When: Monday 27 May, 15.00 – 18.30
Where: Rotterdam
What lies at the heart of a city’s identity if it is continuously changing? It is a question currently being dealt with by many city makers, and forms the inspiring story and urban challenge that Christchurch stands for. First, the heart of the city, the CBD, vanished. And recently, the city got shook fundamentally by the horrifying attacks. How can this city be mended, both in its reputation as well as its physical form? And which roles do the government, owners, developers, entrepreneurs and residents of Christchurch take here?
During this afternoon session you’ll get to listen to the story first-hand; local heroes will talk about rebuilding the city, community strength and recovering the identity of Christchurch. While doing so, they will also critically address the role of local and national governmental organizations.
Think with them about what the road to, and actual future of Christchurch could and should look like. We will communicate the ideas we come up with during the course of the session to the city itself.
After the talkshow, we will show the impressive documentaryThe Art of Recovery(see the box below).
Input from Christchurch
Nicole Lauenstein | Architect & urban planner involved in rebuilding the city | live presence
Tim Loftus | Brand Manager, ChristchurchNZ | through video connection
Mike Fisher | Placemaker, previous Team Lead Urban Planning Christchurch | through video connection
Programme
15.00 uur Walk-in
15.15 uur Start talkshow
16.30 uur Break
16.45 uur Start film
18.15 uur Drinks
Registration
Register for this event by sending Claudia an e-mail.
—
Documentary: The Art of Recovery
On 22 February 2011, an earthquake with a 6.3 magnitude on the Richter scale hits Christchurch, leaving the city in chaos. After the first piles of rubble were cleared away, the resilience of the community comes to the surface. The empty space previously occupied by collapsed buildings, provided room for creativity. Suddenly it gave space to dance around and tend to urban gardens. This documentary shows how the public space got reinvented in a bottom-up fashion, while comparing it to the centralized governmental plans for recovery. How can a city’s soul recover after a disaster? (2015, 85 minutes, English)
Why Christchurch?
In March this year (just a few days before the attacks) Rinske worked together with the marketingteam of ChristchurchNZ on a new story for the city and strategy to put it back on the map. Additionally, Rinske spoke to many different residents, entrepreneurs, architects and policymakers. This resulted in a blog. It also formed the idea to host a session in The Netherlands, with Dutch city makers, who can inspire and learn from one another.