30 June 2011 48 Hours' intense think about central Christchurch

Some of the best design brains in Christchurch are going into lockdown this weekend to focus squarely on generating viable plans for the cityʼs red zone.

This weekend Lincoln Universityʼs School of Landscape Architecture, will be home for the 48 Hour Challenge, where 20 teams each comprising seven landscape architects, engineers, architects planners and urban designers will design alternative visions for the way the cityʼs CBD could look in future.

Head of the universityʼs prestigious Landscape Architecture programme, Neil Challenger, says thereʼll be many familiar faces among the teams.“Itʼs no surprise weʼll have Lincoln University lecturers, students and graduates on almost every team,” he says. “The architects and planners will use our state-of-the-art facilities to generate as many ideas as possible to inform the rebuilding process.

 “We are hosting this for the Christchurch City Council, to provide exemplars and models for the successful rebuild of the central city. It will use information gathered from the various forums and meetings, such as “Share An Idea”, and build on them. “Our goal is to help make Christchurch a great city. We will consider the cityʼs open space, streets, plazas, buildings and try to bring back a pulse to the central city. This will take ideas from all conceptual directions and the skills and talent of multiple disciplines to come up with a great result.”

Mr Challenger says the teams will be briefed at 11:00 a.m. on Friday July 1 and at 12 noon will begin the challenge. Itʼs not certain how much sleep they will get over the next 48 hours, but the completed designs have to be submitted to the judging panel at noon Sunday July 3. Itʼll be a very focussed 48 hours, during which people might or might not sleep, while they apply all their learning and skill to what will hopefully be influential ideas for the CCC to apply,” he says.

“It is entirely appropriate that these professionals work on this challenge, because they have the specialised skills required to think creatively but carefully about the central city.

“Some of them have spent decades thinking about the central city, while current students and recent graduates will bring a younger perspective to sit alongside the more nostalgic visions.” Neil Challenger says the 48Hour Challenge teams will end the weekend with a session with the judges, who will offer feedback and make awards.

“I fully anticipate every team will offer wonderful suggestions and 3D models, so I sincerely hope they see their best ideas reflected in our new-look CBD in the not-too-distant future.”