Luxcity turns on the lights

Luxcity turns on the lights

Amongst the 16 installations lighting up the city at Luxcity this Saturday night, CPIT’s contribution will stand out. While other teams from institutes around the country play with colour, the Architectural Studies team from CPIT has chosen a stark black and white palette and the illusion of movement.

“I think these students have different ideas about transitional architecture,” their tutor Laura Kellaway says. For Christchurch-based students, transitional architecture is not such a novelty - it’s more of the new normal. Their views on the value and challenges of transitional architecture are possibly more considered since they have lived with, and in some cases already worked with, temporary structures and spaces through projects such as Gap Filler.

Luxcity is the opening event for the Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA), which runs until 28 October. It promises to be spectacular, with the installations creating spaces for bars, cafes, restaurants, a night market, live music and performance venues. Over 350 architecture and design students from across New Zealand have taken the challenge to conceptualise architecture in lights – then working in a team to design, find sponsors and fabricate their ideas.

Entry to an area previously cordoned-off has appeal for the contributors and no doubt for the public too. “It’s exciting to have access to part of the city that has been closed,” CPIT student Ashley West said.

For all of the students, the experience of working from their designs to create an actual structure has been instructive. Working in a team has been another valuable learning experience.

“The experience of actually building something was a big learning curve,” West said.

Luxcity is a collaboration between FESTA, Life in Vacant Spaces, the School of Architectural Studies at CPIT, the School of Architecture and the School of Design at Victoria University of Wellington, the Architecture Department at Unitec, the Spatial Design Department at Auckland University of Technology, and the School of Architecture and Planning at The University of Auckland.

Luxcity is on Saturday 20 October [rain date 21 October] around Gloucester, Manchester and Worcester Streets - pedestrian access from Latimer Square, 6.30pm-midnight, lights on at 8.30pm.

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