Jennifer Middendorf's Blog 01/09/2014: Tunnelling

Articles, UC QuakeStudies

An entry from Jennifer Middendorf's blog for 1 September 2014 entitled, "Tunnelling".

Port Lyttelton – ‘a mean, insignificant little place’

Articles, Lost Christchurch

This land-locked port of Lyttelton – called occasionally Port Cooper and sometimes Port Victoria – is the main, or rather the only, entrance to the Province of Canterbury. The surroundi…

Raymond Morris's painting, 'Lyttelton Fire Station, 1901-2011'

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A digital copy of a pen and ink and watercolour painting by Raymond Morris, titled, 'Lyttelton Fire Station, 1901-2011'.

CER Act used to speed up redevelopment of Lyttelton Port

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Lyttelton Port is applauding a government decision to use the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act to speed up the redevelopment of the badly damaged port.

Jennifer Middendorf's Cultural Recovery Centre Photograph 004

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of material from the Lyttelton Museum being stored at the Canterbury Cultural Recovery Centre.

Jennifer Middendorf's Cultural Recovery Centre Photograph 018

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a bell from the Lyttelton Museum's collection. An antique half-round writing desk stands beside the bell.

The Panel with Gary McCormick and Chris Wikaira (Part 1)

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Topics - Emergency services are at the scene of a cliff collapse at the Port of Lyttelton that has damaged fuel storage tanks. Police say evacuations are underway from Brittan Terrace and Cressy Terrace, with people being taken to Lyttelton Main School. Meanwhile - University of Canterbury researchers have confirmed that Christchurch is now experiencing more frequent and severe flooding due to the impact of the earthquakes.

Jennifer Middendorf's Cultural Recovery Centre Photograph 001

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the Canterbury Cultural Recovery Centre's main floor. Signs indicate shelves containing collections from the Lyttelton Museum, Order of St John and the Canterbury Rugby Football Union.

Jennifer Middendorf's Cultural Recovery Centre Photograph 006

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of material from the Lyttelton Museum's collection being stored on the Canterbury Cultural Recovery Centre's main floor. The collection includes framed pictures and maps, and Navy memorabilia.

Hope and Wire

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Lyttelton singer-songwriter Adam McGrath talks about songwriting, free concerts after the Christchurch earthquakes, and lending his song - and its title - to TV mini-series Hope and Wire.

Ak Port says strikes, quakes show NZ needs resilient ports

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Ports of Auckland says incidents such as the strikes which crippled its operations and the Canterbury earthquakes which disrupted the Port of Lyttelton's operations shows New Zealand needs a resilient port sector.

The Oldest Building in Canterbury

Articles, Lost Christchurch

“To settle what seems to be a somewhat vexed question, a representative of the Lyttelton Times yesterday made inquiries among a number of the Pilgrims with regard to the authenticity, or otherwise,…

Urban Ensembles: An integrated approach to design in steep, urban landscap…

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

Urban Ensembles explores the way in which landscape and architecture can be employed together within the design of a steep, urban site. Lyttelton is a small port town on the border of Christchurch, settled in the foothills of a harbour formed by a major volcanic eruption. This rugged setting, with steeply sloping urban terrain, presents an interesting challenge when designing an urban development. The site was badly damaged in a series of earthquakes in 2010-2011, and many of the town’s oldest buildings, heritage structures dating back to the colonial settlement era, were destroyed. This has left a void in the heart of Lyttelton, and caused the loss of much of the tourism business that the town relies upon for its income. This thesis takes a methodological approach to the design of landscape architecture on such a challenging site. A range of techniques are explored, drawing from both landscape and architecture to explore the roles that each discipline plays in the design of urban spaces. The frequent imbalance between disciplines is addressed both through the literature review and design method, as this landscape architecture thesis draws on architectural design as a tool for generating spaces which fall somewhere in between the two ideals of interior and exterior. The final design proposal is an alternative rebuild plan for the central business area to the south of London St, and also addresses the relationships between that site and the surrounding context, both urban and environmental. The aim of this design is to create a series of interconnected spaces which have a strong relationship to the surrounding harbour setting, and also to facilitate development of the pedestrian spaces throughout the block and encouraging the development of activity at the street level, through the interface between buildings and landscape.