Art designs on show for road

Three Christchurch artists will exhibit their concept designs for integrated artwork for Creyke Road in the SoFA (School of Fine Arts) Gallery at the University of Canterbury from16-23 July.

Integrated artworks are conceived especially for, or as part of, a site and form part of the built environment.

The public are able to offer feedback on the designs while visiting the exhibition. The Christchurch City Council and a project selection team will decide by 23 July which concept design will be implemented.

The artists, Fiona Gunn, Mark Whyte and Phil Price, were asked to respond to a design brief which required six components of an integrated artwork for location at specific sites along Creyke Road. The artworks are to create a welcoming feel for the community and visitors, and provide a journey of discovery along the street. They will have impact for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

Creyke Road a “living street”

Creyke Road is an example of the holistic approach that the City Council is taking with its “Living Streets” concept.

The road was scheduled for kerb and channel replacement and underground wiring of telephone and electricity cables in 2003. This gave the City Council a unique opportunity to take a larger look at the street, and to blend traffic engineering needs with urban design.

What is a “living street”?

Living Streets is a Christchurch City Council initiative which began in November 2000. The idea came about after the City Council took another look at its approach to slowing traffic speeds, and decided it wanted to improve the city’s street environments beyond just calming the traffic.

Living Streets acknowledges that our streets serve a range of functions. While principally they provide for movement or travel, streets also provide valuable and unique areas of community space.

The Living Streets’ mission statement is “To create Living Streets and a living city where a variety of road environments support and encourage a better quality of life and a greater range of community and street activity.”

Although the programme is still in its infancy and to date limited to a number of pilot projects, the philosophies are being applied, through Council policy, to all street planning.

The Council is seeking to involve people with an interest in the city’s streets to help create a new balance.

“This balance considers how the movement function of the street can be weighed against other functions and uses of the street space, including areas of private property fronting the street,” says the City Council’s Paul Burden.

“With any street project, the Council strives to ensure that anyone interested has the opportunity to put forward ideas or comments on how the street should be designed,” he says.

Some streets need to be wide, multi-laned and move traffic efficiently, some streets don’t.

“How we use our street space affects the quality of life of its inhabitants and those in the wider community,” says Mr Burden.

• For more information see www.ccc.govt.nz/LivingStreets or phone Alix Newman on 941 8472.