170 years ago Christchurch was just a dream, a utopian vision of a green and pleasant land, planned out in England and transported by boat,

“the London-based Canterbury Association envisioned Christchurch as an English utopia in the South Pacific. They planned an orderly, tiered society (the first settlers had to brandish a reference from an English vicar attesting to their ‘sobriety and respectability’), with an aristocracy and the Church of England as its head and an underclass of artisans and minions to serve them. They named their fledgling city after an Oxford college (Christ Church) and laid it out like an English city, complete with a Cathedral, University and a boy’s school, Christ’s College, modelled on Eton”.

170 years later it’s been challenged by natural forces and has come off second best: down but not quite out. The CBD has seen between 25-30% of building completely destroyed and another 25-30% seriously damaged. The Eastern districts, long known to be built on land of dubious quality, are in serious distress. How does a city recover from this type of disaster?

Well the first thing to remember is that cities have been completely leveled before and have been rebuilt. Lisbon is a fine example of this. On November 1st  1755 an earthquake and tsunami pretty much flattened the city killing tens of thousands and causing damage that reverberated Europe wide. The people of Lisbon responded in an incredible fashion. Wasting no time

“On December 4, 1755, little more than a month after the earthquake, Manuel da Maia, chief engineer to the realm, presented his plans for the re-building of Lisbon. Maia presented five options from abandoning Lisbon to building a completely new city. The first plan was to rebuild the old city using re-cycled materials; this was the cheapest option. The second and third plans proposed widening certain streets. The fourth option boldly proposed razing the entire Baixa quarter and “laying out new streets without restraint”. This last option was chosen by the king and his minister.^[13]“

I would like to consider option 4: razing the entire city and starting again.

Why don’t we demolish the whole CBD and start again, create another utopian vision, this time for a sustainable city: a living breathing system with an integrated energy grid, hi technology buildings in an urban landscape designed for people, creativity and innovation. Of course we could repair and keep our finest historical buildings: the Arts Centre, the Cathedral, the Museum, Christ’s College and any others of a similar standing. There may be some key sites we will have to rebuild but let’s get real: many buildings in Christchurch are/were a complete eyesore; many streets are not that exciting to walk down (for example Colombo Street); many tired shops with very average retail offerings. Many will not be missed and as the most over shopped city in the universe, we can surely survive the loss of many of these. The key challenge will be in how we managed our old heritage with our future one.

So let’s dream a little, not so much as think big but dream big. This is a chance for a new beginning just as it was 170 years ago. We have the opportunity to shape a new future, to create a world leading city and environment, to lead the way and to create new jobs in a hi technology based ecosystem. Our CBD could be smaller and nestled into and around Hagley Park. We simply need better, smarter and healthier buildings, not bigger ones.

I’m going to share some design thoughts just to give people a taste of what dreams can generate, what imagination can create. We want to create something amazing out of this…to somehow make those we have lost proud of what we chose to attempt, to make good out of bad.

Start dreaming now. Lisbon managed it in 1755. I’m sure we can.

Tags: bjarke ingels, christchurch earthquake, design, disaster, dream, eco-design, environment, innovation, kjellgren kaminsky, lisbon earthquake, rebuilding, renewal, smart growth, sustainability, sustainable cities, utopian, venus project