A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The earthquake-damaged DF Souvenirs building (formerly the State Theatre)on Colombo Street".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Demolition site of Allan McLean building, corner of Colombo Street and Oxford Terrace".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A partially-demolished building on the corner of Colombo and Gloucester Streets".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The intersection of Colombo and Armagh Streets, looking south west".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Running repairs on the huge hydraulic nibbler".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Cashel Mall with the paving of Plymouth Lane on the left in front of the truck".
A photograph of the intersection of Hereford and Madras Streets, looking towards the former site of St John the Baptist Church.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "This stack of containers protect the facade of New Excelsior Backpackers. Corner of Manchester and Lichfield Streets".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "New Excelsior Backpackers, 120 Manchester Street, with the saved facade supported by shipping containers".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A view looking north up Colombo Street, from Gloucester Street".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Poplar Lane, looking rather the worse for the wear. It's not clear whether this is from demolition activity or earthquake damage".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "This building was built to keep the band equipment safe and secure. This area of the Avon was known as Poplar Crescent".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Some CBD worker with a great sense of humour has put this together outside the Work and Income office in High Street".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Demolition site of CDC building with Twinkletoes (digger with over 60m boom) and two other diggers working on it, Cashel Street".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "New reconstruction where it is planned to add a new ground floor to this basement in Lichfield Street and then build the building".
A PDF copy of pages 112-113 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer'. Image: Michael Parekowhai Chapman's Homer 2011. Bronze, stainless steel. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Lett, Auckland. Photo with permission: Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu. Photo: John Collie.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The plan for this building in Lichfield Street (as relayed to Ross by the contractors) is to remove the roof and open as a bar within 3 weeks".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The intersection of High, Manchester, and Lichfield Streets. South-east view. This shows how many buildings have been demolished in Lichfield Street, including Bar Beleza".
A plaque on the side of the Edmonds Band Rotunda on Cambridge Terrace. The plaque reads, "This rotunda shelter and circular seat were presented by T.J.Edmonds to celebrate fifty years of residence in Christchurch 26th September 1929".
A photograph of a shipping container suspended from a crane. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The container is being placed against the end of the building being demolished to protect the building beneath it from falling debris".
Christchurch's CBD as seen from the Cashmere hills, south of the city. Much of the CBD is still cordoned off and without power (as you should be able to spot) as a result of the damage caused by February's deadly earthquake.
A photograph of two large signs that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on High Street that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on High Street that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A video of a tour of the Christchurch central city Red Zone. The video includes footage of Oxford Terrace, Armagh Street, Colombo Street, Gloucester Street, Hereford Street, High Street, the Westpac Trust Building, Cashel Street, Manchester Street, Poplar Lane, the site of the demolished Convention Centre, and the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
A photograph taken from the top of the BNZ building. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A group of people on top of the Millennium Hotel".
The major earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 brought to an abrupt end a process of adaptive reuse, revitalisation and gentrification that was underway in the early 20th century laneways and buildings located in the south eastern corner of the Christchurch Central Business District. Up until then, this location was seen as an exemplar of how mixed use could contribute to making the central city an attractive and viable alternative to the suburban living experience predominant in New Zealand. This thesis is the result of a comprehensive case study of this “Lichfield Lanes” area, which involved in depth interviews with business owners, observation of public meetings and examination of documents and the revitalisation research literature. Findings were that many of the factors seen to make this location successful pre-earthquakes mirror the results of similar research in other cities. These factors include: the importance of building upon historic architecture and the eclectic spaces this creates; a wide variety of uses generating street life; affordable rental levels; plus the dangers of uniformity of use brought about by focussing on business types that pay the most rent. Also critical is co-operation between businesses to create and effectively market and manage an identifiable precinct that has a coherent style and ambience that differentiates the location from competing suburban malls. In relation to the latter, a significant finding of this project was that the hospitality and retail businesses key to the success of Lichfield Lanes were not typical and could be described as quirky, bohemian, chaotic, relatively low rent, owner operated and appealing to the economically important “Creative Class” identified by Richard Florida (2002) and others. In turn, success for many of these businesses can be characterised as including psychological and social returns rather than simply conventional economic benefits. This has important implications for inner city revitalisation, as it contrasts with the traditional focus of local authorities and property developers on physical aspects and tenant profitability as measures of success. This leads on to an important conclusion from this research, which is that an almost completely inverted strategy from that applied to suburban mall development, may be most appropriate for successful inner city revitalisation. It also highlights a disconnection between the focus and processes of regulatory authorities and the outcomes and processes most acceptable to the people likely to frequent the central city. Developers are often caught in the middle of this conflicted situation. Another finding was early commitment by businesses to rebuild the case study area in the same style, but over time this waned as delay, demolition, insurance problems, political and planning uncertainty plus other issues made participation by the original owners and tenants impossible or uneconomic. In conclusion, the focus of inner city revitalisation is too often on buildings rather than the people that use them and what they now desire from the central city.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Brightly coloured safe doors on the side of a building on Hereford Street. The safes have exposed as a result of the demolition of a building".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The plan for this building in Lichfield Street (as relayed to Ross by the contractors) is to remove the roof and open as a bar within 3 weeks".
A photograph taken from the top of the BNZ building. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Lunchtime in the Square - high-vis jackets, hard hats and boots are mandatory for everyone inside the cordon".