Place in time

(Re)Orientation is a work in progress and idiosyncratic guide to sites of significance to Christchurch’s post-earthquake narrative and the built and psychological landscapes that have come to define it.

A body of work about Selwyn, one of the fastest growing districts in the country, both in terms of commercial and residential development.

A collaborative project by David Cook, Tim J. Veling and the students and teachers of Freeville School, New Brighton, Christchurch. Freeville was scheduled for closure by the Ministry of Education following the 2010 and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes.

To revisit time and again. Days, months and years – a decade already. To study sites from multiple vantage points, ponder the changing light and respond to shifts in weather and seasons. A work in progress drawn from my unwieldily archive.

As the devastating series of earthquakes that destroyed and subsequently closed off much of Christchurch city continued, residents in large areas of the badly affected eastern suburbs began for the first time to hear the words, Red Zone.

Think about it: What's a place of significance to you? What makes one place more important to you than another? What's your connection with this place and what is it that continues to make it important in your life today?