A lack of affordable space after Christchurch's earthquake threatens to fracture the city's arts community.
Dovedale Village, recently completed but yet to be occupied as temporary office and lecture spaces.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "An office space in the Hotel Grand Chancellor".
Dovedale Village, recently completed but yet to be occupied as temporary office and lecture spaces.
An empty and overgrown space left after the demolition of a building on Victoria Street.
Damaged buildings and empty spaces seen from the corner of Gloucester Street and Latimer Square.
A photograph of a band playing on stage in the 'Sound Cone' space at LUXCITY.
Dovedale Village, recently completed but yet to be occupied as temporary office and lecture spaces.
A photograph of a band playing on stage in the 'Sound Cone' space at LUXCITY.
A photograph of an artwork on display at Dog Park Art Project Space on Wilsons Road.
A photograph of a crowd enjoying a live band in the 'Sound Cone' space at LUXCITY.
A photograph of an artwork on display at Dog Park Art Project Space on Wilsons Road.
A panoramic photograph of the FESTA office space. On the left is FESTA director Jessica Halliday.
A staff member at work in temporary office space in the Central Library after the earthquake.
A photograph of Mike Hewson's installation, 'Old Public Toilets 2014'. The artwork depicts a distorted image of the surrounding buildings. The installation is part of a series titled 'Homage to the Lost Spaces'.
A photograph of Mike Hewson's installation, 'Old Public Toilets 2014'. The artwork depicts a distorted image of the surrounding buildings. The installation is part of a series titled 'Homage to the Lost Spaces'.
A map showing the location of Christchurch Hospital parking spaces lost following the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A deck which is now suspended over empty space at the edge of the cliff in Sumner.
Cars parked on the lawn beside the NZi3 building. The photographer comments, "Lawns became parking spaces".
A photograph of the public launch event for The Wet Issue by Freerange Press. Attendees are watching a water-inspired visual and sonic artwork by Olivia Webb and Noel Meek. The event was held at Space Academy as part of FESTA 2014.
A photograph of the public launch event for The Wet Issue by Freerange Press. Attendees are watching a water-inspired visual and sonic artwork by Olivia Webb and Noel Meek. The event was held at Space Academy as part of FESTA 2014.
In recent work on commons and commoning, scholars have argued that we might delink the practice of commoning from property ownership, while paying attention to modes of governance that enable long-term commons to emerge and be sustained. Yet commoning can also occur as a temporary practice, in between and around other forms of use. In this article we reflect on the transitional commoning practices and projects enabled by the Christchurch post-earthquake organisation Life in Vacant Spaces, which emerged to connect and mediate between landowners of vacant inner city demolition sites and temporary creative or entrepreneurial users. While these commons are often framed as transitional or temporary, we argue they have ongoing reverberations changing how people and local government in Christchurch approach common use. Using the cases of the physical space of the Victoria Street site “The Commons” and the virtual space of the Life in Vacant Spaces website, we show how temporary commoning projects can create and sustain the conditions of possibility required for nurturing commoner subjectivities. Thus despite their impermanence, temporary commoning projects provide a useful counter to more dominant forms of urban development and planning premised on property ownership and “permanent” timeframes, in that just as the physical space of the city being opened to commoning possibilities, so too are the expectations and dispositions of the city’s inhabitants, planners, and developers.
In recent work on commons and commoning, scholars have argued that we might delink the practice of commoning from property ownership, while paying attention to modes of governance that enable long-term commons to emerge and be sustained. Yet commoning can also occur as a temporary practice, in between and around other forms of use. In this article we reflect on the transitional commoning practices and projects enabled by the Christchurch post-earthquake organisation Life in Vacant Spaces, which emerged to connect and mediate between landowners of vacant inner city demolition sites and temporary creative or entrepreneurial users. While these commons are often framed as transitional or temporary, we argue they have ongoing reverberations changing how people and local government in Christchurch approach common use. Using the cases of the physical space of the Victoria Street site “The Commons” and the virtual space of the Life in Vacant Spaces website, we show how temporary commoning projects can create and sustain the conditions of possibility required for nurturing commoner subjectivities. Thus despite their impermanence, temporary commoning projects provide a useful counter to more dominant forms of urban development and planning premised on property ownership and “permanent” timeframes, in that just as the physical space of the city being opened to commoning possibilities, so too are the expectations and dispositions of the city’s inhabitants, planners, and developers.
A close-up photograph of an artwork on display at Dog Park Art Project Space on Wilsons Road.
Workers helping to remediate the space under the Library, creating room for shops, banks and public eating areas.
Workers helping to remediate the space under the Library, creating room for shops, banks and public eating areas.
Workers helping to remediate the space under the Library, creating room for shops, banks and public eating areas.
Workers helping to remediate the space under the Library, creating room for shops, banks and public eating areas.
Workers helping to remediate the space under the Library, creating room for shops, banks and public eating areas.
Workers helping to remediate the space under the Library, creating room for shops, banks and public eating areas.