The Relevance of Gothic Revival Ideologies on the Rebuilding of the Christchurch Cathedral

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Christchurch 12:51pm 22 February 2011

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What relevance do Gothic revivalist ideologies offer, not as aesthetic principles but as a design approach from which to rebuild Christchurch’s Cathedral?

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“A comradeship between victor and vanquished.” Peter Coleman 1986

Peter Coleman 1986

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A Style of Uniqueness Blending The Indigenous and the Introduced

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A Style of Uniqueness Blending The Indigenous and the Introduced An opportunity to move beyond the prevailing aesthetic

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The Evangelical Church Mission Society 1814–1840s

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,,,,, Samuel Marsden

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The Evangelical Church Mission Society + Maori 1814–1840s

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,,,,, Samuel Marsden Te Rauparaha

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Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori

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,,,,, Samuel Marsden Te Rauparaha

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+ Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries + Maori

Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori

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,,,,, Samuel Marsden Bishop Selwyn

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The emigration of Bishop Selwyn in 1841

Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori

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,,,,, Samuel Marsden Bishop Selwyn

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The emigration of Bishop Selwyn in 1841 usurped the CMS Missionary work.

Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori

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,,,,, CMS Missionaries Bishop Selwyn

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Kowhaiwhai (rafter painting) and tukutuku (woven panels) were a “perverted use of wood”

Kowhaiwhai

tukutuku

“the colonial juggernaut, determined to turn New Zealand into a better Britain, rolled relentlessly over everything in its way.” John Stenhouse 1998

Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori

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,,,,, CMS Missionaries Bishop Selwyn

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Kowhaiwhai

“the colonial juggernaut, determined to turn New Zealand into a better Britain, rolled relentlessly over everything in its way.” John Stenhouse 1998

Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori

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,,,,, CMS Missionaries Bishop Selwyn

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Kowhaiwhai

tukutuku

St James’ church, Mangere, New Zealand. Designed by Sampson Kempthorne in the “Selwyn Gothic Style .” Deidre Brown 2000

Bishop Selwyn’s attitudes impacted considerably on the Cathedral’s ability to represent a new nation comprised of a burgeoning “greatness and unity” between indigenous and introduced peoples.

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Rangiatea Church, Otaki. New Zealand

churches of the day and to proclaim bold measures for their improvement”

“the unlovely physical state of the churches of the day and to proclaim bold measures for their improvement.” Alington 1965

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“the heathen colonial outposts ought to start near the beginning of the architectural ladder and only gradually reach the heights of decorated Gothic.” Margaret Alington 1965atcher

and St Paul's. An Ecclesiological Study: 22. Rangiatea built in 1843 by CMS missionaries and Maori

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Church of the Good Shepherd. Tekapo, South Island, New Zealand

St Mary’s Edinburgh Scotland

Selwyn and the Society had judged that the landscape and Maori to be equally uncultivated.

Bishop Selwyn’s initial approach diminished the ability of Churches to withstand the climate ,but he did over the next two decades redefine the adherences to the Society, building materials and style.

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“The development of pointed architecture in other climates must be a much harder task and we at home are the least fitted to attempt it.” Eccesiologist 1866

Bishop Selwyn’s initial approach diminished the ability of Churches to withstand the climate, but he did over the next two decades redefine his adherences to the Society’s dictates, building materials and style.

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Old St Paul’s Cathedral, Thorndon, Wellington (Frederick Thatcher 1866) Through informed material choices and a less rigid adherence to Ecclesiological dictates, St Paul’s, still stands today. Ecclesiological dictates, St Paul’s, still stands today.

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Bishop Henry John Harper 1804-1893

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Sir Gilbert Scott 1811-1878

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“Scott designed an innovative hybrid for Christchurch Cathedral New Zealand, combining a stone exterior with an independent wooden interior, at once an expression of the primitive ruggedness of what he imagined to be the Maori wood traditions and an experimental response for this earthquake prone colony.” Dr Robin Skinner 2010

Te Rauparaha-rangatira

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“Scott designed an innovative hybrid for Christchurch Cathedral New Zealand, combining a stone exterior with an independent wooden interior, at once an expression of the primitive ruggedness of what he imagined to be the Maori wood traditions and an experimental response for this earthquake prone colony.” Dr Robin Skinner 2010

First scheme- Interior framing Timber construction-Rangiatea Christchurch’s Cathedral

Te Rauparaha-rangatira

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“Scott designed an innovative hybrid for Christchurch Cathedral New Zealand, combining a stone exterior with an independent wooden interior, at once an expression of the primitive ruggedness of what he imagined to be the Maori wood traditions and an experimental response for this earthquake prone colony.” Dr Robin Skinner 2010

Te Rauparaha-rangatira

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“Two picturesque islands dominated by sheep and English traditions.” John Coleman 1986

Te Rauparaha-rangatira

New Zealand’s “second pile of Anglican ruins”

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Te Rauparaha-rangatira

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“restoration is destruction; ancient buildings should be preserved, but no attempts should be made to erase the accumulated history encoded in their decay.”

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Te Rauparaha-rangatira

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“restoration is destruction; ancient buildings should be preserved, but no attempts should be made to erase the accumulated history encoded in their decay”

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Quotes taken from the draft recovery plan for Christchurch 2012

nan o sullivan victoria university wellington new zealand

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nan o sullivan victoria university wellington new zealand

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References Alington, Margaret. Frederick Thatcher and St Paul's. An Ecclesiological Study. Wellington: R.E Owen, 1965. Bradshaw, H.G and John. "Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand: A Talk with Dr John C. Bradshaw." The Musical Times 64, no. 963 (1923): 340 - 43. Bremner, G Alex. ""Some Imperial Institute": Architecture, Symbolism, and the Ideal of Empire in Late Victorian Britain 1887- 93." Journal for the Society of Architectural Historians 62, no. 1 (2003): 50-73. Brown, Deidre. "The Maori Response to Gothic Architecture." Architectural History 43 (2000): 253-70. Coleman, Peter J. "The Almost New World." Wilson Quarterly 10, no. 2 (1986): 46-63. "Ecclesiologist." 7 (1866). Kempthorne, Ren. "Selwyn's Samson: Sampson Kempthorne." Journeyings 10, no. 2 (1997): 27-37. Skinner, Robin. "Drawing from an Indigenous Tradition? George Gilbert Scott's First Design for Christchurch's Cathedral,1861-62." Architectural History 53 (2010): 245-70. Stenhouse, John. "Churches, State and the New Zealand Wars: 1860-1872." Journal of Law and Religion 13, no. 2 (1998-1999): 483-507.