How temporary ‘cardboard cathedral’ rose from the ruins to become most recognised building in ChristchurchAs Christ Church Cathedral remains gripped in a battle between modernity and heritage, a bold new structure is coming to symbolise progress as the city rebuilds after the earthquake.
Carolina Izzo runs her fingers over the edges of a coffee table. It is made from wood recycled out of the broken homes of Christchurch’s earthquake. “You can feel this has history,” the conservator says. “You can feel that time has imprinted on it. You cannot manufacture that.”
A short walk away sits the Christ Church Cathedral where time has imprinted a different feel. The front of the structure, completed 110 years ago, hangs open and loose like a broken jawed boxer. Steel support structures, raised in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake, seem to support nothing. The building, once the epicentre of the city and its namesake, has sat unused and embroiled in legal battles. It is cordoned off, much of it hidden by large containers stacked up to protect the public in case of another shake.
But still it is a tourist attraction and still, for a different reason, likely Christchurch’s most photographed building. Once it housed concerts and meetings and, of course, religious ceremonies. Now it houses pigeons. “It was part of the city. It is even the symbol of the city council,” Izzo says. “What is Christchurch without its church?”
Izzo is charged with restoring the dome of the historic Isaac Royal Theatre – one of the few heritage buildings in in the city that is close to completion. Many others have been lost – either deemed too unsafe or too expensive to repair.
She was surprised to find that after the earthquake the Anglican Diocese wanted to “deconstruct” the cathedral rather than repair it. In its place the church envisages a modern building. But that decision has been met with legal challenges from those who see the cathedral’s place in Christchurch as representing more than just stone and mortar. read more….
