A band performing on the site of a demolished building in Sydenham. A member of the band is playing one of Gap Filler's painted pianos.
Volunteers placing planks of wood on the ground for Gap Filler's painted piano to sit on. This is the site of the now demolished Crowne Plaza Hotel.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The painted piano at 636 Ferry Road. This is one of a group of painted pianos which were placed on the sites of demolished building by Gap Filler to enable impromptu and planned neighbourhood concerts".
A photograph of a piano-accordion player in a Re:START mall car park during FESTA 2013.
Shops on Ferry Road, across the road from the demolition site where the Gap Filler Piano Project is.
A teacher talks to a group of students from Rangi Ruru on the demolished site of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Christchurch-based 11 year-old piano player talks about the compostition he wrote in response to the Sepetmber 4 earthquake.
A photograph of street art on the former site of a building on the corner of Bowhill Road and Marine Parade. A collection of couches and chairs has been arranged around a piano. Behind the piano, a message has been painted on the fence. The message reads, "Beautiful. Art can make anything look amazing.
A paint-splattered chair sits in front of a brightly-coloured piano painted with a cat's face, part of Gap Filler's Painted Piano Project. The photographer comments, "Gap filler I believe has created three sites filled with a stage area, seating and a piano. This one is at the Junction of Bower Ave and Marine Parade on the site of the demolished TJs Kazbah and opposite the now demolished Ozone. They have really brightened the corner up and we just need a few people to gather and have a nice night of it".
A digitally manipulated image of Michael Parekowhai's scuplture 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer' on Madras Street. The photographer comments, "One of the two bulls on pianos by Michael Parekowhai called 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer'. They have been placed on the site of a building that was demolished after earthquake damage.
A world class centre for music and the arts has opened in Christchurch, after The Music Centre of Christchurch was damaged beyond repair in the 2011 earthquakes.
Our Christchurch correspondent, Katy Gosset takes us on a musical journey with the help of one of the city's longest serving pianists. For 23 years Peter Lewis played the piano in the Crowne Plaza Hotel before being made redundant by the February 2011 earthquake. Peter has since struggled to find a way to share his music with others. Today Katy seeks out some city pianos and takes him on a mystery tour to rediscover the pleasure of playing.
A digitally manipulated image of Michael Parekowhai's sculpture 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer' on Madras Street. The photographer comments, "This is the work of New Zealand artist Michael Parekowhai titled 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer'. There are two bronze pianos and a very dominant looking bronze bull on each".
A digitally manipulated photograph of a stencilled logo for the Christchurch School of Music. The photographer comments, "The Christchurch School of Music donated several old broken pianos to be placed on Gap Filler sites in Christchurch. Gap Filler make the land where buildings have been demolished into places the local inhabitants can enjoy. As in Maths two negatives make a positive".
A photograph captioned by Paul Corliss, "New Brighton. Corner Bowhill Road and Marine Parade".
A photograph of artist Michael Parekowhai's installation of 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer' on the corner of Madras Street and Lichfield Street.
A photograph of a member of the public interacting with artist Michael Parekowhai's installation of 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer' on the corner of Madras Street and Lichfield Street.
A video of an interview with Sean Duxfield, the exhibitions and collections team leader at the Christchurch Art Gallery, about installing Michael Parekowhai's bull sculpture, 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer', in the Christchurch Arts Centre market square. The sculpture was installed in secret on a patch of grass.
Christchurch was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on the 22 February 2011. The quake devastated the city, taking lives and causing widespread damage to the inner city and suburban homes. The central city lost over half its buildings and over 7000 homes were condemned throughout Christchurch. The loss of such a great number of homes has created the requirement for new housing to replace those that were lost. Many of which were located in the eastern, less affluent, suburbs. The response to the housing shortage is the planned creation of large scale subdivisions on the outskirts of the city. Whilst this provides the required housing it creates additional sprawl to a city that does not need it. The extension of Christchurch’s existing suburban sprawl puts pressure on roading and pushes residents further out of the city, creating a disconnection between them. Christchurch’s central city had a very small residential population prior to the earthquakes with very few options for dense inner city living. The proposed rebuild of the inner city calls for a new ‘dense, vibrant and diverse central hub’. Proposing the introduction of new residential units within the central city. However the placement of the low-rise housing in a key attribute of the rebuild, the eastern green ‘Frame’, diminishes its value as open green space. The proposed housing will also be restrictive in its target market and therefore the idea of a ‘vibrant’ inner city is difficult to achieve. This thesis acts as response to the planned rebuild of inner Christchurch. Proposing the creation of a model for inner city housing which provides an alternative option to the proposed housing and existing and ongoing suburban sprawl. The design options were explored through a design-led process were the options were critiqued and developed. The ‘final’ proposal is comprises of three tall towers, aptly named the Triple Towers, which condense the proposed low-rise housing from an 11000 square metre footprint to combined footprint of 1500 square metres. The result is an expansion of the publicly available green space along the proposed eastern frame of the city. The height of the project challenges the height restrictions and is provocative in its proposal and placement. The design explores the relationships between the occupants, the building, the ‘Frame’ and the central city. The project is discussed through an exploration of the architecture of Rem Koolhaas, Renzo Piano and Oscar Niemeyer. Rather than their architecture being taken as a direct influence on which the design is based the discussion revolves around how and why each piece of comparative architecture is relevant to the designs desired outcome.