It is my objective to design a series of instruments in a linked system throughout Christchurch, from which will rise moments of transcendence, or opportunities to move to another ‘place’. Linked by more than the aesthetic, through sensory clues like materiality, texture, and use these interventions will signal an awareness of memory, specifically an awareness of the victims of the February 22nd Christchurch earthquake.
Seating areas, drinking fountains, water features, bridges, terraces, steps and walkways will operate on two levels, firstly as amenities and secondly as a permanent, coded system, a route through central Christchurch un-codable through collectivity to signal meaning and moments of sacred or spiritual. Collectively they will create a frame that records loss, tensioning the past and the present, and looking to the future with hope. I will propose temporary exhibitions or events on anniversary days that will involve the community and reveal links between the permanent exhibitions.
My coded system will need to work within Christchurch’s already existing and proposed urban fabric. This is an investigation into how to represent the victims of Christchurch’s earthquake to renew ownership for those still living to the heart of their city. It will mean negotiating form and materiality, memory and place, individual and collective memory, and the temporary and permanent, to create Christchurch’s identity as rich in history and meaning within an already existing urban fabric.
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