Graffiti on a damaged building. The photographer comments, "After some of the walls were demolished this graffiti was exposed. The next day this wall was gone as well".
A PDF copy of pages 144-145 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'WikiHouse Prototype'. Photos with permission: Wikihouse through Creative Commons
With sea level rise (SLR) fast becoming one of the most pressing matters for governments worldwide, there has been mass amounts of research done on the impacts of SLR. However, these studies have largely focussed on the ways that SLR will impact both the natural and built environment, along with how the risk to low-lying coastal communities can be mitigated, while the inevitable impacts that this will have on mental well-being has been understudied. This research has attempted to determine the ways in which SLR can impact the mental well-being of those living in a low-lying coastal community, along with how these impacts could be mitigated while remaining adaptable to future environmental change. This was done through conducting an in-depth literature review to understand current SLR projections, the key components of mental well-being and how SLR can influence changes to mental well-being. This literature review then shaped a questionnaire which was distributed to residents of the New Brighton coastline. This questionnaire asked respondents how they interact with the local environment, how much they know about SLR and its associated hazards, whether SLR causes any level of stress or worry along with how respondents feel that these impacts could be mitigated. This research found that SLR impacts the mental well-being of those living in low-lying coastal communities through various methods: firstly, the respondents perceived risk to SLR and its associated hazards, which was found to be influenced by the suburbs that respondents live in, their knowledge of SLR, their main sources of information and the prior experience of the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES). Secondly, the financial aspects of SLR were also found to be drivers of stress or worry, with depreciating property values and rising insurance premiums being frequently noted by respondents. It was found that the majority of respondents agreed that being involved in and informed of the protection process, having more readable and accurate information, and an increased engagement with community events and greenspaces would help to reduce the stress or worry caused by SLR, while remaining adaptable to future environmental change.
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 captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Moira Fraser standing beside a bus stop sign in Bower Avenue (near the intersection with New Brighton Road) to demonstrate how much this pole has sunk into the ground. Note the marker with two round luminous spots which is at ground level and compare it with the next photo".
A protest is underway outside insurance company Vero's Christchurch's office, with building owners dismayed to be still fighting for earthquake repairs 10 years on. The protest was organised by the owners of an 11 unit apartment block in New Brighton, who says Vero is purposefully delaying progress to wear them down. RNZ's reporter Rachel Graham is at the protest and spoke to Meriana Johnsen
A photograph of a section of a mural on one side of the Shoreline Fitness Centre on Hawke Street. A message painted in this section reads, "No one is superior. Everyone is special. Occupy Equality Street".
A photograph of a section of a mural on one side of the Shoreline Fitness Centre on Hawke Street. A message painted in this section reads, "No one is superior. Everyone is special. Occupy Equality Street".
Graffiti on a wooden wall depicts a child pointing at a site across the street and reads "I remember when the Kazbah was over there." The photographer comments, "A local street artist has commemorated Christchurch's deadliest earthquake. The anniversary is tomorrow. Where the photograph was taken was the site of the Ozone Hotel, which has now gone as well. For some of us who live and work in the East of Christchurch the earthquake was not what happened in the City as we were almost unaware of it. We had no water, toilets and most of all no electricity for weeks. For myself petrol was low and with tales of all the petrol stations on our side of town being damaged we could not take the chance of venturing out on severely damaged roads to find no petrol and the possibility of not getting home. We walked around and saw the damage that was local to us. TJ's Kazbah was one that stood out. A building that had a beauty with its round tower standing proud and always looked well kept - it was now collapsed. Its tower, which was once pointing towards the sky was laying on its side. It had kept its shape, but had a lightning shaped crack through it. The one thing that kept us feeling almost normal through the coming weeks was The Press our daily paper still being delivered even though the Press building and staff had suffered so badly themselves.
A large sign outside QEII stadium advertising a IPC Athletics World Championships event 21-30 January 2011. The photographer comments, "A Sunday afternoon ride to New Brighton, then back via Aranui, Wainoni, Dallington, and Richmond. Not a cheerful experience. QE2 sign. This must have still been in place on Feb 22, 2011. It advertises an athletics meet three weeks earlier".
A PDF copy of pages 308-309 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Beach Garden'. Photos with permission from Greening the Rubble
A photograph of a mural depicting ChristChurch Cathedral. The mural is attached to the fence on the site of Christchurch: A Board Game.
A digitally manipulated photograph of the partially-demolished Ozone Hotel. The photographer comments, "As if a deadly disease is moving out from Christchurch City red zone, the heritage buildings are being put down".
A partially deconstructed house in Bexley. The roof cladding and parts of the wall cladding have been removed. The photographer comments, "Today I took a drive around the residential area between Bexley and New Brighton. It was a stark reminder to be thankful for the situation we're in and perhaps not complain too much that our garden wall hasn't yet been rebuilt".
A residential property in Bexley with boarded up windows and an overgrown garden. Dried liquefaction silt still covers the ground. The photographer comments, "Today I took a drive around the residential area between Bexley and New Brighton. It was a stark reminder to be thankful for the situation we're in and perhaps not complain too much that our garden wall hasn't yet been rebuilt".
Residential properties in Bexley with overgrown gardens, see from inside a vehicle. Dried liquefaction silt still covers the ground. The photographer comments, "Today I took a drive around the residential area between Bexley and New Brighton. It was a stark reminder to be thankful for the situation we're in and perhaps not complain too much that our garden wall hasn't yet been rebuilt".
An aerial photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The River Avon winding its way through densely populated housing. For now, much of the land alongside the River Avon is zoned red, and will not be built upon any time soon".
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 photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A residential property on Waygreen Avenue in New Brighton. A note reads, 'Don't bother digging! Thanks anyway'. This family moved out after the February earthquakes, due to damage from liquefaction. The stone made the house heavy so it sank and suffered from silt and water creating mould and other problems inside the house".
A community briefing sign for Burwood Park, between Cresswell Avenue and New Brighton Road. These signs were put up in Christchurch for each community briefing. The first series (6 March to 12 March) were held in 12 locations, second series (21 March to 26 March) in 10 locations and the third series (16 April to 18 April) in 8 locations.
A PDF copy of pages 126-127 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Jungle Patrol'. Photo with permission: Jungle Patrol. Tessa Borrows Photography, Rebekah Wilson.
A drain grating and surround sit on top of a broken curb. The photographer comments, "You can see that the drain cover no longer fits, but there is a metal surrounding that also has to be placed in first".
After years of disruption caused by the Christchurch earthquakes, two schools have finally started moving into their new state of the art facilities. Avonside Girls' High School and Shirley Boys' High School have begun moving students into their new shared but separate campus on the grounds of the old QEII Park in north New Brighton. Some of the features include, a moveable gym, bike stands with spanners and air pumps, and a rock climbing wall. It will be the first time in New Zealand two single-sex schools have been on the same site. Guyon Espiner speaks to Avonside Girls' High principal Sue Hume and Shirley Boys' High School principal John Laurenson.
A photograph of section of a mural on the side of the Shoreline Fitness Centre on Hawke Street. This section contains a large bubble with the message, "Space. Occupy Equality Street", inside. Next to this is another bubble with the message, "Love", painted inside.
A digitally manipulated photograph of the Ozone Hotel's sign, leaning against a cordon fence. The photographer comments, "This sign was all that remained after the demolition of the historical Ozone Hotel, which was damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes. The sign disappeared so hopefully it will reappear at a later date in a museum. The bits of blue were the painted bricks of the hotel, which made it really stand out".
A dusty bottle sits on top of a partially demolished wall. The photographer comments, "The Ozone used to be a popular bar in its day and somehow this bottle must have literally fallen through the cracks.
The suburb of New Brighton in Christchurch Aotearoa was once a booming retail sector until the end of its exclusivity to Saturday shopping in 1980 and the aftermath of the devastating 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The suburb of New Brighton was hit particularly hard and fell into economic collapse, partly brought on by the nature of its economic structure. This implosion created an urban crisis where people and businesses abandoned the suburb and its once-booming commercial economy. As a result, New Brighton has been left with the residue of abandoned infrastructure and commercial propaganda such as billboards, ATM machines, commercial facades, and shopping trolleys that as abandoned fragments, no longer contribute to culture, society and the economy. This design-led research investigation proposes to repurpose the broken objects that were left behind. By strategically selecting objects that are symbols of the root cause of the economic devastation, the repurposed and re-contextualised fragments will seek to allegorically expose the city’s destructive economic narrative, while providing a renewed sense of place identity for the people. This design-led thesis investigation argues that the seemingly innocuous icons of commercial industry, such as billboards, ATM machines, commercial facades, and shopping trolleys, are intended to act as lures to encourage people to spend money; ultimately, these urban and architectural lures can contribute to economic devastation. The aim of this investigation is to repurpose abandoned fragments of capitalist infrastructure in ways that can help to unveil new possibilities for a disrupted community and enhance their awareness of what led to the urban disruption. The thesis proposes to achieve this research aim by exploring three principal research objectives: 1) to assimilate and re-contextualise disconnected urban fragments into new architectural interventions; 2) to anthropomorphise these new interventions so that they are recognisable as architectural ‘inhabitants’, the storytellers of the urban context; and 3) to curate these new architectural interventions in ways that enable a community-scale allegorical and didactic experience to be recognised.
Gerry Brownlee is the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister. Hugo Kristinsson is a South Brighton resident who stood for mayor last year on the issue of flood risk and land damage. David Stringer is the spokesperson for the community lobby group Insurance Watch - which has been seeking answers from the council since 2011 about the flood risk to the city. Nine to Noon speaks with all three about the recent flooding in Christchurch.
Some of Christchurch's earthquake damaged red-zone land is another step closer to having some long term decisions made about its future. Today the Minister of Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Megan Woods, formally handed over ownership of 70 hectares of land to the Christchurch City Council. The land gifted to the council is in the coastal suburbs of Southshore, South Brighton and Brooklands, where residents have been waiting almost a decade to find out what the future holds for their area. Rachel Graham reports
A digitally manipulated image of the sun shining through a stand of pine trees in New Brighton. Some of the trees are on a lean. The photographer comments, "Due to the Christchurch earthquakes and the land subsiding in this area the trees in this area will nearly all be cut down. So these may be the last tall trees to bathe in the sunshine for decades to come".