Site of SCAPE which installs contemporary art by local, national and international artists in Christchurch’s public spaces. Information about past exhibits and about the next biennial, artists and permanent works. Includes the effect of the Christchurch earthquake on the organisation itself and the artists.
A digitally manipulated image of Michael Parekowhai's sculpture 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer' on Madras Street. The photographer comments, "This is the work of New Zealand artist Michael Parekowhai titled 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer'. There are two bronze pianos and a very dominant looking bronze bull on each".
An artist's impression of the installation 'Atmosphere', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutor: Sue Hillery
An artist's impression of the installation 'Altitude', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutors: David Turner, Lester Mismash
An artist's impression of the installation 'Altitude', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutors: David Turner, Lester Mismash
An artist's impression of the LUXCITY event. The image depicts installations on Gloucester and Colombo Streets. Student: Erica Austin
An artist's impression of the installation 'In Your Face', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutor: Fraser Horton
An artist's impression of the installation 'Archrobatics', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutors: David Turner, Lester Mismash
An artist's impression of the installation 'In Your Face', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutor: Fraser Horton
An artist's impression of the installation 'Archrobatics', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutors: David Turner, Lester Mismash
An artist's impression of the installation 'eLITE', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutors: Cameron Rowe, Kate Rogan
An artist's impression of the installation 'Etch-a-Sketch', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutors: Anna Tong, Chris Holmes
An artist's impression of the installation 'Etch-a-Sketch', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutors: Anna Tong, Chris Holmes
An artist's impression of the installation 'Tonic', created as part of the LUXCITY event. Tutors: Annabel Pretty, Cesar Wagner, Peter McPherson
A graffiti paste-up of a digger on the side of a building in the central city. The artist has added a speech bubble reading, "Nom, nom".
One of the Christchurch suburbs badly hit in the Canterbury earthquakes is being rebranded as the Sydenham Quarter - a future haven for artists, artisans and industrialists alike.
An initiative by the CPIT Faculty of Creative Industries to establish gallery and studio spaces for Christchurch artists following the Christchurch earthquake, by using flexible, adaptable cube modules.
Since the Christchurch earthquakes first struck the city back in September 2010, Coralie Winn has looked for ways to keep up the spirits of those who've stayed, and give artists outlets in the arts deprived city.
An artist's impression of an installation that forms part of the '60 Lights Market' at the LUXCITY event. Coordinators: Daniele Abreu e Lima and Sam Stringlen; students: Chi Tran, Aria Jansen, Naomi Snelling, Rebecca Wyborn
An artist's impression of an installation that forms part of the '60 Lights Market' at the LUXCITY event. Coordinators: Daniele Abreu e Lima and Michael Smith; students: Alex Heperi, Gagan Saini, Shamal Nanji, Xavier Apelinga
Site where artists can donate songs which are compiled into an album to raise money for Christchurch earthquake relief. Includes information about the first album, how to submit a song, and an online shop; and news blog of quake- and album-related information.
Various walls on the street of Christchurch have become public art spaces. This work, "The Phoenix", by professional graffiti artists, Jacob, aka Yikes, Nick, aka Icarus and Wongi includes a fire Phoenix and the words "Christchurch destined to rise". Above it is an advertisement for Phonequip.
A digitally manipulated image of Michael Parekowhai's scuplture 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer' on Madras Street. The photographer comments, "One of the two bulls on pianos by Michael Parekowhai called 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer'. They have been placed on the site of a building that was demolished after earthquake damage.
A digitally manipulated photograph of the badly twisted Medway Street footbridge. The photographer comments, "This bridge over the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand has been left in place since the first major earthquake back in September 2010. Graffiti artists or taggers are still leaving their marks on it even though it is nearly twisted at 90 degrees at one point".
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.
The demand for a new approach to safeguarding New Zealand’s endangered historic buildings was identified as a result of the recent increase in building code and strengthening requirements following the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010-2011. The Wellington City Council identified 266 heritage buildings in the city that must be either strengthened or demolished to address these increased requirements. This thesis explores this threat as an opportunity for researching how contemporary design interventions can be challenged to both strengthen and become active participants in the ongoing history of New Zealand’s potentially endangered historic buildings. This thesis challenges the current approach of completely ‘restoring’ 19th-20th century historic buildings in New Zealand, to develop techniques that structurally reinforce historic buildings while inviting the progressive weathering of a building to remain as a testament to its history. This thesis proposes a structural intervention that is responsive to the progressive history of historic buildings, simultaneously introducing a contemporary structural intervention that both participates in and compliments the progressive historic transformations of the vehicle. This thesis argues that current historic buildings in semi-decayed states in fact enable visitors to witness multiple stages in the life of a building, while fully restored buildings only enable visitors to witness the original form of the building. This thesis proposes a model for contemporary intervention within historic buildings that draws a design intervention from seismic strengthening.The notion of layering is explored as a design approach to incorporate the contemporary with the historic as an additional layer of exposed on-going history, thereby further exposing the layers of history evident within New Zealand’s historic buildings. This thesis combines layering theories of architects Louis Kahn and Carlo Scarpa with related theories of installation artist Mary Miss. The theoretical imperatives of Scarpa and Kahn are explored as a tool of engagement for the junction between the contemporary and historic building materials, and the work of Marry Miss is explored as a design approach for developing a contemporary intervention that references the layered historic building while inviting new means of occupancy between layers. The selected vehicle for the design research investigation is the Albemarle Hotel on Ghuznee Street in Wellington. The techniques proposed in this thesis to strengthen the Albemarle Hotel suggest an approach that might be applied to New Zealand’s wider body of historic buildings that constitute New Zealand’s heritage fabric, ultimately protecting them from demolition while preserving additional layers of their historic narratives. Over all the design research experiments suggest that contemporary interventions derived from structural strengthening may be a viable and cost-effective method of re-inhabiting New Zealand’s endangered heritage buildings, avoiding demolition and securing New Zealand’s heritage for future generations. Research Questions: This thesis challenges the current economically unsustainable approach of laterally reinforcing and completely ‘restoring’ 19th-20th century historic buildings in New Zealand. This thesis argues that current historic buildings in semi-decayed states in fact enable visitors to witness multiple stages in the on-going life of a building. Can the weathered state of New Zealand's heritage buildings be proactively retained and celebrated as witnesses to their history? Can new lateral reinforcing requirements be conceived as active participants in revealing the on-going history of New Zealand's historic buildings?