As Christ Church Cathedral remains gripped in a battle between modernity and heritage, a bold new structure is coming to symbolise progress ...
“This is not just a religious building. It is a civic building in every sense of the word.”
The Anglican diocese has already spent £2m on a new Transitional Cathedral which has been hailed by some as the most important building to be built in New Zealand for many years. “Internationally it is the most recognised building in the country,” says Andrew Barrie, professor of architecture at Auckland University. Due to its building materials the structure has become known as the “cardboard cathedral”. It was created by Shigeru Ban who this year won architecture’s grandest award – the Pritzker Prize.
Part of the importance of the Transitional Cathedral, Barrie says, was that it is the first non commercial structure to be built in the city centre after the earthquakes. The rebuild of Christchurch is slow with the dominant feature being piles of rubble and empty lots rather than gleaming new buildings. Barrie believes the Transitional Cathedral shows that amid all the bureaucracy associated with recreating a city, progress is being made.
He says the ruined cathedral has come to represent the earthquake itself: “The cardboard cathedral is a symbol of moving on.” So while a fully intact stone cathedral still remains on the city council’s letter head and the top image in a Google search, there are signs of a city doing just that. When visitors to Christchurch get a tourist map, for example, the cover of it features a newer vision – a cathedral made of cardboard.
However, some would rather see the original Christ Church Cathedral restored, not only to honour its architectural significance but also its place in the founding of the city. The provincial council in the 1850s gifted the land to the church to build a city around. British architect Sir George Gilbert Scott, who later built St Pancras railway station in London, was enlisted to design it. It remains his only cathedral in Australasia. Others see the building as a vision of the past and representative of the trauma of the earthquakes.
Even the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has weighed in on the restoration debate, saying Christchurch should not cling to history. He urged the city to not “be boring” and suggested instead following Coventry Cathedral’s example of incorporating historic ruins into a new building.
Most simply want a decision to be made, because more than three and a half years later nothing seems to have been done. That responsibility remains with the Anglican diocese who own the building. Its bishop in Christchurch appears to have her eyes set on the future. The main purpose of the building is not for civic or heritage purposes, the church has said, it is to reveal and tell of God.
“Make no mistake,” says New Zealand’s former deputy prime minister, Jim Anderton. “This is not just a religious building. It is a civic building in every sense of the word.” Anderton was lured out of retirement by the Great Christchurch Building Trust on the promise that he could help save a key part of the city’s heritage. “I have seen what happens when you don’t look after heritage. You lose more than just buildings, you lose a city’s soul.”