An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 28 May 2011 entitled, "Childhood Churches".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's Blog for 25 June 2014 entitled, "Ecclesiastical Enhancement".
Pre-February Earthquake
In the first of two frames which represents 'now' is a row of houses in the bay; two old-style character villas flank a modern house built to look like a boat and someone inside the modern house says proudly that they 'built here because of the character of the bays'. In the second frame which represents 'soon' all of the houses have taken on the character of the modern house and someone from the original modern house can't put their finger on why they feel that 'It's not the same somehow'. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Queenstown and Christchurch are twin poles of New Zealand's landscape of risk. As the country's 'adventure capital', Queenstown is a spectacular landscape in which risk is a commodity. Christchurch's landscape is also risky, ruptured by earthquakes, tentatively rebuilding. As a far-flung group of tiny islands in a vast ocean, New Zealand is the poster-child of the sublime. Queenstown and Christchurch tell two different, yet complementary, stories about the sublime. Christchurch and Queenstown are vehicles for exploring the 21st-century sublime, for reflecting on its expansive influence on shaping cultural landscapes. Christchurch and Queenstown stretch and challenge the sublime's influence on the designed landscape. Circling the paradoxes of risk and safety, suffering and pleasure, the sublime feeds an infinite appetite for fear as entertainment, and at the same time calls for an empathetic caring for a broken landscape and its residents.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 16 December 2011 entitled, "Mother's Milestone".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 30 July 2011 entitled, "Lost Landmarks".
A photograph of a planning meeting for the Info Gap temporary outdoor display space.
An entry from Roz Johnson's blog for 2 August 2011 entitled, "New Light".
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The demand for a new approach to safeguarding New Zealand’s endangered historic buildings was identified as a result of the recent increase in building code and strengthening requirements following the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010-2011. The Wellington City Council identified 266 heritage buildings in the city that must be either strengthened or demolished to address these increased requirements. This thesis explores this threat as an opportunity for researching how contemporary design interventions can be challenged to both strengthen and become active participants in the ongoing history of New Zealand’s potentially endangered historic buildings. This thesis challenges the current approach of completely ‘restoring’ 19th-20th century historic buildings in New Zealand, to develop techniques that structurally reinforce historic buildings while inviting the progressive weathering of a building to remain as a testament to its history. This thesis proposes a structural intervention that is responsive to the progressive history of historic buildings, simultaneously introducing a contemporary structural intervention that both participates in and compliments the progressive historic transformations of the vehicle. This thesis argues that current historic buildings in semi-decayed states in fact enable visitors to witness multiple stages in the life of a building, while fully restored buildings only enable visitors to witness the original form of the building. This thesis proposes a model for contemporary intervention within historic buildings that draws a design intervention from seismic strengthening.The notion of layering is explored as a design approach to incorporate the contemporary with the historic as an additional layer of exposed on-going history, thereby further exposing the layers of history evident within New Zealand’s historic buildings. This thesis combines layering theories of architects Louis Kahn and Carlo Scarpa with related theories of installation artist Mary Miss. The theoretical imperatives of Scarpa and Kahn are explored as a tool of engagement for the junction between the contemporary and historic building materials, and the work of Marry Miss is explored as a design approach for developing a contemporary intervention that references the layered historic building while inviting new means of occupancy between layers. The selected vehicle for the design research investigation is the Albemarle Hotel on Ghuznee Street in Wellington. The techniques proposed in this thesis to strengthen the Albemarle Hotel suggest an approach that might be applied to New Zealand’s wider body of historic buildings that constitute New Zealand’s heritage fabric, ultimately protecting them from demolition while preserving additional layers of their historic narratives. Over all the design research experiments suggest that contemporary interventions derived from structural strengthening may be a viable and cost-effective method of re-inhabiting New Zealand’s endangered heritage buildings, avoiding demolition and securing New Zealand’s heritage for future generations. Research Questions: This thesis challenges the current economically unsustainable approach of laterally reinforcing and completely ‘restoring’ 19th-20th century historic buildings in New Zealand. This thesis argues that current historic buildings in semi-decayed states in fact enable visitors to witness multiple stages in the on-going life of a building. Can the weathered state of New Zealand's heritage buildings be proactively retained and celebrated as witnesses to their history? Can new lateral reinforcing requirements be conceived as active participants in revealing the on-going history of New Zealand's historic buildings?
A map showing the location of sites for a design competition to be judged by Prince Charles.
An entry from Roz Johnson's blog for 22 May 2012 entitled, "Giving New Life".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch mayor Bob Parker (R) talks to media about architectural plans for Christchurch's rebuild following September 4th's earthquake. (L-R) Architects Richard Dalman and Ian Athfield with mayor Bob Parker".
A photograph of seating for Gap Filler's temporary outdoor cinema. The seating is stacked in a workshop.
A photograph of seating for Gap Filler's temporary outdoor cinema. The seating is stacked in a workshop.
A letter written by Roz Johnson to family members overseas.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker (right) talks to media about architectural plans for Christchurch's rebuild following the September 4th earthquake. From left, architects Richard Dalman and Ian Athfield with Mayor Bob Parker".
Instead of concentrating on the buildings destroyed in and after the earthquakes in Christchurch's CBD, a new event is enticing people back to explore the heritage buildings that have survived. A new organisation, Te Putahi, is behind the Open Christchurch programme that celebrates the city's surviving architecture, starting with inner-city schools throwing open their doors to the public. Architectural historian and co-founder of Te Putahi, Dr Jessica Halliday tells Lynn Freeman they hope to encourage discussion around well-designed spaces and their impacts on peoples' lives. Open Christchurch starts next Sunday with a tour of The Cathedral Grammar Junior School.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 7 September 2010 entitled, "Labouring with Love".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 16 September 2010 entitled, "Earthquake Update 16/9".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 12 March 2012 entitled, "Central CERA City".
A photograph of a meeting being held in the Central Library Peterborough.
The "Lyttelton Harbour Review" newsletter for 22 July 2013, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.
An entry from Roz Johnson's blog for 5 August 2013 entitled, "Colourful Canterbury Brewery Building Going".
Peter Marshall is managing director of architectural firm Warren and Mahoney, part of the team selected to carry out the task of the redesign of Christchurch after the earthquakes. (This version of the audio does not include music)
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 14 July 2013 entitled, "Memories of McLean's Mansion".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 6 June 2011 entitled, "Circumnavigating the City".
A news item titled, "Godley House Farewell", published on the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre's website on Thursday, 29 September 2011.
The "Lyttelton Review" newsletter for 21 May 2012, produced by the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.