Architectural heritage at risk in Christchurch

Plans to demolish 50% of buildings in Christchurch city's Central Business District, including historic buildings, has conservation societies up in arms. Campaigners say that new disaster recovery legislation supercedes laws designed to protect historic structures. Read more...

Image: The Christchurch Cathedral, designed by Victorian architect George Gilbert Smith is to be partially demolished

Shigeru Ban's post-disaster zone project for Christchurch

Architect Shigeru Ban is known for his post-disaster zone design projects, such as his temporary housing project underway in Onagawa, one of the coastal communities devastated on 11 March by the earthquake and tsunami that left 3,800 of its 4,500 homes partially, if not completely damaged.

Ban has also designed a massive temporary building to replace the historic cathedral in the quake-ravaged city of Christchurch. The 9700-square-foot building's A-frame sanctuary will seat 700 worshippers. Topping the structure will be a massive pitched roof made of cardboard tubes and covered with polycarbonate sheets that will allow daylight into the building. Shipping containers filled with earthquake rubble will form the base of the building.

The temporary cathedral is scheduled to open on 22 February, the one-year anniversary of the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that claimed 181 lives and left much of the city in ruins.

Ban talks about his work and the cathedral project tonight at Auckland University's Design Theatre (Symonds Street) at 6pm.

Image: model of Shigeru Ban's temporary cathedral to be built in the city of Christchurch

Christchurch art community news

OVER THE NET AND ON THE TABLE  has posted a list of people in the Christchurch art community that have been contacted or sighted after the earthquake. You can see the OTN list here.

Image: The Christchurch Cathedral following the 22/3 earthquake

Earthquake shuts down The Physics Room

The Physics Room in the quake-stricken city of Christchurch is closed until further notice. Director Stephen Cleland says the space is housed in one of the sturdiest buildings in the area and that it hasn't suffered any significant structural damage.

Image: The Post Office building which houses The Physics Room, Christchurch

SCAPE Christchurch Biennale will not go ahead

The 6th SCAPE Christchurch Biennale will not go ahead as planned from 4 March 2011. The Trust and  SCAPE team will meet to discuss the future of the event once the city has settled and the healing process has begun.

Originally scheduled to open on 24 September 2010, SCAPE was postponed last year due to the massive earthquake that hit Christchurch on 4 September 2010.

Waiting for news from Christchurch

Over the past 24 hours we have received emails and texts from people around the world asking about friends and colleagues in the Christchurch art community. There's not much we can say. The flow of information from the earthquake-ravaged city is patchy - even people on the ground are in the dark and having to wait for news to circulate via informal networks.

Unfortunately, the news vacuum is unlikely to be filled for a while. Phone networks are still plagued by power outages and people have been advised to text when using cellphones to free up the network for emergency responses.

A dark day in Christchurch

Today our thoughts are with family, friends and the art community in Christchurch.

Image: Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu, currently the Civil Defence HQ in the earthquake-ravaged city of Christchurch