An aerial photograph looking north-west over the Christchurch CBD with Madras and Barbadoes Streets across the bottom.
An aerial photograph looking north-west over the Christchurch CBD from Barbadoes Street.
An aerial photograph looking north-west over the Christchurch CBD.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A photograph of the badly-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, taken from the car park.
A PDF copy of pages 192-193 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Butterfly Gap'. Photos: Gap Filler
A PDF copy of pages 296-297 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Piko Shop Site'. Photos with permission from Greening the Rubble
A PDF copy of pages 224-225 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'The Viva Project'. Photos provided by Lin Roberts. With permission from The Viva Project.
A PDF copy of pages 166-167 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Think Differently Book Exchange'. Photos: Gap Filler
Heritage buildings are an important element of our urban environments, representing the hope and aspirations of a generation gone, reminding us of our achievements and our identity. When heritage buildings suffer damage, or fall into disrepair they are either met by one of two extremes; a bulldozer or painstaking repair. If the decision to conserve defeats the bulldozer, current heritage practice favours restoration into a mausoleum-type monument to yesteryear. But what if, rather than becoming a museum, these heritage buildings could live on and become a palimpsest of history? What if the damage was embraced and embodied in the repair? The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street, Christchurch is the case study building for this thesis. Suffering damage in the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, the Cathedral sits in ruin waiting for decisions to be made around how it can be retained for future generations. This thesis will propose a reconstruction for the Cathedral through the analysis of precedent examples of reconstructing damaged heritage buildings and guided by a heritage framework proposed in this thesis. The employed process will be documented as an alternative method for reconstructing other damaged heritage buildings.