Gap Filler is a creative urban regeneration initiative started in response to Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 & 2011 that bought devistation and a lot of empty 'gaps' in the city as damaged buildings were bought down. The Gap Filler project aims to temporarily activate vacant sites within Christchurch with creative areas, making for a more interesting & dynamic city.
Our 2nd Gap Filler cache is in Sydenham, an area badly affected by both the September and February quakes. It was closed for so long with fences everywhere. Now it is busy again and Gap Fillers has helped contribute to the positive perception of the area. The area the cache is in is called "I seem to have temporaily misplaced my sense of humour" by Wayne Youle. Inspired by memories of the shaddowboard in his grandfathers workshop he has painted a giant murial. However this shadowboard has items lost in the quakes - like houses, toys, toilets, pets & wedding rings, shown hanging along side the traditional tools. BYOP.
While in Sydenham it is worth a wander a block along Colombo St towards the hills & have a look at the temporary HQ of the Gap Filler Project. It was built by SHAC (Sustainable Habitat Challenge) from Dunedin, whose aims are to showcase sustainable building practices and get young people motivated to make a difference to their community. The tiny building with a 10m2 footprint, was designed especially for Gap Filler to use as their HQ.
The people who built the office were a mix of professional builders and architects as well as people under the age of 24 who helped out to learn new skills throughout the build week. Many of the materials used are recycled or recovered from demolitions. While you are there have a go on their one hole golf course or grab a coffee and sit on one of the brightly painted recycled rubble seats!
As of January 2013 the Gap Filler HQ has moved on but you can still see the rest of their efforts on the site