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Final weekend of the inaugural FESTA – don’t miss it!
Concept drawing. Gap Filler Summer Pallet Pavilion by night. Yun Kong Sung, Studio OKAN, 2012
FESTA - Festival of Transitional Architecture
20-28 October 2012
Christchurch
Don a hardhat and high vis to listen to live music and watch a film at one of the most surreal public events this
spring. Going out on a high this weekend, Christchurch’s inaugural Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA)
concludes with an array of activities that illuminate the many different possibilities of this exciting phase in our
city’s existence - the transitional city.
On Saturday, the ‘Pallet Pavilion Warm-up’ sees live music, a New Zealand film (Antonello and the Architect by Tony Hiles) and BYO BBQ mark the commencement of Gap Filler’s most ambitious project to date – the Summer Pallet
Pavilion. This temporary public venue on the site of the former Crowne Plaza (corner of Kilmore and Durham Streets) is
planned for construction in November. The pavilion will be made from thousands of pallets with a view to housing
community events and performances over the summer.
Gap Filler‘s Coralie Winn says of the Pallet Pavilion, “we’re looking forward to getting the build underway soon and
bringing some more life to the area, so this weekend’s events will help warm-up the site! Things will really get
cracking with our 24-HOUR DRILLATHON from midday Friday 2 – midday Saturday 3 November, where volunteers are needed to
drill two holes in all 1948 pallets needed for the pavilion.” Volunteers are needed for the Drillathon and the build of
the Pallet Pavilion project, so please visit the Gap Filler website for more information and the sign-up form. www.gapfiller.org.nz
Bring along your snarlers and vegie burgers to toss on the BBQ from 6pm on Saturday. All attendees are required to wear
closed-toe shoes along with hardhats and hi-vis jackets to enter the site – FESTA has a limited number so if people can
bring their own that would be appreciated.
On Sunday from 2-3pm, some of the design team – Luis Castillo (structural engineer, Aurecon), Jason Mill (designer, Pivnice & ZNO), Kevin Cawley (designer, Lighting Design), Kirsten O’Connor (landscape architecture graduate, Outlandish Landscapes) and Coralie Winn (director, Gap Filler) will discuss the design and evolution of the Pallet Pavilion project on site and how it will be one more example of
why this city is a Lonely Planet favourite.
On Sunday, the initiator of the spectacular LUXCITY event, Associate Professor Uwe Rieger (University of Auckland School
of Planning and Architecture) reflects on the thinking behind the project and its spectacular realisation in a lecture
titled ‘The Imperfect Present’. He will discuss the potential for inter-city collaborations in the future. Joining him
is artist Julia Morison, presenting her proposal for a re-locatable ten-piece public sculpture, Tree House.
The final event for this year’s FESTA is the Chambers concert by Christchurch’s Silencio Ensemble. An original outdoor
performance using tubular bells and road cones, Chambers is held on a vacant site at 70 Gloucester St, next door to CoCA
Gallery. Fittingly, for a festival that began with architectural installations made of light, FESTA will close with this
performance of an architecture made from sound.
Other events over the weekend include the rescheduled temporary street furniture talk at 10.30am on Saturday morning at
Central Library, 121 Tuam St and the ArtBox tour with Martin Trusttum, and Andrew Just, on the corner of St Asaph and
Madras Streets from 1-2pm on Saturday.
More information:
ENDS