A study in concrete
Start at the rear of the Town Hall on The Commons to hear about this iconic and first-of-its kind building, which became the living room of the city, with architectural historian Dr Jessica Halliday.
Architects: Warren & Mahoney, 1972
The Ōtautahi Architecture Guide is brought to you by Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making from their annual architecture festival Open Christchurch.
This project received a grant from the Christchurch City Council Intangible Heritage Grant Fund.
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Victoria Square
Discover more about this Pou in Victoria Square, Mana Motuhake, which features two upright waka.
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Heroic Era Of Antarctic Exploration And Shackleton's Whisky
Listen to hear the story of Shackleton's whisky and how it managed to get from below a hut in Antarctica to Christchurch city.
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New Regent Street
Listen to Worsley's story, as told by the director of the Akaroa Museum.
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Tūranga And The Mural
Within Tūranga you can find out about how heroic explorers Shackleton and Worsley spent their time on the ice by looking for a book called, 'Frank Worsley - Shackleton's Fearless Captain'.
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Christchurch Cathedral
Learn how the Erebus Chalice is said to be a tailsman of good luck.
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Five Lanes Centre And Scorpio Books
Listen to the story of how Sir Edmund Hillary led the New Zealand component of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE) in 1955-58.
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Riverside Market
Learn how Christchurch's rejuvenated inner city has become one of the world's best canvases for street art.
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Bridge Of Remembrance
Learn more about the first long-distance flights to Antarctica that left from Christchurch on 20 December 1955.
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Scott Statue Oxford Terrace
Hear the history of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's fateful Terra Nova expedition which left from Lyttelton, and how his widow Kathleen was commissioned to sculpt this memorial.
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First Women Oxford Terrace
Hear from Margaret Bradshaw, a trailblazer and influential female role model in Antarctic research.
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Christchurch Art Gallery
Up the stairs in the gallery, a treasure awaits. A personal encounter with the southernmost mammal which can hold its breath underwater for 90 minutes.
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The Great Hall
Discover more about the treasure that lies behind the doors of The Great Hall that is made from 40,000 individual glass pieces.
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Canterbury Museum
Visit Canterbury Museum to explore the objects and the stories behind the heroic age of Antarctic exploration and discovery.
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Mana Motuhake
Learn more about the pepeha and Mana Motuhake sculptures located in Victoria Square.
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Puari Pa
Find out more about what the area around Victoria Square was like in pre-European times and later.
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Kanakana Table
Learn why this table, located in Victoria Square, was placed in this important Ngāi Tūāhuriri site.
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Whariki: Mahinga Kai
Learn more about this Whāriki located in Victoria Square, near Colombo Street.
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Whāriki: Whakahonotanga
Learn more about this Whāriki located along the Ōtākaro Avon River promenade.
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Whāriki: Te Eweewe O Te Ono, Ki Uta Ki Tai
Learn more about this Whāriki located along the Ōtākaro Avon River Promenade.
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Whāriki: Te Rau Aroha ki te Tangata
Learn more about this Whāriki located in the Margaret Mahy Family Playground and the importance of our tamariki (children).
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Kōwhaiwhai
Learn more about the Kōwhaiwhai design (found in the glazing manifestations) outside Te Pae.
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Whāriki: Piripiri Takitahi
Learn more about this Whāriki located along the Ōtākaro Avon River Promenade.
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Te Aika
Learn more about Te Aika (Ngutu means gateway) artwork at Te Pae from the artists.
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Tūhura at Tūranga
Learn more about the Tūhura mural which captures the journey of Paikea on the back of a whale.
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Tūranga - the name
Learn more about why Tūranga was gifted this name by Ngāi Tūāhuriri.
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Tūranga Terraces
Learn how the Tūranga building design reflects Māori systems of knowledge.
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Tāwhaki
Learn more about the story of Tāwhaki's ascent through the heavens in search of knowledge.
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Kākano Puananī - airborne seeds
Learn how artist Riki Manuel translated this story into a design for a large event space at Tūranga.
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Rau Whakapapa
Learn more from artists Ranui Ngarimu and Areta Wilkinson about this installation of harakeke.
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Whāriki: Huinga Hau Pīpī
Learn more about this Whāriki and welcoming ceremony protocols.
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Whāriki: Pūtake Aronga
Learn more about this Whāriki and how whānau permeates everything we do.
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The Terrace - Pepeha and Tuna
Learn more about the importance of the Ōtākaro Avon River and its natural habitat.
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Whāriki: Maumahara
Learn more about this Whāriki and the call to remember those that fell in battle.
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Whāriki: Kahataioreore
Learn more about this Whāriki and intergenerational relationships.
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Whāriki: Kāranga Wairua
Learn more about this Whāriki and the spiritual call of welcome.
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Mōkihi
Learn more about the significance of the Mōkihi sculpture located along the Ōtākaro Avon River.
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Instream Ecological Restoration
Learn about the importance of the ecological restoration work done to the Ōtākaro Avon River.
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Cuningham House history
Hear the story of a family rift that resulted in the construction of this classic English orangery.
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65 Cambridge Terrace
Understand the beginnings of the Christchurch Modern by learning about this 1960s former home and office of Warren & Mahoney
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65 Cambridge Terrace - Parties
Listen to colourful memories from a former Warren & Mahoney architect as he shares the stories of a few famous parties related to this building once owned the late Sir Miles Warren.
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Isaac Theatre Royal interior
Discover an original chandelier and learn about the theatre's new approach to the "cheap seats".
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Judy's story of the Isaac Theatre Royal
Meet Judy Mackenzie, who started work at the Isaac Theatre Royale in 1948 when she was just 14. She worked there for more than 50 years, becoming the manager and living in the flat above the theatre.
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Isaac Theatre Royal ghost stories
Hear haunting stories from former theatre manager Judy Mackenzie and long-time employee Lianne Hawthorne.
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Arts Centre Clock Tower Gothic architecture
Learn about how colonial values are reflected in this - the first purpose-built university building designed in New Zealand - from architectural historian Ian Lochhead.
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Nurses Memorial Chapel
Learn the story of the world's only purpose-built hospital chapel which commemorates nurses who died in the Great War.
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Nurses Memorial Chapel museum
Explore the treasures of the museum that commemorates the World War 1 nurses who were killed in a torpedo strike in the Aegean Sea.
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Arts Centre Clock Tower human history
Learn about Ernest Rutherford and other people who studied or taught in these buildings and went on to change the world.
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Christchurch Town Hall
Learn about this iconic and first-of-its kind building, which became the living room of the city, with architectural historian Dr Jessica Halliday.
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CoCA Toi Moroki exterior
Discover exterior details of this modernist, purpose-built art gallery with Pippin Wright-Stow, who worked on the restoration of the building post-quake.
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CoCA Toi Moroki Ō Raki Mair Gallery
This modernist, purpose-built gallery is an artwork in itself.
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St Michael and All Angels interior
Explore the timber Gothic interior with architectural historian Jenny May.
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CoCA Toi Moroki gallery ground floor lifts
Get up close to the raw concrete shear walls that strengthen this purpose-built art gallery.
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CoCA Toi Moroki Gallery background
The Canterbury Society of Arts has been supporting arts in Christchurch for more than 140 years.
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Old Government Buildings Exterior
Learn about how this fine example of an Italian Renaissance Revival building marked a turning point for colonial Christchurch with architectural historian and building conservator Jenny May.
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Cuningham House plant tour
Tour the tropical house with Botanic Gardens director Wolfgang Bopp.
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Old Government Buildings interior
Discover the details of this Italian Renaissance Revival building and learn about the people who worked here with architectural historian Jenny May.
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St Michael and All Angels exterior
Learn about the significance of this early Christchurch building and some teenage mischief associated with the bell tower in the 1850s.
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Tūranga
Learn how this building was designed in partnership with mana whenua to reflect the cultural heritage of Ōtautahi Christchurch.
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Isaac Theatre Royal exterior
Learn about the history of this theatre, built in 1908, and its post-quake restoration.
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Mana Motuhake
Learn more about the pepeha and Mana Motuhake sculptures located in Victoria Square.
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Puari Pa
Find out more about what the area around Victoria Square was like in pre-European times and later.
Find out more -
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Kanakana Table
Learn why this table, located in Victoria Square, was placed in this important Ngāi Tūāhuriri site.
Find out more -
Whariki: Mahinga Kai
Learn more about this Whāriki located in Victoria Square, near Colombo Street.
Find out more -
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Kōwhaiwhai
Learn more about the Kōwhaiwhai design (found in the glazing manifestations) outside Te Pae.
Find out more -
Whāriki: Piripiri Takitahi
Learn more about this Whāriki located along the Ōtākaro Avon River Promenade.
Find out more -
Te Aika
Learn more about Te Aika (Ngutu means gateway) artwork at Te Pae from the artists.
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Scott's Reserve
Learn about the biological significance of Te Ihutai Avon Heathcote Estuary.
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Gollans Point
Learn about the signal towers on Cave Rock and how they helped ships enter the estuary safely.
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Cave Rock
Wander from the surf club to Cave Rock while you hear about Sumner in earlier days.
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Sumner Clock Tower
Walk the esplanade to clock tower while learning about historic storms and structures.
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Bridge Of Remembrance
Hear historian Jock Phillip explain the features of this war memorial and its significance to the people of Christchurch.
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Ernest Rutherford
Hear about this famous physicist and his relationship to Ōtautahi Christchurch.
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Victoria Square
Listen to historian Geoffrey Rice explain the role of Victoria Square as the heart of colonial Christchurch.
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Kate Sheppard National Memorial
Hear historian Katie Pickles explain why 1890s Christchurch had all the ingredients needed to be the first in the world to win women's suffrage.
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Riverside Market
Listen to Riverside Market co-owner Richard Peebles point out some of the recycled materials that have been used in this new building.
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Armstrong Lawn
Take a stroll of Armstrong Lawn with former Botanic Gardens curator Alan Joliffe.
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Canterbury Provincial Chambers
Learn how the three pillars of the Canterbury economy - wool, wheat and frozen meat - allowed the young province to afford grand buildings like this one in the 1850s.
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Captain Cook Statue
Hear how the money was raised for a statue of this "hero of Empire" and the carver who brought it to life.
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Scandal Of 1868
Hear historian Geoffrey Rice tell the story of a scandalous end for one early Christchurch shopkeeper.
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Takapūneke Audio Walk
Join Keefe Robinson-Gore of Ōnuku Marae to hear the tragic story of Takapūneke and discover how it is represented in this spiral pathway. At the pou, you'll hear from carver Fayne Robinson about the significance of this structure.
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