Mounds of liquefaction on the side of a residential road in eastern Christchurch. The liquefaction has been dug out of resident's gardens and placed on the road to be picked up by the City Council.
Members of the public listening to Lyttelton band, Runaround Sue, perform at Gap Filler's "Film in the Gap!" project. Gap Filler has provided old beds and garden swing seats as seating.
People socialising at Gap Filler's first project at 832 Colombo Street. A mobile coffee vender can be seen as well as a garden seat.
A sign in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens pointing to a reflection and commemoration area, an area set up for people to reflect on the Christchurch earthquakes and leave a message in the book of condolence.
A book of condolence in the memorial tent at the Botanic Gardens. The tent was set up for people who wanted to make a tribute to those who lost their lives during the Canterbury earthquakes.
A residential property in Bexley has an offensive message spray-painted on the garage door warning off intruders. The photographer comments, "Today I took a drive around the residential area between Bexley and New Brighton. It was a stark reminder to be thankful for the situation we're in and perhaps not complain too much that our garden wall hasn't yet been rebuilt ... Saddest of all are the messages that have been scrawled on walls and garage doors by departing locals. At one end of the scale, thanking the family home for the memories, and at the other end of the scale cursing the looters which have made a bad situation that much more unbearable".
The Lyttelton Community Garden in next to the Lyttelton Petanque Club, a Gap Filler project in the empty site of the Ground Culinary Centre.
Members of the public at Gap Filler's "Film in the Gap!" project in Beckenham. Gap Filler has provided old beds and garden swing seats as seating. In the background, the red Southern Espresso Rescue van can be seen.
The garden and seating area outside the Coffee Zone shack on Colombo Street. This was put together by the Greening the Rubble community project.
The red Southern Espresso Rescue van serving coffee to the audience at Gap Filler's "Film the in Gap!" project. Gap Filler has arranged a variety of seating options for the audience, including an old bed and garden swing seats.
The site of Gap Filler's first project at 832 Colombo Street. A mobile coffee vender can be seen as well as a garden made out of pot plants and lots of seating.
A vacant site in Sydenham next to Gap Filler Headquarters. This was later turned into a garden by Greening the Rubble.
A PDF copy of signage for the Places of Tranquillity initiative. Healthy Christchurch lead the collaborative project to create six gardens of beauty and peace to fill in some of the grey demolition sites across Christchurch. The signage promotes the initiative and invites people to register to create tranquil gardens at healthychristchurch.org.nz. From healthychristchurch.org.nz: "Healthy Christchurch is leading this innovative collaboration creating six gardens of beauty and peace to fill in some of the grey demolition sites across Christchurch.These gardens are for peace and tranquillity as well as family and community use with spaces designed for both." "This is a Healthy Christchurch collaboration in partnership with the city's ethnic communities to include their traditions, cultures and spiritual beliefs. This ensures that these communities' voices and presence is more visible in the rebuild of our city. There are three key partners in this collaborative project. Greening the Rubble are providing expertise in temporary site development and project managing the creation. Lincoln University School of Landscape Architecture provided the student competition and are supporting the winning students and their designs into fruition. Community and Public Health (CDHB) provide the overall project management, networks and promotion." "In 2012 Lincoln University School of Landscape Architecture students created 40 beautiful designs for the Places of Tranquillity. Six winning designs were chosen from the 995 votes made online or at the displays at Community and Public Health and the Migrant Centre. The six winners were announced at the Healthy Christchurch Hui on the 31st May 2012. Each winning student received a Certificate and a $50 Scorpio Book Voucher. The awards were presented by Michelle Mitchell, General Manager of the CERA Wellbeing Team."
A photograph of a tape artwork depicting flowers growing in a garden. The photograph was taken at Street Talk, a Tape Art residency held from 6 - 9 March 2014. Street Talk was a collaborative project between All Right?, Healthy Christchurch and Tape Art NZ that had Christchurch communities create large tape art murals on the south wall of Community and Public Health.
A photograph of a tape artist with her creation - two daisies in a garden. The photograph was taken at Street Talk, a Tape Art residency held from 6 - 9 March 2014. Street Talk was a collaborative project between All Right?, Healthy Christchurch and Tape Art NZ that had Christchurch communities create large tape art murals on the south wall of Community and Public Health.
Fences made from old metal bed heads enclosing the space of Gap Filler's "Film in the Gap" project in Beckenham. The audience are seated on folding chairs, garden swing seats and an antique bed as they watch Lyttelton band, Runaround Sue, perform. In the background, a yellow porta-loo provides sanitary facilities for the audience.
Members of the Lyttelton community sanding crates for seating at the Lyttelton Petanque Working Bee, a Gap Filler project to create a garden and petanque court in an empty site in Lyttelton.
The Poet Tree", a Japanese-inspired poetry project on the corner of Liverpool and Cashel Streets. A poem by Matsuo Basho has been hand-written and displayed on a bamboo wall. Below is a bench dedicated to Japanese poet Matsuo Basho and a garden with corrugated iron flowers.
The Poet Tree", a Japanese-inspired poetry project on the corner of Liverpool and Cashel Streets. A poem by Matsuo Basho has been hand-written and displayed on a bamboo wall. Below is a bench dedicated to Japanese poet Matsuo Basho and a garden with corrugated iron flowers.
A wreath from the Singapore Contingent lying on a table in the memorial tent at the Botanic Gardens. The tent was set up for people who wanted to make a tribute to those who lost their lives during the Canterbury earthquakes. A note on the wreath reads, "The Singapore Contingent wishes to express our deepest sympathies and condolences to the people of Christchurch, New Zealand and all who have lost their lives during the 22nd February 2011 earthquake. Our hearts and thoughts are with you. From the men and women of the Singapore Contingent assisting with rescue and relief efforts in Christchurch".
The 10 square metre office building on a vacant site in Sydenham, serving as the Gap Filler Headquarters. In front of the building is a garden created by wheelbarrow 'pot plants'.
Furniture spray-painted with drawings and words by members of the public as part of the Words of Hope project. Messages can be seen, such as, "Hope", "Something for everyone", "Equality street", "Food garden", "Opportunity from disaster", "We can do this Chch", "Chch = home", "Love", "Share the land", "Always time for change", "Life is beautiful", and "Sorry folks, this one is too much high rise!".
Plant beds made out of corrugated iron, greening the empty building sites along Colombo Street. These were placed here by Greening the Rubble, a community project in Christchurch to create temporary public parks and gardens on the sites of demolished buildings.
A photograph of a sign taped to a window. The sign includes a bullet pointed list of humorous observations about Christchurch following the February 2011 earthquake. The sign reads, "You know you're from Christchurch when: you use the term 'liquefaction' and 'seismic design' in casual conversation; digging a hole and shitting in your garden is no longer weird; your mayor describes the city as munted. If he means FUBARed, you agree; weaving through car size potholes on the street is no longer weird; a shower is heaven; you have a preference of which kind of silt you'd rather shovel, dry or wet; you see tanks...driving around town; you are always noting what you are under; due to frequent aftershocks during the night, you sleep like a baby - every 10 minutes you wake up and shit yourself".
The west-side of the Arts Centre along Rolleston Avenue near the entrance to the Botanic Gardens. Wire fencing and road cones have been placed around the building as a cordon. To the left, a crane is parked next to the building. The spire has been removed and braced on the footpath to limit damage.
The urban environment influences the way people live and shape their everyday lives, and microclimate sensitive design can enhance the use of urban streets and public spaces. Innovative approaches to urban microclimate design will become more important as the world’s population becomes ever more urban, and climate change generates more variability and extremes in urban microclimatic conditions. However, established methods of investigation based upon conventions drawn from building services research and framed by physiological concepts of thermal comfort may fail to capture the social dynamics of urban activity and their interrelationship with microclimate. This research investigates the relationship between microclimate and urban culture in Christchurch, New Zealand, based upon the concept of urban comfort. Urban comfort is defined as the socio-cultural (therefore collective) adaptation to microclimate due to satisfaction with the urban environment. It involves consideration of a combination of human thermal comfort requirements and adaptive comfort circumstances, preferences and strategies. A main methodological challenge was to investigate urban comfort in a city undergoing rapid physical change following a series of major earthquakes (2010-2011), and that also has a strongly seasonal climate which accentuates microclimatic variability. The field investigation had to be suitable for rapidly changing settings as buildings were demolished and rebuilt, and be able to capture data relevant to a cycle of seasons. These local circumstances meant that Christchurch was valuable as an example of a city facing rapid and unpredictable change. An interpretive, integrative, and adaptive research strategy that combined qualitative social science methods with biophysical measures was adopted. The results are based upon participant observation, 86 in-depth interviews with Christchurch residents, and microclimate data measurements. The interviews were carried out in a variety of urban settings including established urban settings (places sustaining relatively little damage) and emerging urban settings (those requiring rebuilding) during 2011-2013. Results of this research show that urban comfort depends on adaptive strategies which in turn depend on culture. Adaptive strategies identified through the data analysis show a strong connection between natural and built landscapes, combined with the regional outdoor culture, the Garden City identity and the connections between rural and urban landscapes. The results also highlight that thermal comfort is an important but insufficient indicator of good microclimate design, as social and cultural values are important influences on climate experience and adaptation. Interpretive research is needed to fully understand urban comfort and to provide urban microclimate design solutions to enhance the use of public open spaces in cities undergoing change.