Gap Filler wins International Award
Renowned educator, Francesco Tonucci, recently announced the winners of the International City to City Barcelona FAD (Foment de les Arts i el Disseny) Awards. Gap Filler were among the select group of winners with their project Eyes on the City. The FAD awards are an
internationally focussed arts award based on a different theme each season. This year, ‘Learning Initiatives in the
City’ were highlighted.
Three awards were announced earlier this week; there was one top prize and two honourable mentions. There were a total
of 132 entries with 28 finalists. The recovery of the Cultural District in Lima, Peru won the top prize. Honourable
mentions went to a refugee integration project based on Football in Hamburg, Germany, and Gap Filler’s project Eyes on
the City.
Eyes on the City was an innovative project that saw Gap Filler tour the Grandstandium (a purpose built portable
grandstand) around the city and park in view of a building construction site or area of road works. Throughout each
series, spectators enjoyed watching the laborious process of (re)building the city, and learning more about proposed
developments from on-site commentators. Contractors and other guests, including identities such as City Councillor Raf
Manji, Public health specialist Lucy D’aeth and Belgian Peer-to-per theorist Michel Bauwens, were also invited to update
observers on their activities or areas of expertise.
Eyes on the City was an opportunity for Gap Filler to get out on the streets and connect people, engage them in the
rebuild and often share some much needed information – with the trademark Gap Filler sense of humour! The jury
highlighted the original approach to research and debate on public space, from a collective, transparent and open point
of view. The jury drew specific attention to the project’s “rigorous approach to public policy matters and it’s claim of a right often forgotten: the right of knowing what is
happening around you and who is behind the changes in our habitat”.
“It’s interesting; lately Gap Filler has been receiving far more interest and praise from overseas and elsewhere in NZ
than within Christchurch,” Ryan Reynolds, Gap Filler co-director and occasional Eyes on the City commentator said. “We’re so closely associated with the immediate disaster recovery here that it’s hard to convince locals that we might
have long-term relevance.”
Gap Filler hopes that their current involvement in some major local public and private developments will show the value
of incorporating community engagement and grass-roots innovation into the long-term development of the city. Their
efforts have been internationally recognized since their inception in 2010 and, with the latest Barcelona FAD award, in
an ongoing way as well.
ends