A rock emerging from the depths

home and have lived here most of our lives tend to see our place and history as fundamentally split in two. A schism divides the time: before and after the 22 February 2011 Canterbury earthquake. Christchurch changed in so many ways on that terrible day, not least of which was in the approach to architecture. With around 80 per cent of our building stock in the central city destroyed or demolished in the frenzy of the quake’s aftermath, it was inevitable that the change would be profound and significant. Christchurch has a proud architectural history with real high points, including the magnificent Gothic revival buildings of the 19th century and the Christchurch modern style prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. This was an architecture of substance and weight, built of masonry – stone, brick and concrete – suggesting a long-lasting, stable world. Post-earthquake, this changed and the sense of permanence