A photograph of Pretty Things on Colombo Street, with damage to the front wall and fencing around the building. A red sticker can be seen on the front door, indicating that the building is unsafe to enter.
A photograph of an earthquake damaged road in Christchurch. Road cones, cracks, and the remants of liquefaction can be seen on the road. There is a queue of traffic along the street.
A photograph of large marquees set up outside the Christchurch Art Gallery. The art gallery was used as the temporary Civil Defence headquarters after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of an earthquake-damaged house on Montreal Street. Part of the front wall has crumbled, the bricks falling to the ground. Tape has been stretched along the driveway as a cordon.
A photograph of a generator set up in Hagley Park to power campervans. The campervans were being used as temporary accommodation for emergency management personnel who travelled to Christchurch after the 22 February 2011 earthquakes.
A photograph of an excavator clearing rubble on Madras Street near the intersection of Tuam Street. To the left is the earthquake damaged Edward Gibbon's building. To the right, shipping containers have been stacked on the road.
A photograph of the interior of a USAR station in Latimer Square. Boxes of supplies are stacked along the walls and keys are hanging on a board. The station is made up of wooden struts with a tarpaulin roof and walls.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Winnie Bagoes building on Gloucester Street. Large sections of the building have collapsed, the bricks and other rubble spilling onto the ground in front.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the Domo furniture store on Tuam Street. A large section of the building has collapsed and the rubble has spilled onto the street below. Wire fencing has been placed around the building as a cordon.
A photograph of a member of an emergency management team standing on Gloucester Street near Latimer Square. In the background an excavator is clearing the rubble from a demolished building.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the back of Wharetiki on Colombo Street. The chimney of the house has pulled away from the back wall and collapsed onto the roof below. A wooden structure built up against the house has also pulled away from the wall.
A photograph of a panaroma of Christchurch on a wall of the Christchurch Art Gallery. The Art Gallery was set up as a temporary Civil Defence headquarters set up at the Christchurch Art Gallery after the 4 September 2010 earthquake.
A photograph of a make-shift toilet in the Christchurch Art Gallery. A sign behind it reads, "Portaloos Department. We know that 80,000 people need loos. We have 900-1800 available or coming, We don't need to be told people need loos. Thank you. We're number one with your number twos!". Signs below this read, "Toilet Occupied", "Toilet Vacant" and, "In Tray". The Art Gallery was used as the temporary headquarters for Civil Defence after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of emergency management personnel running a USAR station in Latimer Square. The station is made up of wooden struts with a tarpaulin roof and walls.
This thesis is about many things, not least of all the September 4th 2010 and February 22nd 2011 earthquakes that shook Christchurch, New Zealand. A city was shaken, events which worked to lay open the normally invisible yet vital objects, processes and technologies which are the focus of inquiry: the sewers, pipes, pumps, the digital technologies, the land and politics which constitute the Christchurch wastewater networks. The thesis is an eclectic mix drawing together methods and concepts from Bruno Latour, John Law, Giles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Nigel Thrift, Donna Haraway and Patrick Joyce. It is an exploration of how the technologies and objects of sanitation perform the city, and how such things which are normally hidden and obscured, are made visible. The question of visibility is also turned toward the research itself: how does one observe, and describe? How are sociological visibilities constructed? Through the research, the encountering of objects in the field, the processes of method, the pedagogy of concepts, and the construction of risk, the thesis comes to be understood as a particular kind of social scientific artefact which assembles four different accounts: the first regards the construction of visibility; the second explores Christchurch city from the control room where the urban sanitary infrastructures are monitored; the third chapter looks at the formatted and embodied practices which emerge with the correlation of the city and sanitation; the fourth looks at the changing politics of a city grappling with severely damaged essential services, land and structures. The final chapter considers how the differences between romantic and baroque sensibilities mean that these four accounts elicit knowing not through smoothness or uniformity, but in partiality and non-coherence. This thesis is about pipes, pump stations, and treatment plants; about the effluent of a city; about the messiness of social science when confronted by the equally messy world of wastewater.
The St Paul's-Trinity-Pacific Church on the corner of Madras and Cashel Streets. The brick walls have collapsed, bringing the roof down with them.
Members of the New Zealand and Chinese Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams clearing rubble on the site of the CTV Building.
A member of the New Zealand Army discussing a map of the Christchurch red zone with a New Zealand Police Officer.
A member of the New Zealand Army discussing a map of the Christchurch red zone with a New Zealand Police Officer.
A digger at the site of the CTV Building. In the background, the elevator shaft can still be seen.
Members of the New Zealand and Chinese Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams digging through rubble at the CTV site.
The US Aid tent in Latimer Square. After the 22 February 2011 earthquake, emergency service agencies set up their headquarters in Latimer Square.
Members of the South Australian Urban Search and Rescue team digging through rubble in the central city.
Two diggers at the site of the CTV Building. In the background, the elevator shaft can still be seen.
A member of the New Zealand Army discussing a map of the Christchurch red zone with a New Zealand Police Officer.
Members of the Police and Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams working on the site of the CTV Building.
Aerial image of the PGC Building site on Cambridge Terrace, taken by the Royal New Zealand Air Force for the Earthquake Commission.
An image from a Navy Today April 2011 article titled, "Earthquake!". The image is of sailors off loading food from the HMNZS Canterbury for the Lyttelton Community.
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team standing on Antigua Street near Corys Electrical.
Soldiers from the New Zealand Army and Singapore Armed Forces guarding a cordon in the central city.