Archinect - News

Resilience on the fly: Christchurch’s SCIRT offers a model for rebuilding after a disaster

2014-08-11T14:59:00-04:00

That calamity hit Christchurch, New Zealand, in a series of earthquakes that devastated the city in 2010 and 2011. Most people here don’t see the extent of repair work going on underground. [...]Yet the organization created to manage Christchurch’s infrastructure rebuild has a vital role, and it’s become something of a global model for how to put the guts of a city back together again quickly and efficiently after a disaster.

Christchurch's replacement cathedral has boosted a fledgling furniture sector

2014-04-22T13:52:00-04:00

Two years after the 2011 earthquake destroyed Christchurch's neo-Gothic cathedral, the building has been resurrected. It has also undergone something of a public transfiguration. [...] In the past few years cardboard has also become increasingly popular in small-scale design. Hipster boutiques, museum gift shops and high profile public events such as the State of Design Festival now stock cardboard lighting, storage units, stools and kids' toys.

Anything goes as Christchurch rebuilds

2014-01-08T15:36:00-05:00

The disaster that reduced Christchurch to rubble has given rise to a spirit of art and enterprise, writes Tijana Jaksic. [...] Nearly three years on from the devastating earthquake that shook the city, it's clear that Christchurch will never be the same. But the city is embracing the chance to not only rebuild, but completely reinvent itself.

Winner of the Christchurch “Breathe - The New Urban Village Project” competition

2013-10-29T20:48:00-04:00

The Holloway Team was selected as the winners of New Zealand's international "Breathe - The New Urban Village Project" design competition. The team is led by Holloway Builders from Christchurch, NZ in partnership with architecture firm Anselmi Attiani Associated Architects and Cresco engineers, both from Italy. Building and Construction Minister, Hon. Maurice Williamson made the official announcement on Oct. 22 at an event in the transitional Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch.

Previously: Finalists Announced for Breathe, The New Urban Village Project in New Zealand

Shigeru Ban's Cardboard Cathedral opens in Christchurch

2013-08-07T11:29:00-04:00

The Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand opened its doors to the public for the first time on August 6. Designed by Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, the cathedral is a temporary replacement of the original Christchurch Cathedral, the city's symbol that was destroyed by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in February 2011. Construction delays prevented the cathedral from opening on its original deadline in February.

Ban's Cardboard Cathedral is nowhere close to the original gothic revival design done by British architect George Gilbert Scott during the later half of the 19th century. The transition structure is in the middle of an ongoing debate whether the new cathedral's permanent design should be a restoration, a modern reinterpretation, or a completely new building.

The Cardboard Cathedral's triangular frame of 98 cardboard-encased LVL beams enclose a multi-functional main hall that can accommodate up to 700 people for church events. In addition to cardboard--a reporte...

Finalists Announced for Breathe, The New Urban Village Project in New Zealand

2013-03-05T16:50:00-05:00

Four finalist entries have been unveiled in the Christchurch, New Zealand urban design competition, Breathe - The New Urban Village Project. The brief called for innovative medium-density housing development designs from collaborative groups containing a designer and a property developer.

UPDATE: Winner of the Christchurch “Breathe - The New Urban Village Project” competition

Monopoly for Manchester St

2012-07-13T16:16:00-04:00

Free parking on an earthquake-cleared Manchester St site is on hold while a life-sized Monopoly square moves in.

Gap Filler is a group sponsoring filling gaps around Christchurch with clever community engaging projects, their website is a collection of the different projects this group sponsored. They give pop-up a new meaning, not just as a trend but as a way to resuscitate the now vastly empty downtown of Christchurch.

Shigeru Ban in Christchurch, NZ

2012-04-20T13:25:00-04:00

This week it was confirmed that Christchurch will be the site for the latest work by one of the world's leading ecological architects. Ban's design for the city's temporary Anglican Cathedral could become reality by the end of the year when a soaring tent-like structure constructed from a series of paper tubes weighing just under 500kg and placed on a foundation of shipping containers will rise on the site of the demolished St John's Church in Latimer Square.