Open Christchurch is calling on architecture enthusiasts, architects and designers, building owners and tenants, and curious neighbours to nominate notable buildings and spaces that they think are worth celebrating with the rest of Ōtautahi Christchurch during the festival weekend of 3-5 May 2024.

This is a chance for anyone to share their inside knowledge and love of Ōtautahi’s best buildings by putting forward for consideration places that are important to them - to reveal hidden gems and quiet achievers, or to acknowledge well-frequented architectural works.

The one-weekend-only celebration of architectural excellence, organised by Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making, returns for its fourth edition on 3-5 May 2024 to shine the light on Christchurch’s buildings and landscapes of architectural, cultural and historical significance.

As seen through participation in the 2021-2023 festivals, and its range of talks, tours, exhibitions and activities, the festival caters to a widespread and genuine desire to discover and explore the city’s special spaces. Feedback for the free and accessible nature of the festival has been overwhelmingly positive, with many making a day of it on foot or by bike, exploring their city anew.

Te Pūtahi director, Jessica Halliday says, “Each year our call for nominations for Open Christchurch brings unexpected and exciting works of architecture to our attention. So we encourage anyone who knows of a special or intriguing gem of a building to tell us about it and why it should be included in Open Christchurch 2024."

The nominations’ process is simple. It just requires permission from the building owner and occupier. Being nominated is not a commitment to participate.

The final selection of buildings and sites will be decided by Te Pūtahi’s Building Council. They’ll consider many ways in which buildings can be exceptional, including design excellence, rarity, contribution to the city’s history and sense of place, significance to Māori architecture and history, innovation, sustainability, and heritage significance.

Open Christchurch offers attendees the chance to experience great design first-hand and access buildings or parts of buildings that are normally off limits. Festival organisers see the public nominations process as means for more people to contribute to this endeavour.

The nominations form and the complete list of building criteria can be found on the Open Christchurch website (https://openchch.nz/). Nominations close on 15 September 2023.

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