Architects Volunteer Services to Earthquake Ravaged City

A group of architects and urban designers volunteered their services to help design a new concept for Christchurch
Architects Volunteer Services to Earthquake Ravaged City
(L-R) Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key look at a collapsed building in Manchester Street after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck 30km west of the city at 4:35 am this morning Sept. 4, in Christchurch. Joseph Johnson/Getty Images
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<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/103833184.jpg" alt="(L-R) Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key look at a collapsed building in Manchester Street after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck 30km west of the city at 4:35 am this morning Sept. 4, in Christchurch. (Joseph Johnson/Getty Images)" title="(L-R) Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key look at a collapsed building in Manchester Street after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck 30km west of the city at 4:35 am this morning Sept. 4, in Christchurch. (Joseph Johnson/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1814609"/></a>
(L-R) Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key look at a collapsed building in Manchester Street after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck 30km west of the city at 4:35 am this morning Sept. 4, in Christchurch. (Joseph Johnson/Getty Images)
It’s ’manna from heaven' said Mayor Bob Parker when a group of architects and urban designers volunteered their services to help design a new concept for the earthquake devastated city of Christchurch.

Mayor Parker said in the NZ Herald that the working group would only be developing ideas for a new city while Christchurch residents would be given the opportunity to voice their opinion on the design.

Nonetheless, City councillor Chrissie Williams was reported by Radio New Zealand as saying that there were “tensions” among local residents who are worried that the redevelopment in central Christchurch could leave a question mark over the future restoration of heritage buildings.

An architect chosen to supervise the post-earthquake redevelopment of the city said that the reconstruction may be on a ‘lower scale and quality” than what people might be expecting.

It would be difficult to justify the cost of erecting new buildings that would meet the quality and scale of previous constructions, said Mr van der Lingen chairman of the Canterbury branch of the Institute of Architects.

Mr van der Lingen said that the sight of carparks popping up in building sites was his greatest fear among others that he held concerning the rebuilding process, reported Radio New Zealand.

The style of buildings that will take the place of historic ones that perished in the earthquake is currently being debated in Christchurch at the moment.