Lux City and City Ups

Operating from 2012 to 2015, Studio Christchurch was a collaborative research and design platform for architecture and related disciplines. Conceived by University of Auckland associate professor Uwe Rieger and architect Camia Young, Studio Christchurch was a response to the severe seismic events of 2010 and 2011 in the city. Established on the vision of an exemplary rebuild, Studio Christchurch linked tertiary institutions with local industries, the profession, the community and government bodies. The project operated in three areas: the collection and publication of useful data; the testing of propositions through design; and the communication of concepts through public presentations and large-scale urban events. Two such urban events were LuxCity (2012), a ‘city of light’ and the first time the severely damaged central city was reopened to the public; and CityUps (2014), in which the people of Christchurch became part of the city of the future as imagined and created by the next generation of architects and designers. Both events took place in conjunction with FESTA, the Festival of Transitional Architecture, and used temporary installation as a means of influencing the long-term recovery of the city. (text: Kathy Waghorn, Future Islands catalogue, Islands of (Im)Possibility).

Location:
Christchurch

Practice:
Studio Christchurch

Status:
Operated 2012–2015

Project team:
Creative director Uwe Rieger (University of Auckland), producing director Jessica Halliday (Festival of Transitional Architecture) and design directors Peter McPherson (Unitec), Irene Boles Laura Kellaway (Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology), Yosop Ryoo (Auckland University of Technology), Daniele Abreu e Lima (Victoria University of Wellington) and Jeongbin Ok (Victoria University of Wellington) with Peter McPherson (Unitec), Kathy Barry (University of Auckland), Camia Young (FESTA/University of Auckland) and Jo Mair (FESTA)

Over 1000 students participated in more than 60 studios and events. The Studio Christchurch partner institutions are: Architecture Department, Unitec; School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington; School of Architecture and Planning, University of Auckland; School of Landscape Architecture, Lincoln University; Department for Civil and Natural Resources Engineering and the Geography Department, University Canterbury.