nb -I Chris C ch An Exhibition of Archi ectu al rawings From 1850 to the 1980s ROBERT McDOUGALL ART ANNEX CHRISTCHURCH 5-12 July 1991 ~-- ~ • . I • '. .J 720. 222 UB Acknowledgements publicbuildingshave beenlew&f in number, although thosetorthe city'sart gallery and town hall are notable exceptions. Whal has remained co~slent is the From 6·8 July 19911he Society ot Architectural Historians 01 Austrona and commlment ot Christchurch's best architects 10 extending lhe vision of lheir New Zea~ is hokling ilS annual conference in Chrislchurch, SAHANZ was colonial predecessors. While the twenUeth century has seen grealer SlylisUc founded In 1984 and since lhen annual conferences have bOOn held In anumber diversity the altracUons ollhe Gclllic Revival have remained slrOllg, asseen in ot Auslralian cWes, most recently In Melbourne in 1990. A sizeable number 01 1M projeclS 01 Ceal Wood for Chrisfs College (ca\. 19) and R.S,D, Harman fOI New Zealand archileclural historians pamcipaled in that conference and at ils Christchurch Cathedral (cal. 17), The responsiveness to local materials and the conclusion an invitalinn was extended In hold the 1991 cnnlerence in tradiUons 01 craftsmanshIp, estabished in the nineteenlh century. have also Christchurch. This is lhe firsl time aSAHANZconference has been heid in New endured, Zealand and UnbuiltChrislchurchhas been mounled tn mark this event. Although international modernism made Its first appearance in Christchurch The Arts C9nlfe nf Christchurch, with its unique collection of Gnthic Revival in thil1930sil was only in the decades following 19451hat Chrisfchurch architects bUldings, became the logical conference venue, and lhlough Ihe generous began to search for aroode 01 expression that was both conlemporary yel firmly conperatlnn nllhe Rnbert McDougall Art Gallery, the Art Annex in Ihe Arts Centre based In their local environment and architectural tradition. Within lhe context of has been made available forlhis exhibition. We are particularly gratelullo John New Zealand archilecture as a whole, architecture in Christchurch during the Coley and lhe stall 01 Robert McDougall Art Gallery for making the exhibillon 19508 and 19608 developed a distinctive regional inflexion lhal is sometimes possible, and for making an exceptron to the Gallery's normal exhibition policy by relerred tl) as the Canlerbury SChool, This movement culminated in Warren and allowing an tistorical exhibition 10 be rmunted in their conlemporary art space. MaMney's Christchurch Town Hall design of 1966, abuilding which, while being For lheir assistance with the realisalion of the exhibition Iespecialty wish lolhank unquestionable a producl of the modern movement. could have been boilt Lynn Campbell, Anna Crighton, Lara Strongman and Martin Young. fnvawble nowhere else in New zealand. assistance was also provided by Richard Dalman ot the SAHANZ organising Although lhe tradition of western architecture in Canlerbury is a relatively commillee, Thanks are also due to Duncan Shaw·Brown, Barbara Cottrell and sllort one by internalional slandards, it Is none lhe less a vilal one. Withln lhis Merilyn Hooper oflhe Audi<rVrsual Departmenl, University of cantertlury. context, the OOildings which make up the cily of ChrislChulch today are the most Withoul1he generous cooperation ollhe owners ot drawings this exhibi~on iflllOrtant pari 011hat lradition, but the unbuilt and often forgol1en plojects of the could not have laken place. For their assistance in arranging loans Iwish 10 lhank las1140 years can also play arole in enriching the fabric of our brief architectural Jane Davies atlhe Ang~can Church House, Joan Woodward and Michael Purdie history. Al best, they reveal aspirations lhat are tOI) easily forgonen as we at lhe Canterbury Museum, Rosemary O'Niel allhe Canterbury Public Library, contemplate the uncertainlies of the luture." Peter Beaven and Jocelyn A11~on, Maurice Hunt of Collins Archilects, Simon • For a lurlher account of the unbuih alchilecture of Christchurch including Pascoe of Pascoe, Linton and Sellars, and Sir Miles Warren of Warren and i1luslrations see, Ian J. Lochhead, 'Forgotten Dreams: Unbuilt Christchurch', Mahoney. Historic PIaC8S in New Z8alaOO, 33, June 1991, pp. 3Q.42. Finally, we are especially grateful 10 the Canterbury Branch 01 lhe New Zealand Institule of Architects and 10 Resene Paints Limited lor their g9nerous Catalogue sponsorship ot the eXhibition. Jan J. Loc/lhead, SChool 01 Fine Ms, University 01 Canl8tbury WILLIAM BUnERFIELD (1814.1900) 1!H1 Plans ofChspelsnd House aNached, c.1850 a. East and north elevations and cross sections Introduction Pan and wash on tracing paper, 527 x 755 b. Longitudinalsections and crossseclions. From the very beginning 01 the Canterbury Selllement the colonists had great Pen and wash on tracing paper, 527 x750 arrbitions for the city of Chrislchurch. Betole the firsl setHers had even Iefl for c.' Soulh andwesl elevations and ground plan New Zealand in 1850 the Canterbory Association had approached one of the Pen and wash on tracing paper, 514 x630 leading ectlesiaslical architecls in Britain, William Butteltield, to provide designs d. DetailsotfiWngs suilable for use in Ihe colony. The Associalion's vision of an ideal English colony Pen and wash on tracing paper, 535 x763 with a complete diocesan eslabflshmenl included churches buill on the besl Signed: Wm, BUllerfield medieval models as recommended by the Ecclesiological Society, The tirst con~ngent of colonislsincfuded ayoung 81Ctite¢1. 8enjarrin Woolfield Mounltort, Collection: Diocese of Christchurch who had been thoroughly grounded in eccfesiological design principles in lhe AI a meeUng in london on 8 December 18491he Canterbury Association office of RC.Carpenter. During the ccurse 01 his long career in Canterbury decided to ask William Butterfield for copies of drawings ot achapel and schoof Mounlfort designed many 01 the province's roostlmportanl public buildings and recently erected to his designs in the Diocese ofWOl'oosler.ln approachir1{l one churches, including lhe Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings (185].65), Iho 01 Brilain's most advanced Gcllhic Revival archlle¢1s the Associalion was clearly Canlerbury Museum {1869082j and cantertlury University College (1877-96) concerned with obtaining eccfesiologically correcl roodels for buildings in lhe A1lhough Ihe canterbury Associa~on's utopian vision soon faded in lhe face of colony soon to be established under ils aegis In New zealand. The drawin9S the realities 01 colonial ~le lhis remarf<able group ot Gothic Revival buildin9S exhibited were only recently discovered at Holy Trinily, Lytle"on and presumably con~nues togivevisualexpression to theirfoundingideal. GilbertScoU's Angican resulted flOm the Association's lequestlo Butterfield. Butterfield's only olher Calhedral, slanding atlhe very heart 01 the city, remains as anolher potenl proje¢1for New Zealand, a design lor S1. Matthew's in Aucl<land (1858) also reminder 01 these beginnings. remainedunbuill. The designs of Bulterlield, Scoll and Mounlfort set the paUern for lhe SIR GEORGE GILBERT scon(181 101878) architectural excellence which the founders of Chrislchurch aimed toachieveand 2. Church for the Canterbury Setl/ement, c.1850 other architects quicldy realised that In this environment somelhing rl'lCIre than Itte routine was required. W.B. Allnson, altllough acomparatively lale arrival In 1870, longiludinat section, south elevaUon, plan and sections of nave and quickly demonstrated Ihat aMelbourne trained architecl could compete on equal cooncel lerms with h~ British trained conleflllOraries. In the briel period during which he Pen and wash, 531 x746 Gi~rt practised in Christchurch, Armson transformed the commercial centre 01 the city, Signed: Geo: Scol1, ArchL 20 Spring Gardens, London although sadly only ahandful of these buildings survive, Collecllon: Canterbury Museum The uncertainties of Ihe colonial &COl\Omy meant that the ambilions of Uke Butlerfield's design lcat.l), Scoll'sdosign lorachurch witha llrrber nave architects and their patrons ollen far exceeded their abilities to realise their and stone chancel was probably comrrissioned especially for tile Canterbury designs. Time aller time splendid archilectural visions were condemoed to a SeUternen!.lt may have been brought to New Zealand by lhe Bisllopdesignate, shadowy hIe In the plan draws of their designers, FurthernlOre, the Victorian Thomas Jackson in 1851. In developing adesign suilable for colonial conditions addiction to architectural competitions lor public OOildings of every kind p!oduced Stoll turned to medieval Engtlsh timber parish churches for appropriate models, dozens of projects which remained unse9l1 by all bultheir assessors. The over With its limber arcade and exposed external framing, the design has much in useol competitions and the searcity ofproper~ inlormedassessorswelesubjecls common WIth R.C. Carpenter's contemporaneous church for Trislan da Cunha which the leader wrilersol The Press broughl before Ihe Christchurch public on as well as with the many limber parish churches OOilt subsequenlly in New sevelal occasions during lhe 18605 and 70s, ailllough to liltle apparent ellect, Zealand. By lhe end oflhe nineteenth cenlury Christchurch, in spite 01 ilS man~ Irne 3 a·b, Design (orCatheeirsl Church, ChristChurch, New Zealand, /661 Individual buildings, stifl possessed lhe raw look of afrontier lown. Several ollhe a. Section through nave and tower looking west mosl spectacular bu1ldings designed for lhe city,