurch Central Police Station. It has recently been announced that the Police will vacate this building, as it is not considered safe enough for Police headquarters. It is not clear what will happen to the building which may be strong enough for a less critical operation".
A member of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team team attempting to enter the City Care building on Antigua Street. A green sticker on the door indicates that the building has been inspected and is safe to enter.
A photograph of a paste-up from the Roger Sutton/Man About Town series, created by Nathan Ingram and Jemma Brown. The paste-up is titled "Best Man", and is on the Crichton Cobbers building on Fitzgerald Avenue.
A photograph of a paste-up from the Roger Sutton/Man About Town series, created by Nathan Ingram and Jemma Brown. The paste-up is titled "Love Man", and is on the east side of the Victoria Mansions building.
An aerial photograph of the Christchurch central city looking over the Tuam and Durham Streets intersection. The photograph has been captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Tuam Street is the most prominent street in this photograph. Durham Street runs across the foreground, and St Michael of all Angels is in the bottom right corner".
A photograph of the interior of the partially-demolished Odeon Theatre. The top of the walls have been demolished and a nearby building on Manchester Street is visible in the background. Elephants have been painted on the wall of this building.