
A photograph of a bolt from the Townsend Telescope. The bolt sheared during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A push lawnmower sits in liquefaction silt beside the porch of a house. The photographer comments, "A friend's house, liquefaction covers the front lawn".
Two workers look on as a long reach excavator demolishes the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The photographer comments, "The Crowne Plaza Hotel being demolished".
A photograph of components of a model of the ChristChurch Cathedral being built from LEGO by Sam Butcher. Sam comments "Fixing a large variety of bits that were wrong/annoying/cheating (not purist) about the last model. The new one is set AFTER the Feb 22 earthquake. This newer, and much stronger model is also completely modular for easier transport. Obviously still a WIP, I'm currently waiting for a pretty large bricklink order at the moment, and will probably need to place a couple more after that too. Back on the new technical design for the Cathedral Rose Window".
A photograph of components of a model of the ChristChurch Cathedral being built from LEGO by Sam Butcher. Sam comments "Fixing a large variety of bits that were wrong/annoying/cheating (not purist) about the last model. The new one is set AFTER the Feb 22 earthquake. This newer, and much stronger model is also completely modular for easier transport. Obviously still a WIP, I'm currently waiting for a pretty large bricklink order at the moment, and will probably need to place a couple more after that too. Front on the new technical design for the Cathedral Rose Window".
A photograph of components of a model of the ChristChurch Cathedral being built from LEGO by Sam Butcher. Sam comments "Fixing a large variety of bits that were wrong/annoying/cheating (not purist) about the last model. The new one is set AFTER the Feb 22 earthquake. This newer, and much stronger model is also completely modular for easier transport. Obviously still a WIP, I'm currently waiting for a pretty large bricklink order at the moment, and will probably need to place a couple more after that too. Side of the new technical design for the Cathedral Rose Window".
As a result of the Canterbury earthquakes, over 60% of the concrete buildings in the Christchurch Central Business District have been demolished. This experience has highlighted the need to provide guidance on the residual capacity and repairability of earthquake-damaged concrete buildings. Experience from 2010 Chile indicates that it is possible to repair severely damaged concrete elements (see photo at right), although limited testing has been performed on such repaired components. The first phase of this project is focused on the performance of two lightly-reinforced concrete walls that are being repaired and re-tested after damage sustained during previous testing.
This dissertation explores the advocacy for the Christchurch Town Hall that occurred in 2012-2015 after the Canterbury Earthquakes. It frames this advocacy as an instance of collective-action community participation in a heritage decision, and explores the types of heritage values it expressed, particularly social values. The analysis contextualises the advocacy in post-quake Christchurch, and considers its relationship with other developments in local politics, heritage advocacy, and urban activism. In doing so, this dissertation considers how collective action operates as a form of public participation, and the practical implications for understanding and recognising social value. This research draws on studies of practices that underpin social value recognition in formal heritage management. Social value is held by communities outside institutions. Engaging with communities enables institutions to explore the values of specific places, and to realise the potential of activating local connections with heritage places. Such projects can be seen as participatory practices. However, these processes require skills and resources, and may not be appropriate for all places, communities and institutions. However, literature has understudied collective action as a form of community participation in heritage management. All participation processes have nuances of communities, processes, and context, and this dissertation analyses these in one case. The research specifically asked what heritage values (especially social values) were expressed through collective action, what the relationship was with the participation processes, communities, and wider situation that produced them, and the impact on institutional rhetoric and decisions. The research analysed values expressed in representations made to council in support of the Town Hall. It also used documentary sources and interviews with key informants to analyse the advocacy and decision-making processes and their relationships with the wider context and other grassroots activities. The analysis concluded that the values expressed intertwined social and professional values. They were related to the communities and circumstance that produced them, as an advocacy campaign for a civic heritage building from a Western architectural tradition. The advocacy value arguments were one of several factors that impacted the decision. They have had a lasting impact on rhetoric around the Town Hall, as was a heritage-making practice in its own right. This dissertation makes a number of contributions to the discussion of social value and community in heritage. It suggests connections between advocacy and participation perspectives in heritage. It recommends consideration of nuances of communities, context, and place meanings when using heritage advocacy campaigns as evidence of social value. It adds to the literature on heritage advocacy, and offers a focused analysis of one of many heritage debates that occurred in post-quake Christchurch. Ultimately, it encourages practice to actively integrate social and community values and to develop self-reflexive engagement and valuation processes. Despite inherent challenges, participatory processes offer opportunities to diversify understandings of value, co-produce heritage meanings with communities, and empower citizens in democratic processes around the places they live with and love.
Seismic isolation is an effective technology for significantly reducing damage to buildings and building contents. However, its application to light-frame wood buildings has so far been unable to overcome cost and technical barriers such as susceptibility to movement during high-wind loading. The precursor to research in the field of isolation of residential buildings was the 1994 Northridge Earthquake (6.7 MW) in the United States and the 1995 Kobe Earthquake (6.9 MW) in Japan. While only a small number of lives were lost in residential buildings in these events, the economic impact was significant with over half of earthquake recovery costs given to repair and reconstruction of residential building damage. A value case has been explored to highlight the benefits of seismically isolated residential buildings compared to a standard fixed-base dwellings for the Wellington region. Loss data generated by insurance claim information from the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake has been used by researchers to determine vulnerability functions for the current light-frame wood building stock. By further considering the loss attributed to drift and acceleration sensitive components, and a simplified single degree of freedom (SDOF) building model, a method for determining vulnerability functions for seismic isolated buildings was developed. Vulnerability functions were then applied directly in a loss assessment using the GNS developed software, RiskScape. Vulnerability was shown to dramatically reduce for isolated buildings compared to an equivalent fixed-base building and as a result, the monetary savings in a given earthquake scenario were significant. This work is expected to drive further interest for development of solutions for the seismic isolation of residential dwellings, of which one option is further considered and presented herein.
Members of the University of Canterbury's E-Learning team in their temporary office in the NZi3 building. The photographer comments, "University of Canterbury administration all fits into one building! Well, sort of. The e-learning corner; Alan Hoskin (learning adviser) in the foreground, some guy in a blue shirt at my desk, Rob Stowell (our video guy) arriving, Herbert Thomas (group leader), Lei Zhang (elearning developer/sysadmin)".
The University of Canterbury's E-Learning team's temporary office in the James Hight building. The photographer comments, "First looks at our new temporary (maybe) office space. Our group will stay here until April or May 2011, then will move to another floor in the Central Library. Common area. How will we make use of this large open area? Our offices are behind the glass wall, facing south".
A small tower on top of a roof in the Arts Centre. The photographer comments, "A bike ride around the CBD. Arts Centre".
A close-up photograph of the wheel from the worm gear drive of the Townsend Telescope.
A photograph of the Observatory tower at the Christchurch Arts Centre, taken before the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
A document outlining the history of the Townsend Telescope and Observatory at the Christchurch Arts Centre.
A crack in a wall of the University of Canterbury Electronic Learning Media team's offices. The photographer comments, "Cracks in the Project Office walls".
Reporters sit outside a campervan at the temporary studio being used by the One News team. In the foreground are a generator and satellite dish.
Reporters sit outside a campervan at the temporary studio being used by the One News team. In the foreground are a generator and satellite dish.
Surveyors marking out Kirkwood Village, used as temporary teaching and office space for the University of Canterbury. The photographer comments, "Measuring up for the Kirkwood village".
Okeover House, which was used to house the University of Canterbury's Senior Management Team after the Registry building was closed. The photographer comments, "SMT moved to Okeover".
A small tower on top of a roof in the Arts Centre. The photographer comments, "A bike ride around the CBD. Arts Centre".
A small tower on top of a roof in the Arts Centre. The photographer comments, "A bike ride around the CBD. Arts Centre".
A photograph of one of the smaller rooms of the Canterbury Cultural Recovery Centre. This room stores the Kaiapoi Museum's collection.
The flooded and silt-laden Avon River seen from River Road in Richmond. The photographer comments, "View from River Rd towards the Medway St corner".
The Avon River in Avonside, seen before the earthquakes. The photographer comments, "Avon River and Avonside Drive, near Robson Ave. Taken approx 317 River Road".
Members of the University of Canterbury's AV team in their temporary office space in the NZi3 building. The photographer comments, "AV staff having lunch".
Okeover House, which was used to house the University of Canterbury's Senior Management Team after the Registry building was closed. The photographer comments, "SMT moved to Okeover".
Flooding and liquefaction surround a house in Richmond. Bricks have fallen from the walls of the house, exposing the wooden framework beneath.
The CTV collapse is the worst and most devastating, from what I saw of the CBD yesterday.
An entry from Deborah Fitchett's blog for 12 September 2010, posted to Dreamwidth. The entry is titled, "In which sleep knits up the ravelled sleeve of care".The entry was downloaded on 17 April 2015.