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What’s it made of?Christchurch’s cardboard cathedral

In February 2011 the city of Christchurch in New Zealand was devastated by a violent earthquake. 185 people were killed during the earthquake and a lot of buildings were destroyed. Christchurch Cathedral, in the centre of the city, was badly damaged1 and experts decided that repairing it would be impossible. The residents of Christchurch were very sad because the old cathedral was a famous symbol of the city.

Today, however, the community already has a new cathedral. It’s bright2 and modern and, incredibly, it’s made mostly3 of cardboard! The cathedral is designed to last4 for about 50 years and it will replace the old building until a new, permanent cathedral can be built.

The cardboard cathedral was designed by a famous Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban. Ban is sometimes called the ‘disaster architect’ because he has designed a lot of temporary buildings for areas hit by5 natural disasters. He is famous because he uses low-cost, recyclable materials, such as cardboard, paper and bamboo to build emergency shelters6 quickly and cheaply. In a recent interview, Ban said that cardboard was a surprisingly strong building material and that it was very resistant to earthquakes.

The new cathedral has a very simple structure. It has the form of a triangular prism. The base is made of concrete7, the two sides are formed with 98 thick8 cardboard tubes. The tubes are protected from the weather by a strong plastic roof 9. The cathedral also has a beautiful window. It is made of triangular pieces of different coloured glass.

The cardboard cathedral opened in August 2013. Not everybody likes it, but it is already very famous. Read what some of the visitors have said about it:

f a c t f i l e

Where in the world?Christchurch is a beautiful city on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The city was built by British settlers10 at the end of the 19th century. It was named Christchurch because the old cathedral and college in the centre of the city were based on the model of Christ Church College in Oxford, England.

The new temporary cathedral in Christchurch

‘It’s a beautiful building and it shows that we’re confident of the future!’ Sarah Williams‘It’s very interesting but it feels very temporary.’ Mark Holden‘I love it! It’s bright and modern and it’s very serene.’ Jacopo Bertone‘We can feel proud of our city!’ Katie Jones‘I like it, but I hope they’re going to rebuild the old cathedral, too.’ Alisa Koskov

Glossary1 was badly fu gravemente damaged danneggiata

2 bright luminosa3 mostly quasi del tutto4 to last durare5 hit by colpite da6 shelters rifugi7 concrete cemento, calcestruzzo8 thick spessi, grossi9 roof tetto

10 settlers coloni

Christchurch Cathedral

before the 2011 earthquake

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Reading1 Una famosa guida turistica cita Christchurch

tra le 10 città più interessanti da visitare nel mondo. Completa la scheda.

Top 10 cities to visit in the world

Number 6: Christchurch

Location: 1

Built by 2 in 3

Devastated by an earthquake in 4

Top place to visit: The 5 Cathedral

Designed by 6

Opened in 7

2 Rispondi alle domande.

1 How many people were killed in the earthquake in Christchurch in 2011?

2 What happened to Christchurch Cathedral?3 Why were the people in Christchurch very

sad?4 What is the new cathedral mostly made of?5 How long is it designed to last for?6 Why is Shigeru Ban known as the ‘disaster

architect’?7 What did Shigeru Ban say recently about

cardboard?8 What is the base of the cathedral made of?9 How many cardboard tubes were used to

form the sides? 10 What other materials were used in the

construction?

3 Riferisci in discorso indiretto quello che hanno detto i visitatori della Cattedrale di Cartone.

1 Sarah Williams said .2 Mark Holden said .3 Jacopo Bertone said . He also said .4 Katie Jones said .5 Alisa Koskov said .

Focus on you4 Rispondi alle domande. Usa il factfile

dell’es. 5 per le informazioni.

1 Where is the city of L’ Aquila in Italy?2 What happened there in April 2009?3 How many people were killed?4 What did Shigeru Ban design for L’ Aquila?5 When was it opened?6 Who was the money for the building

donated by?

Writing5 Scrivi un brano (70 – 100 parole) sulla nuova

sala di concerti dell’Aquila. Usa il factfile per le informazioni.

f a c t f i l e

Where in the world? • L’Aquila is in Abruzzo, central Italy.

• On a hill in the valley of the River Aterno

Earthquakes

• There have been a lot of earthquakes in L’Aquila.

• The most recent major earthquake was in April 2009. 308 people were killed and a lot of buildings were destroyed.

L’Aquila Temporary Concert Hall

• Designed by Shigeru Ban

• Donated to Italy by the Japanese government

• Made of cardboard, concrete, steel, clay and glass

• Opened 7th May 2011

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