Studio Christchurch is calling for architects from around the world to design a virtual future for the earthquake-ravaged city of Christchurch.
Up to 100 designs will be digitally produced in an augmented reality which can be accessed via a specially built smartphone app, CityUps+, developed by HIT Lab NZ. It will be live for one night only on 25 October in an event headlining the 2014 Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA) celebrating creative and collective city-making.
For the virtual world, organisers are looking for outrageous future visions of architecture that are quick to produce but also thoughtfully designed to create a streetscape that thousands of people will play in during festival. The designs will be uploaded to the Pointcloud – a virtual world of High Street Christchurch. The designers of the ten best proposals will receive access to the event via their own voice activated virtual surrogate and a pair of Google glasses. Submissions close 29 September 2014. See more on submission requirements.
Around 80% of Christchurch was destroyed in successive earthquakes in September 2010 and February 2011. Three years on, the debris has been cleared and the process of rebuilding is just beginning. FESTA was created in response to the disaster, to explore the possibilities inherent in bringing new life to the city and large-scale urban renewal.
As well as an augmented reality, Studio Christchurch will enlist over 250 students of New Zealand’s architecture schools to build real world 1:1 installations of an imagined future city. The installations, supported by ten metre high frames, will take over two blocks in the centre of Christchurch.
FESTA runs during Labour Weekend 24–27 October, 2014 and features a program of events including a zero impact pop up restaurant, an immersive installation of overgrown plants, as well as free public events and activities.
