Christchurch's Catholic Basilica, the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament suffered severe damage in the earthquakes, an architectural tragedy, and its future has yet to be decided. It is one of the few buildings in Christchurch I feel strongly about; that and the Arts Centre, each for different reasons.
For me the Catholic Basilica is simply beautiful and a remarkable piece of architecture. I was taken on a tour through it once and loved every minute of it. Here is what it looked like in March:
It's sad to see it without its beautiful pale green domes and bell towers, so I was pleased to find a collection of photographs of it here:
The same website has a synopsis and link to the excellent documentary about restoration and curatorial work that was carried out on the Basilica prior to the June 2011 quake:
- Battle at the Basilica - a 30 minute documentary. It can be watched on-line in its entirety.
- If for some reason that link fails the TVNZ 'On Demand' link is here.
It was designed by Francis Petre, who designed many distinguished buildings including Timaru's Sacred Heart Basilica, which bears some resemblance to it:
To see more of my photographs of that church click on the link below:
Churches are privately owned so decisions about their maintenance or futures would not normally be considered a civic matter, and the Catholics are being left to make their own decisions unimpeded by public debate.
Churches are privately owned so decisions about their maintenance or futures would not normally be considered a civic matter, and the Catholics are being left to make their own decisions unimpeded by public debate.
It is quite a different matter with Christchurch's Anglican Cathedral, which, being placed in the very centre of the city, has become emblematic of the city's identity. Citywide debate has been considerable: a lot of citizens regard it as part of the city's heritage and think it should be restored, while the Anglican authorities have dug in their heels and made up their own minds that it will come down and not be rebuilt. It doesn't interest me particularly. I'm familiar with how it used to look, and went into it a handful of times, but it isn't essential to me, and I don't consider it an especially valuable piece of architecture. In Christchurch there is so much else that needs to be done!
For the sake of those who do take an interest I provide the following links:
- Christchurch Anglican Cathedral - Wikipedia article
- Cathedral demo 'unlikely to stop' - The Press,26th March 2012
- Church leaders back Bishop - The Press, 3rd April 2012
- Councillors ask for cathedral demolition halt - The Press, 17th May 2012
Of much greater interest to me is the so-called cardboard or transitional cathedral which has been commissioned as a temporary structure while a permanent cathedral is planned and built. It's the concept of it that is special. Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, has gifted the design to the church and the city, an extraordinarily generous gesture by a most unusual man. In this article on Campbell Live (TV3) he shares some of his thoughts about architecture and what constitutes sacred space.
- The man behind the cardboard cathedral - Video article from Campbell Live (TV3) on 23rd April 2012
- I've transcribed parts of the interview along with my own comments which you can read in my article:
You can read more about him here:
Links to articles about the cardboard cathedral are here:
- Cardboard cathedral Anglican cathedral website
- Work to start on cardboard cathedral - The Press, 16th April 2012
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