post eq activity Post September Initiatives following the September Earthquake, Christchurch Ideas for Christchurch (submission to Community led call for Ideas) Bus Shelter (proposal designed for Architecture for Christchurch Group)
post eq activity Post February Initiatives following the February Earthquake, Christchurch Modular initiative (collaboration as response to need for temporary design solutions) Tedx Stage Design ( Director of stage design for Tedx EQChCh ) Architecture NZ published work ( Critical appraisal of Tedx EQChCh, published) Architecture for Humanity Competition (submission of proposal for Unlimited Campus) Carlton Corner Christchurch ( inter-office proposals for Carlton Corner re-design)
a nice end to a short week.........
CPIT ‘ArtBox’ // F3 Design ‘Building Box’ prototype opening Thursday 10 November 2011 // 4pm F3 Design // 5 Cass st // Sydenham // Christchurch rsvp // info@f3design.co.nz
studio x Hello, I'm writing from Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch, you may have heard, has been revealed recently to be sited on 3 newly formed active faultlines, and is currently in various states of disrepair after numerous seismic events. It's 3am and I've been lulled out of sleep by the next round of sewer cleaning, which involves the drone of the trucks and release of pungent vapours into the house. These roaming maintenance crews, never announced or recognised in any public media, always stir that uncanny feeling in me of the 'sub' city, which I so often sense in the blogs of the new StudioX NY directors, bldgblg and edible geography. To be woken by the stench of blocked up pipes being flushed can have an unsettling effect of not being given the correct dose of anaesthetic on the op. table, but with a drowsiness that prevents communication. At least though, the disturbance has offered a chance to follow up on my request proposal for a Studio-X Oceania, in Christchurch. The city was shaken apart last February and has felt over 8000 aftershocks. This situation would appear drastic, but perhaps just another extreme event, if not for a confluence of aspects; firstly, the amount of shocks is unprecedented, and also the geological behaviour of the landscape intriguing( it has become seismology central); further, as a primary city in a developed nation, with almost 100% private insurance, the emerging urban development will provide a unique perspective and/or opportunity for research and design. Christchurch is very interesting from most viewpoints, having great contrasts geologically ( for instance, it is built on swampland and the quakes have revealed a network of natural springs veining the cbd), historically( the english colonial city / neo gothic city with Maori heritage– I am originally from Melbourne and this puritan aspect of Chch still unnerves slightlyand a strong cohort of staunch neo-goths roam the corridors of power), socially, politically ( what does the once 100% insurable, now uninsurable, city look like?, how can design adapt to such a dramatic alteration of the urban fabric in a city that has such variety of ownership?) So far, the discussion has been vigorous and spirited; an encouraging blending of skills and knowledge from architecture, landscape, engineering, and artististic fields. However, parochialism among the main institutions exists, which probably can be expected in what is a city of around 500 000. Nevertheless, the expertise exists, the frustration mounts when this expertise becomes stuck in the silo. With such enormous flows of information here at present, across such wide and diverse fields, but with an absence of integration, much valuable creativity is being stifled through a 'specialist' reduction to essentials. Implementation as a next step in collaboration is being stifled. This is where I feel Studio X could provide the perfect antidote to this leeching of energy; an impartial hub that acts as an axis, not only dissipating the stubborn parochialism but allowing further lateral investigations without the encumbrance of an expected image of the existing specialist institutions. Can I then propose a Studio X for Christchurch, as representation ‘downunder’; an urban laboratory in a colonial city in the South Pacific, at the bottom of the world, built on a swamp, next to a volcano, above 3 major faultlines, (but with a magnificent view of the results of faultlines, in the Southern Alps. Is it possible to make a submission in some way for further consideration, which could map more firmly potential areas of study, resources, skill sets available, partnering options etc.? There is an abundance of talent here; young creative energy, who with the right format, could make a stunning, contemporary built environment. Best Regards, John Leonard - theneitherbothe.tumblr.com (for articles, published in Architecture NZ)