Christchurch is the second post-disaster area we have visited. The earthquake in 2013 devastated large areas of the city, especially in the centre. Visually the reconstruction is a failure. There are numerous vacant plots from demolition predominantly now used as car parks, and an even larger number of derelict and condemned buildings still awaiting the bureaucrat's decisions. The most contentious is the city’s cathedral, the spire of which dramatically collapsed in front of stunned bystanders. However in amongst it all there are some amazing and resilient cafes, bars, and restaurants surrounded by striking street art and a diverse use of public space. Street art is clearly accepted, encouraged even and does a great job of livening up some of the derelict spaces. The abundance of shipping containers which on a practical level, act as supports to some of the more unstable buildings, also house some of the coolest of pop-up bars, independent shops and coffee joints. A number of companies have inhabited spaces previously unavailable to them in the centre, and in particular the coffee roasting and craft beer cultures have boomed. The most noteworthy piece of architecture however was built post-earthquake. Disaster architect Shigeru Ban designed a cardboard tube structure to act as a temporary cathedral. It’s an extremely simple and low-cost building but poignantly powerful in its simplicity. Although clearly impoverished in parts it is an endlessly positive city keen to return to normality.
C1 Espresso is a cafe housed in the old post office and is probably one of the coolest cafes we have ever been to, your food is delivered via the original post sorting tubes that snake across the ceiling. C4 was another super cool coffee house, a warehouse style space where they roast their own beans and have a wall of pretty much every type of coffee paraphernalia you could come across. The list of excellent places would go on and on but the only way to really get the vibe of this place is to wander. It was a great place to spend a few days on the South Island, and is certainly one of our favourite cities so far. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
All photos copyright ©
Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |