UTS ISD
Christchurch Studio
idea
We started experimenting with alternatives to the balloon. We tried to use plastic bags. The black garbage bags resembled rubbish in the sky. They were very delicate and would pop with the slighted force. The idea of breaking the waste cycle of platic bags was appealing, but in reality we would have to buy garbage bags of that size and create unnecasary waste.
idea
We wanted to use small, ordinary shopping bags. We thought about combining the postcard idea and the plastic bag idea. We wanted to record the Christchurch residents' stories on the plastic bag. While this was an evolution from the balloon idea, it lost the connection to Christchurch. But, we thought the recorded story could be really beautiful. The site was part of Free Theatre's production of Canturbury Tales, after all. It was vital to us that work was engaging. We wanted it to be more than just spatially engaging, but conceptually as well.
idea
The idea of tarpaulin got thrown in. It was a material that was relevent as it was, and almost 3 years on, still is, used as a band aid over damaged homes. People could use taupaulin from their home to record their story. We designed a spatial configuration to achive and tell the tales. We wanted this space to resemble the eye of a storm. It needed to be engaging when standing inside or outside. It had to be noticed along the Worcester St axis. We planned to recieve people's stories via post, delivery to the bridge upon arrive in Christchurch, and from satellite sites prior the the festival. We researched collonial statues that had been damaged by the earthquake to use as these sites. We decided to also create oversized furniture, wrapped in tarpaulin. This was to be scattered around the site to create the feeling of being in a domestic storm.
idea
Concurrently with the balloons and bags we were discussing postcards with a map of the site that people could sign, and return. We wanted to feature people's personal stories.
idea
We decided to work with black balloons. The ballons would create the appearance of lifting the bridge up. Balloons are playful, but the black is depressing. It would create a dark space. The balloons encompased a lot of symbolisism such as the sharing of breath, which we learnt has importance in Maori culture. While researching balloons we realised that to create the effect we desired in a space of our size the cost of the balloons and helium would totally blow the budget. We also discovered we all secretly felt uncomforable about the wastage the balloons would cause.
idea
When we first went around the group suggesting ideas and sharing inspirational photos for this project we noticed a common idea: massing.
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initial ideas
Brief two was to develop temporary architecture on Worcester Bridge as part of Free Theatre's production of Canterbury Tales as part of FESTA (Festival of Transitional Architecture). The production involved a procession of oversized puppets visiting sites. Our site was the disaster, the earthquake. It was a 2 days festival, with the procession planned for both nights. The design had be visible and engaging in daylight and at night.
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Interior and Spatial Design Studio at FESTA 2013
University of Technology Sydney
Project Description
What we call progress is this storm and it drives us irresistibly into the future.
(W. Benjamin)
In Christchurch today, two years after the earthquake, tarpaulins still wrap the walls and roofs of many damaged sites throughout the city. The tarpaulin has become a signifier for change and retrofitting, and a promise of the future for many residents. It is ubiquitous and familiar. The tarpaulin connotes notions of protection, rescue, shelter and progress. It is also a material that is evocative of the temporary, the missing and the displaced.
UTS Interior and Spatial Design students will collaborate with the Christchurch Student Army to collect offcuts and panels of tarpaulin from residential sites still in need of repair. This action gives opportunity for residents to tell their stories by marking the tarpaulins through words, drawings or maps.
The tarpaulin becomes a canvas where the residents of Christchurch can tell their stories of displacement and mark their experiences. This action becomes a form of catharsis as these stories of displacement are gathered onto the Worcester Bridge and transformed into a ‘storm’.
The storm is a spatial archive of domestic displacement. The collected tarpaulin is hanged onto a system of ropes installed on the bridge. These ropes create a void at the center of the bridge – the eye of the storm.
Scattered throughout the site and beyond are domestic objects (chairs, tables, drawers, lamps) that are wrapped in unmarked tarpaulin. The gestural wrapping of these objects conveys the narrative of domestic displacement – familiar objects wrapped up and ready to be relocated, or an act of preserving domesticity and normalcy.
The interplay between the dynamic, centripetal structure of the storm and these dispersed domestic objects creates a temporary urban interior, but one that is amidst a storm.
project description
furniture design
storm design
It was originally planned to wrap the oversized furniture in tarp. We realised the size and amount we would need was larger than would be donated and it was out of out budget. During the prototyping stage we decided that we would use builders plastic in emergency orange.