Christchurch as global epicentre for creative urban renewal

Christchurch as global epicentre for creative urban renewal this Labour Weekend

Christchurch is an exciting place to be this week in terms of creative and collective city-making. With the free, public and urban-scale Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA) taking place over Labour Weekend and an engaging public programme on adaptive urbanism running through the week, Christchurch is full of fresh, innovative ideas and projects.

A host of international urban experts from places such as UC Berkeley and Gehl Architects through to UTS and Renew Newcastle, in addition to local practitioners such as FESTA and Gap Filler, are gathering in Christchurch at the International Congress on Adaptive Urbanism to discuss this creative response to city-making that involves various community groups, local businesses, residents and artists in activating and maintaining flexible and evolving city spaces. Christchurch, per capita, is the most active city in the world in this regard and has the potential be the global epicentre for creative urban renewal.

This is something the Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA) will achieve on an urban scale this Labour Weekend, thanks to the collective efforts of its funders, collaborators, installation partners, local businesses, community groups, artists and performers, innovative individuals and the public. The public's desire to engage in re-establishing Christchurch was clearly demonstrated when FESTA 2012 made history with its headline event LUXCITY, a city made from light for one night, which attracted some 30,000 people back into the city centre.

A diverse range of future scenarios open to people of all ages makes up the programme for FESTA 2014: The Future Will Be Live. This year’s large-scale, live architecture event is CityUps – the city of the future designed by the next generation of architects. Their towering, glowing installations take over two blocks of central Christchurch on Saturday 25 October, returning animation, colour and energy to the city’s heart in a great night out for Christchurch.

There are over 30 events to participate in, which range from transitional vacant space projects, to immersive futuristic installations, sustainable projects and hands-on workshops. Several of the adaptive urbanism experts will speak at FESTA 2014: Speakers' Corner on Saturday 25 October. The public is invited to bring questions and provocations and help fill public space with discussion.

The public programme that runs throughout the week as part of the International Congress on Adaptive Urbanism is highly recommended.

Please visit festa.org.nz and http://www.adaptiveurbanism.org.nz/ for more information.

ENDS

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