Monday, 19 August 2013

Cardboard Cathedral

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake which hit New Zealand in 2011 devastated Christchurch, toppled its neo-Gothic cathedral and killed 185 people. On Thursday evening the new Anglican Cathedral of New Zealand, designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, received its official dedication service. It's been nicknamed the "Cardboard Cathedral", because it is made from 24-inch diameter cardboard tubes coated with waterproof polyurethane and flame retardants. It has a design life of 50 years, giving plenty of time for the Anglican Church to design and build a permanent replacement for its old cathedral. Shigeru Ban has a reputation for using low-cost, easily available materials to build structures in disaster zones (CLICK).

posted by Unknown @ 19.8.13   4 comments

4 Comments:

At 19/8/13, Anonymous Kris said...

Apparently some of the cardboard has already suffered water damage and been replaced.

Incidentally - an unrelated William Morris news item that may be of interest. Not sure if the pictures that were identified by crowd-sourcing are available online somewhere.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/aug/18/hidden-mural-william-morris-house

 
At 19/8/13, Blogger Unknown said...

A load of great colour for a beautiful city. Will this withstand an earthquake? New Zealand unfortunately has more than it's fair share of earthquakes as it's in an earthquake zone and very prone to them.

 
At 20/8/13, Blogger Unknown said...

Hi, Kris

The damage was caused because a storm hit before the roof was put on. It should be okay now.

Thanks for the tip on the William Morris and friends wall painting. I posted it on my blog before I read my emails. First thing I noticed on ArtDaily this morning, but thanks all the same. I might have missed it.

 
At 20/8/13, Blogger Unknown said...

Hi, A

It should withstand an earthquake. That's what the architect from Japan (another country in an earthquake zone) specializes in. But it's a temporary structure, designed to last 50 years, while the church dithers over what to build in place of the old cathedral. They're debating whether to build a tower. They'd be stupid if they did!

 

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