Going round the Red Zone

Decided to make a trip around the Red Zone today, around the barricades. For those of you reading this outside NZ, the Red Zone comprises the area devastated by our earthquake in February 2011, mostly the central business district. I went to see what's happened and what's new and what's survived.

Parking my car at the Botanic Gardens, my first stop was the posh private school, Christ's College. Christchurch Cathedral services are now being held in the chapel at the school, so the quad was open, but deserted. Most of the buildings here have survived. The morning service was just ending, and I stood outside in the sun listening to the voices of the chior, the sound of a  tradition stretching from the medieval church to a little shaky island in the Pacific. "That, my dear," said Otto, "is the sound of continuity".

  Original school hall. Wooden buildings generally stood up better to the quakes than masonry.

 Front porch of the Chapel

Then on to the Arts Centre, a group of Victorian Gothic buildings badly damaged in the quakes. Here a salvaged gable end and stonework sit waiting their re-erection at some future date

At the end of Worcester Boulevard, a blossoming Prunus frames the deconstruction of Clarendon Towers.

Shands Emporium, one of our oldest wooden buildings, still stands, but is seriously damaged.

Many of the surviving brick buildings are industrial in origin. This is PD Duncan's foundry, built to withstand heavy machinery and vibration. Buchanan's foundry, right next door, (below) also survived.

  Along the eastern edge of the Red Zone are some of the most damaged areas of the city. This is what's left of MacKenzie and Willis' furniture store.

The emergence of "secret Christchurch" from the rubble, the bits we never saw before or didn't know about, has been fascinating. The rear of this building sports add-ons to add-ons, boarded up doors, a mural and a garden chair. Further up the line of buildings was a tiny terrace on the second floor, with potted plants in terracotta pots.

And these bulls by Michael Parekowhai were wonderful. (What I was aiming for all along). They are outside NG Gallery in Madras Street, and were first exhibited at the Venice Biennale. Titled "On first looking into Chapman's Homer" they carry the weight of the classical tradition. Sitting on the stools and looking at the bulls' faces makes you feel quite strange.

Once again, secret Christchurch emerges, this time with vistas that could not be photographed before. This is the old Government Building in Worcester Street, a facade that is now exposed to more sunlight than its probably seen in the last 60 years. It's quite grand, almost like Buck House. Rock solid because it was built by the now defunct Ministry of Works, way above specification.

Ghosts of vanished buildings appear etched on the survivors.

Rubble from a demolition in progress chokes the end of Chancery Lane.

My favourite inner-city cafe, Cafe Roma, the building dating I think from the 20s or 30s. Hopefully this can be rebuilt. It has beautiful dark-panelled wood and open fires, the perfect place to go for a winter lunch.

So, some things are lost, some remain, albeit with an altered appearance. And the life of the city is continuing, with new ideas and new forms.

Within the realm of Nga Tuahuriri,

Welcome, intrepid newcomers,

Gather with tenacious fortitude,

Under the mantle of peace and goodwill.

(Mihi for Christchurch, inscribed on an exhibition of views of the old city, currently in Worcester Boulevard)