Feather design cloaks car park
An artwork representing a cloak of kakapo feathers has transformed what could have been an ugly Christchurch parking building.
Made of more than 1400 individual anodised aluminium panels, the 36-metre long facade has been unveiled at the city’s new justice and emergency services precinct.
The $300 million precinct between Tuam and Lichfield streets and Oxford Tce will be finished next year.
The cloak, or kakahu, is the work of Auckland-based Lonnie Hutchinson, who has Ngai Tahu, Samoan and European descent. Hutchinson previously lived in Christchurch and lectured in art at Canterbury University.
She said she was inspired by the endangered kakapo because cloaks of its feathers were for those of very high rank. Canterbury was once part of the flightless parrot’s habitat.
‘‘The choice of the kakapo feather gives the building some prestige from a Maori perspective. The law is very important for how society works and how we interact with each other,’’ Hutchinson said.
The intricate feather design was inspired by the ribbon-like Canterbury rivers.
Despite its unveiling, the full wraparound facade will not be visible until construction fences come down in mid2017. This will reveal a concrete design below representing the cloak’s fringe, and landscaping also designed by Hutchinson. The work is yet to be named.
She said three years’ work and sleepless nights were rewarded when she saw the facade unveiled and heard the response from government ministers and others present.
‘‘It doesn’t matter how long you’ve worked with the design, it’s not until you actually see it you realise how big it is. I thought ‘wow, OMG, this is amazing’. People have thanked me for doing this for Christchurch.’’
Hutchinson has also designed the glasswork in the precinct facing Durham St.