In the Open Christchurch programme, a celebration of the city’s exceptional works of architecture, 52 buildings put out the welcome mat to the public. This year the event coincides with a major survey of the city’s post-quake rebuild. It’s a mixed review.

Of the 52 buildings in May’s Open Christchurch programme, there are grand reminders of Victorian splendour, looming modernist structures and such post-quake confections as Tūranga and Te Aratai College.

For Dr Jessica Halliday, though, it’s the modest Dorset Street Flats that capture best the intent of the programme, which is to prompt a conversation about what good design is and why it is important. In doing so, we can learn from the past about how we can build for the future.

The Dorset Street Flats are an excellent example. Designed in 1966 by a then young Miles Warren, the dwellings solved the problem he had at the time of how to live well in a small space. Nearly 60 years later, that quest remains as pressing as ever for many city dwellers.

Jessica is an architectural historian and director and co-founder of Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making, which each year curates the Open Christchurch programme, a celebration of the city’s exceptional works of architecture old and new.

So what’s her favourite Christchurch building? It’s an impossible question, Jessica says.

“I can’t have a favourite. I love the city, its architecture and history. There are just so many buildings that I find compelling.”

Coinciding with Open Christchurch comes the launch of a new book, Shifting Foundations: Post-quake architecture of Ōtautahi Christchurch. The book documents the architecture to arise after the 2010-11 earthquakes. It features contributions from members of Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Canterbury and other prominent city-makers, including Jessica.

Eight essays narrate this post-quake journey, which has involved challenges, competing needs, innovation, collaboration and shifts in thinking, while 80 catalogue entries share the stories of select buildings and their role in the rebuild.

In her essay, ‘Taking Stock’, Jessica reflects on what worked and what didn’t work during this period.

“If there’s one lesson Christchurch can teach other places, even those not in the midst of a natural disaster, it’s that navigating choices about the role of architecture in recovery is never a matter of choosing either the past or the future – that is a false dichotomy. Cities, their planning and their architecture always have room for both,” she writes.

No surprise perhaps that Gerry Brownlee’s infamous “old dungers” comment comes in for reproach. For Jessica, the whole top-down nature of decision-making on anchor projects, demolitions and housing strategies didn’t work.

That led to a lack of strategy for what to do about heritage architecture, with a haphazard approach replacing best practice. Sustainability of transport and housing solutions also missed out, Jessica says, in what she sees as a real opportunity missed. The recovery blueprint treated the central city as separate to the rest of the city and it isn’t.

“Housing was an afterthought. They were late to identify the East Frame as a site for this and then the whole thing was very market-driven. It would have been good to get houses for nurses, bus drivers and teachers, the people who are working in the city centre. That way you get a community developing.”

What did work, Jessica says, were the partnerships with mana whenua and the integration of their cultural narratives into the new buildings and public spaces, particularly along the river and in the South Frame / Te Ara Pū Hā.

“The new public spaces are extraordinary. The river corridor is now a key part of the city and there’s a greater appreciation of our natural assets. And because of all the post-quake rebuilding and strengthening, we also have greater confidence in the safety of our buildings. We know they are more resilient now.”

Jessica pauses to consider whether her precious Christchurch will ever be as celebrated for its rebuild as it was for the heritage architecture we lost. There’s already a lot of interest in some of the different responses here to seismic risk, such as mass timber construction with laminated beams, or use of steel.

“Possibly,” she says. “It will take time to work that out. It will be exciting to hear what people have to say.”

Open Christchurch, Sat 6 – Sun 7 May
openchch.nz