A v o n E a s t
On the 22nd of February 2011 a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck New Zealand’s second largest city, taking 185 lives. The resulting damage to infrastructure and the ecosystem was catastrophic. Consequently The Avon River became severely polluted, suffering a steady discharge of untreated human sewage for a period of eight weeks post disaster as well as having contact with some of the 400,000 tones of silt from liquefaction.
Avon East is a river park and urban ecological sanctuary located along the Avon River Within the RED ZONE (land unable to be rebuilt on) where 1706 homes once stood. The parkland serves as an ecological sponge for Christchurch, working to heal the waterways and provide the public with large green space. The solution to Turn this red zone in to a green belt will provide linkages for the city to the sea and promote native plant and animal life to re-establish within Christchurch, a city that has been significantly modified from its ‘natural’ state, with only two percent of the original wetlands remaining and some 1000 indigenous animal, plant and fungi species under threat.
Extensive site measures are integral to the design elements of this park and the solutions found for the red zone. Subsurface wetlands have been introduced to re-activate the degraded river edge. The land needs to heal and the wetlands will act as a biodiversity reservoir for plant and animal species, serving important roles as sediment and nutrient traps, water storage, flood control, and buffers in climate change processes. A series of low impact architectures and walkways have been developed for public use of the corridor. Boardwalks snake throughout the land raised up from the ground to allow for the fluxing environment. Green covered shelters and seating are abundant providing places of rest and protection from the elements. Light beacons help Guide public through the parkland deriving from ancient Maori story’s where tī kōuka (cabbage trees) were used to mark out routes across this once vast swampy landscape. Jetties occupy the fluid space between land and river and provide places for quiet and contemplation. Longhouses are the larger structures within the park and function as social huts and meeting rooms like all of the park elements they are inspired by oceanic architecture creating constructive relationships with the land performing with the temporal landscape.
