We salute the South for producing this
great little blog, maintained by enthusiasts of the Modernist Christchurch Style, complete with a
Modern House Map for the Sunday drive.
"We’re not architects," they proclaim, "we’re not historians and we don’t know much about anything. However we do like modern houses and Christchurch is a great place for them." What a brilliant lead, unashamedly energetic and completely niche. What any good blog should be.
The blog essentially posts examples of (or around) the 'Christchurch Style' which they elaborate as being "the modernist architecture movement that exploded in Christchurch in the middle of last century." They continue, "It's hard to grasp how a small, conservative city in the South Island became the centre of architectural attention during the 1960s and we’re lucky to have so many great houses of the period surviving." Although some projects include interior views, there is a furtive cheekiness to some of the listings, snapped quickly from the street-side, maybe over a few fences to grab the most revealing shot, combined with the provided
House Map of each project, makes the blog a sort of Chose-Your-Own Adventure, which is probably an apt description of most Architects and Architecture these days (and some are deeply lost in the woods).
Generally the projects are residential ones, with some refreshingly educated commentary, but the site also links us to their 'sister site' of '
Humdingers of the Grid City', a Flickr collection of larger commercial projects of interest.
www.christchurchmodern.co.nz