This what the 150 year old stone Anglican Cathedral looked like before the earthquake. After years of evaluation and proposals, the church is being restored to look as it before, retaining its heritage features while being made sturdier and safer. It is scheduled to be finished by mid-2027.
After the quake, with the tower rubble (left side) removed.
How it looks today. The rose window and rear wall are painted on a scrim.
While Christchurch’s Anglican community waited for a decision about rebuilding the historic cathedral, the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban designed the Transitional Cathedral. Shigeru is known for his global disaster work and his environmentally sensitive design. The resulting church is known as the Cardboard Cathedral, for its use of cardboard tubes as structural materials. The sustainable church, which also incorporates materials reclaimed from buildings destroyed in the 2011 quake, was designed to last 50 years. Since its dedication in 2013, it’s been used as worship space, and also as a concert and event venue.
A volunteer told me this space is valued by the whole community. There was literally no safe place to gather in Christchurch after the quake until this temporary church was erected on the site of another destroyed church. She showed me the construction materials - big cylinders of heavy cardboard which were shipped from Malaysia. The walls are made from shipping containers, and a transparent hard plastic covering protects the coated cardboard tubes and allows in plenty of light. The resulting space accommodates 700 people.
The back wall panels commemorate the original cathedral, with designs taken from its original rose window.
Last September, the parish which owns the Cardboard Cathedral agreed to dissolve. The Anglican Diocese of Christchurch has promised that the cathedral will be safe for at least 4 years, while it evaluates potential futures for the land and building.
I walked to the site of 185 Chairs, a famous art installation commemorating the victims of the 2011 earthquake. It was on the site of another destroyed church. However, when I got there, I found only a barricaded construction site. After digging around online, I found it was dismantled last April.
Memorial Arch commemorating WWI, on the Bridge of Remembrance over the river Avon.
The 52 acre Christchurch Botanical Gardens were founded in 1863 when a single English oak was planted to commemorate the wedding of Queen Victoria’s son, Prince Albert (later Edward VII). Today it houses conservatories, a playground, fountains, lakes, and woodland walks with enormous trees including several sequoias. (And a few geocaches)
Dahlia border
A vine larger than many trees is firmly anchored in this sequoia
We’ll be stopping here again in a couple of weeks, but this was our day to explore. It’s a jumping-off city to Mt. Cook National Park. It’s been snowing heavily there, so we’re hoping the roads are clear.
No comments:
Post a Comment