The Christchurch Style.

During the 1960s in Christchurch, New Zealand, a remarkable thing happened. This small, conservative city at the bottom of the world exploded with a creative force which developed into a recognisable and distinct style of architecture that was widely admired and imitated and remains influential today.

For a decade Christchurch architects worked with a potent energy and urgency, creating hundreds of homes (and many of New Zealand's best public and commercial buildings) in a regional style that is arguably the closest thing the country has to a modern indigenous style of architecture. 

Hundreds of homes were designed in the Christchurch Style, many of which have since been altered, neglected or ruthlessly demolished. The Christchurch earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 thinned numbers further and the homes illustrated here are just a small representation of the style and architects of the period. They remain as intact examples of the ideas, materials and optimism of the time.

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