Paul Nicholls, a member of the University of Canterbury's E-Learning team, 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. Our "techy corner", with Paul waiting for the desk-assembler to come back and put his desk together. My desk is in the corner, and Jess is on the right of the window".
The cartoon shows a part of Christchurch with a great earthquake fissure running through it. In the fissure are dozens of eyes shining in the dark and people struggle to clamber out. A sign reads 'The Orange Zone. No fun - no parties - Come in and wait for nothing to happen!' Context: The 'Orange Zone' makes a wordplay on 'fanzone' the play spaces for Rugby World Cup revellers. The Orange Zone in Christchurch is the area where as yet decisions still have not been made about the fate of the houses in it. These people feel as though they are in limbo, unable to make decisions about their lives and homes. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Timber has experienced renewed interests as a sustainable building material in recent times. Although traditionally it has been the prime choice for residential construction in New Zealand and some other parts of the world, its use can be increased significantly in the future through a wider range of applications, particularly when adopting engineered wood material, Research has been started on the development of innovative solutions for multi-storey non-residential timber buildings in recent years and this study is part of that initiative. Application of timber in commercial and office spaces posed some challenges with requirements of large column-free spaces. The current construction practice with timber is not properly suited for structures with the aforementioned required characteristics and new type of structures has to be developed for this type of applications. Any new structural system has to have adequate capacity for carry the gravity and lateral loads due to occupancy and the environmental effects. Along with wind loading, one of the major sources of lateral loads is earthquakes. New Zealand, being located in a seismically active region, has significant risk of earthquake hazard specially in the central region of the country and any structure has be designed for the seismic loading appropriate for the locality. There have been some significant developments in precast concrete in terms of solutions for earthquake resistant structures in the last decade. The “Hybrid” concept combining post-tensioning and energy dissipating elements with structural members has been introduced in the late 1990s by the precast concrete industry to achieve moment-resistant connections based on dry jointed ductile connections. Recent research at the University of Canterbury has shown that the concept can be adopted for timber for similar applications. Hybrid timber frames using post-tensioned beams and dissipaters have the potential to allow longer spans and smaller cross sections than other forms of solid timber frames. Buildings with post-tensioned frames and walls can have larger column-free spaces which is a particular advantage for non-residential applications. While other researchers are focusing on whole structural systems, this research concentrated on the analysis and design of individual members and connections between members or between member and foundation. This thesis extends existing knowledge on the seismic behaviour and response of post-tensioned single walls, columns under uni-direction loads and small scale beam-column joint connections into the response and design of post-tensioned coupled walls, columns under bi-directional loading and full-scale beam-column joints, as well as to generate further insight into practical applications of the design concept for subassemblies. Extensive experimental investigation of walls, column and beam-column joints provided valuable confirmation of the satisfactory performance of these systems. In general, they all exhibited almost complete re-centering capacity and significant energy dissipation, without resulting into structural damage. The different configurations tested also demonstrated the flexibility in design and possibilities for applications in practical structures. Based on the experimental results, numerical models were developed and refined from previous literature in precast concrete jointed ductile connections to predict the behaviour of post-tensioned timber subassemblies. The calibrated models also suggest the values of relevant parameters for applications in further analysis and design. Section analyses involving those parameters are performed to develop procedures to calculate moment capacities of the subassemblies. The typical features and geometric configurations the different types of subassemblies are similar with the only major difference in the connection interfaces. With adoption of appropriate values representing the corresponding connection interface and incorporation of the details of geometry and configurations, moment capacities of all the subassemblies can be calculated with the same scheme. That is found to be true for both post-tensioned-only and hybrid specimens and also applied for both uni-directional and bi-directional loading. The common section analysis and moment capacity calculation procedure is applied in the general design approach for subassemblies.
In the top frame someone unseen (Murray McCully) in the Beehive says 'John! - There's been a bad reaction to us taking special powers to fix problems in Auckland!' Prime Minister John Key says 'What Murray?' In the lower frame Minister for the Rugby World Cup, Murray McCully, says 'The worst hit parts of Christchurch have declared themselves Fan Zones!' and the PM says 'Oh S..t!' The little Evans man says 'Sounds better than Red Zone!' Context: Refers to the chaos over transport and crowd control in the fanzone when much larger numbers of people flocked to the Rugby World Cup opening and revelry than expected. The government used special powers to take over the management of Queens Wharf fanzone spaces previously managed by an Auckland Council group, thus rather undermining the Mayor, Len Brown and the Auckland City Council. A new plan was signed off under special powers by Murray McCully directly after the fiasco. The Christchurch comment refers to the areas worst hit by the earhquakes. Colour and black and white versions available Quantity: 2 digital cartoon(s).
The aftermath of three earthquakes has forced Christchurch to re-plan and rebuild. New perspectives of a sustainable city have arisen granting Christchurch the chance of becoming an example to the world. This work is centred on bioclimatic landscape design as a base for greening strategies. It deals with strategic landscape design adapted to a specific climate, from a user’s perspective. The investigation will be applied to Christchurch’s urban centres, assessing cultural adaptability to the local climate and implications for landscape design. Climatic data shows that humidity is not a local problem. However, the wind is the determinant. In Christchurch the solar radiation and the prevailing winds are the most important microclimatic variables, the latter intensifying the loss of surface heat, decreasing the radiant temperature and affecting thermal sensation. The research objective is to explore design parameters at the street-scale and identify ways to maximise thermal comfort in outdoor spaces through design-based strategies. The investigation will apply methods of participant observation, depth interviews, climatic data collection and design experimentation based on thermal comfort models and computer simulation tools. Case study sites chosen for investigation are places with current levels of activity that may be anticipated in the rebuild of the central city. The research will have two main outcomes: improved understanding of local urban culture adaptation to microclimate, and a demonstration of how design can enhance adaption. These outcomes will inform designers and city managers about good design practices and strategies that can be used to ensure a long term liveable city.
Questions to Ministers 1. JONATHAN YOUNG to the Minister of Finance: What advice has he received about factors that lie behind the current turmoil we are witnessing on world financial markets, and what are the implications for New Zealand? 2. KEVIN HAGUE to the Minister of Labour: Does she still agree, as she did on 13 July 2011, with the comment made by Rt Hon John Key on 22 November 2010 that "I have no reason to believe that New Zealand safety standards are any less than Australia's and in fact our safety record for the most part has been very good"? 3. Hon ANNETTE KING to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his answers to Oral Question No 1 yesterday when he said that the Leader of the Opposition is "just plain wrong" in relation to skills training? 4. KATRINA SHANKS to the Minister for the Environment: How have Government reforms to the Resource Management Act helped increase competition in the grocery business? 5. Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE to the Attorney-General: Will he meet with earthquake victims' families to hear directly why they need independent legal representation; if not, why not? 6. Hon JOHN BOSCAWEN to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that "I think the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research is referring to some longer-term issues around demographic change and healthcare costs, and we share the chief executive's concern"? 7. DARIEN FENTON to the Minister of Labour: What is the timeline of the ministerial inquiry into the treatment of foreign fishing crews in New Zealand waters? 8. CHRIS AUCHINVOLE to the Minister for Communications and Information Technology: What progress is being made on the Government's goal of delivering fast broadband to rural areas? 9. Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: Does he agree that an appropriate part of the "red zone" area along the Avon River through Christchurch should be transformed into a "green space" for memorial and recreational public purposes? 10. STUART NASH to the Minister of Finance: Does he believe the tax system is fair for all New Zealanders? 11. KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What steps has the Government taken to manage gateways between benefits? 12. KELVIN DAVIS to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by all of her answers to Oral Question No 8 yesterday?