Te Pae: The Place Where We Meet

The Otautahi Christchurch of today is made up of numerous suburbs, each with its own characteristics, surrounded and built in an area of astonishing natural beauty. In 2010 and 2011 the city was hit by a series of devastating earthquakes. Neighborhoods were destroyed or damaged beyond repair, and the impact on the social and built fabric of the city was almost overwhelming. Much has been written about the resilience and determination of Otautahi Christchurch’s people following these devastating earthquakes, and the care and kindness shown by fellow Aotearoa New Zealand citizens and the many who cam to help from all corners of the world. This book focuses on a small part of the wider story of the city’s new beginning. It shows how an individual project – the building of a new convention centre – brought people, cultures, architects, designers and artists together to create a building that represents a new, shared, vision of togetherness. It is an optimistic and hopeful vision for the future. The architects, designers and artists of Te Pae committed to creating a building firmly placed in Otautahi Christchurch – a building that aligns with who and what the people here are, rather than a mirror image of another society.