SUMMER STUDIO CHRISTCHURCH 2013

PROJECT: T H E C R E A T I V E C O R N E R

PRELIMINARY BRIEF

Dushko Bogunovich & Jeanette Budgett

Dept of Architecture, UNITEC, Auckland

January 2013

The studio will run in two parts, each two weeks long. Dushko will lead the first two

weeks, from 7 to 21 January, and Jeanette will lead the second two weeks, from 21

January to 1 February. The first part is about urban design, the second about

architecture.

PART ONE (the first 2 weeks, ending with the 2nd interim crit on 18 Jan) A CONCEPT MASTER PLAN FOR THE GREEN FRAME’s S.E. CORNER – the ‘Knuckle’.

This is the 200 x 200 m city block between Manchester and Madras, and Lichfield and

St Asaph Streets. This block has been designated as the ‘Innovation Precinct’ in the

CCRP (Chch Central Recovery Plan, July 2012). Our studio will further this proposition

by adding a green slant on the innovation agenda – this will be an Eco-innovation

Precinct’. Our approach will be based on a quick investigation of four issues:

1. Green Knowledge Economy as the driver of Recovery;

2. Urban Form - the Plan, the Grid, the Frame and the Corners

3. Cultural Identity: heritage&character vs technology&efficiency;

4. The Programme: working, learning, living, playing in one place

We will argue for the retention of the remaining heritage/character buildings and

places, while also pushing for a radically contemporary and seriously green

architectural and landscape treatment of all new structures. We will also aim to

integrate open space (landscape) and buildings (architecture) in a manner that

enhances the sustainability and resilience of the future city. Our design will itself be an

example of what the future Eco-innovation Precinct tenants do for living – innovate in

the realm of green technology (for example, smart irrigation technology, or wind

power generation).

One particularly promising line of investigation could be choosing the ‘agri-tech’ theme

as the key exponent of the innovation&technology driver in the design process, while

arguing that this at the same time is a reference to the Canterbury region’s pre-eminent

farming role in NZ.

The resulting juxtaposition of the new and the old; the symbiosis of the buildings and

the natural cycles; and the integration of living, learning, working and playing, should

result in a new home for those Chch businesses who share the focus on green

economy, sustainable design and clean technology. The revived he Precinct will then

re-connects the CPIT campus – a significant pool of T&R facilities and talent - with the

new, compact CBD. High St will recover its former glory and become ‘the smartest

street in Christchurch’.

KEY OUTPUTS: An Urban Design Strategy (1:1000/500) at the end of the 1st week; a

Concept Master Plan, with a selected preferred site for the Building, at the end of the

2nd week.

FORMAT: diagrams; sketches; physical models; PPP/slide presentation.

TEAM WORK: groups of 3 or 4 students will deliver one project.

PART TWO (the second 2 weeks, ending with the Final Crit): CONCEPT DESIGN FOR AN “E-HUB” – a work+live+play type of building, or building

complex, where creative workers and support staff work in an unconventional

office/lab/studio atmosphere. The occupants primarily ‘work’ here, but because their

work is about creativity, imagination and innovation, this means it all goes together with

a lot of play, socialising, recreation and, for a small number, even residing on the site

(at least some of the time). Besides exploring the future of downtown living in an (eco-

knowledge economy, the project will interrogate the concepts of ‘heritage’ and

‘character’ in Chch’s extraordinary circumstances. We will aim at a visual and functional

symbiosis of ‘the old and the new’ in a manner that enhances the identity, continuity

and memory in the Old while giving full freedom to the New to push boundaries of

design and technology, rather than meshing the Old and the New into a forced

compromise.

KEY OUTPUTS: An Architectural Design (1:200/100) at the end of the 3rd week; a

complete urban context at the end of the 2nd week.

FORMAT: diagrams; sketches; physical models; PPP/slide presentation.

TEAMS of 3 or 4 students deliver one project.

PROJECT STAGES: Week One: Contextual Research

Week Two: Urban Design/Master Planning

Week Three: Architectural Design

Week Four: Presentation&Production

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: • The Research - robust, comprehensive, relevant research

• The Master Plan Resolution – balance between pragmatic and visionary; old and new

• The Architectural Resolution – expressive, functional, structural, environmental

• Communication – clear, accurate, compact, effective, original

INITIAL READING: http://ccdu.govt.nz/ http://www.christchurch.org.nz/ http://www.cdc.org.nz/ http://www.futurechristchurch.co.nz/breathe http://studiochristchurch.co.nz/ http://www.waterfrontauckland.co.nz/Waterfront-Auckland/Pages/ProjectUpdatesInside.aspx?ID=11 http://www.aiatopten.org/taxonomy/term/7 http://www.archdaily.com/310599/renovation-and-reconstruction-of-the-castle-of-novara-studio-zermani-e-associati/ http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=21457&q=Louviers http://www.archdaily.com/194397/salt-building-acton-ostry-architects/ http://www.eebhub.org/

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